About

I Want To Be Neenja is a viral video, song and sound effect created by Jennifer Murphy, an actress, former Apprentice contestant and YouTuber in 2016. The song shows Murphy singing phrases like, "I want to be ninja," and, "I want to chop chow down to Chinatown." The video garnered attention for its controversial and racially insensitive nature in the late 2010s, prompting criticism from various Asian-American commentators. In the early 2020s, however, a snippet of the song came to be used as a meme on sites like TikTok.

Origin

In April 2016, Jennifer Murphy uploaded a video to her YouTube^[1] channel Jennifer Murphy GoGirl that showed her previewing her song "I Want To Be Neenja" at a private party promoting her line of Murphy Beds. The video was deleted and later reuploaded by Murphy on January 23rd, 2021, where it gathered over 10 million views in four years.

On July 28th, 2016, Murphy posted an additional video^[2] showing "Chow," portrayed by an Asian actor dressed in all-black, gathering over 90,000 views in eight years.

On March 5th, 2018, Murphy posted a video^[3] splicing reviews for the show Shen Yun with footage of her in China to promote a feature film based on her song. The video gathered over 52,000 likes in eight years.

Online Reactions

Several internet users reacted to the "I Want To Be Neenja" song in 2016, including YouTubers^[4] The Chen Dynasty who gathered over 140,000 views on an April 24th, 2016 video titled, "'I Want to be Neenja' The MOST Racist Song EVER?"

On July 16th, 2016, YouTuber^[5] Diymike posted a video reacting to Murphy's song as well, gathering over 300,000 plays in eight years.

Jennifer Murphy's Defense

Jennifer Murphy made a Facebook^[6] post defending herself against the accusations of racism levied against her, saying that she was inspired by her friend "Peter who happens to be Asian [and] is very good at impersonating Chow of the Hangover movies." Murphy also asserts that she was inspired by Ryan Higa and that the Asian woman seen in the video had become her "good friend," despite not speaking English and not understanding much of what Murphy was singing.

On August 22nd, 2019, Murphy posted another YouTube^[7] video explaining her reasoning for creating "I Want To Be Neenja," gathering over 720,000 views in six years.

Spread

On July 9th, 2023, TikToker^[8] @stafford1995 reposted a clip of Murphy singing "I want to be ninja" to TikTok, gathering over 10 million plays and 1 million likes in two years.

In 2024, the audio came to be used for a number of TikTok slideshows, including one posted by TikToker^[9] @oran.gilmartin5 on September 16th, 2024, that gathered over 7 million plays and 1 million likes in eight months.

TikToker^[10] @dxddy_pxrschx posted a similar video on February 23rd, 2024, gathering over 13 million plays and 1 million likes in a year.

'I Want To Be Neenja' the Movie

On May 24th, 2024, Jennifer Murphy posted a trailer^[11] for a movie based on I Want To Be Neenja, available on Amazon Prime.^[12] The trailer begins with the line, "Today, most people assume ninja is from Japan, when in reality, ninja originated in China."

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References