About

I Was Sleepy refers to clip from a viral video posted by YouTuber Cam Wilder in which a teen guy with red hair says, "I was sleepy," trying to explain himself after Wilder says to the group of other AAU basketball players he's standing with, "Niggas took a nap before they walked in here, right? Get a close-up on his hair." The moment was awkward and perceivably cringe because Wilder was talking about the kid standing behind the redhead. The original video was uploaded in April 2024. It went viral on TikTok as well. On there, viewers made memes with it, making fun of the kid named Gingy Logan (@gingylogann) for unnecessarily saying the anecdote. The video was recreated in 99.99% Accuracy Reenactemnt videos and combined with other then-trending meme dialogues, like Friggin' Packet Yo, Jaden Smith's BROOOO and Johnnie Walker in the War Room With Tristan Tate, in meme mash-up videos.

Origin

On April 8th, 2024, YouTuber^[1] Cam Wilder posted a video called, "I HOSTED AAU BASKETBALL TRYOUTS IN LAS VEGAS!" gaining over 842,200 views in nine months. At the video's 4:00-minute mark (shown below), Wilder says to the group of boys, "Niggas took a nap before they walked in here, right? Get a close-up on his hair." One of the boys with red hair thinks that he's talking about him, so he says, "I was sleepy." The cameraman focuses on the guy behind him though, causing embarrassment for the redhead kid.

Spread

On April 9th, 2024, TikToker^[2] @kaydisplays reposted the abovementioned clip, adding a caption that read, "Bro thought it was about him 💀," receiving over 476,000 likes in nine months (shown below).

On April 10th, TikToker^[3] Gingy Logan (@gingylogann) shared a video, revealing that he was the I Was Sleepy kid. His video was from a different moment in Cam Wilder's video, gaining over 106,400 likes in nine months (shown below).

In the following months, the I Was Sleepy clip resurfaced multiple times on TikTok. For instance, on May 27th, 2024, TikToker^[4] @and1mediaa posted the video, adding a caption about Logan having "negative aura." The video received over 905,300 likes in eight months (shown below).

The meme resurfaced en masse in January 2025, as part of the "99.99% Accuracy" Reenactments that were spreading on TikTok, in which people recreated viral videos, following the scripts, camerawork and mannerisms as closely as possible. The first known creator to share an I Was Sleepy reenactment with an accuracy percentage was TikToker^[5] @kelleybg on January 22nd, 2025. The video gained roughly 770,100 likes in nine days (shown below).

On January 24th, TikToker^[6] @xavierc.07 added to the trend with a 99.69% accurate reenactment, amassing over 969,600 likes in a week (shown below).

On January 29th, 2025, TikToker^[7] @rip_phonkler posted a video that combined the I Was Sleepy meme with other then-trending videos like I Knew This Was Happening and the Luke Belmar video about Johnnie Walker. Over two days, the video received roughly 95,400 likes (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References