About

I Woke Up With a Boner refers to the song "Hardly Know 'Er" by Colon3, which samples and remixes a video by YouTuber Alex Novell in which former Bachelorette contestant and creator Josh Seiter speaks transphobically while believing he's talking to The Daily Wire. The song was released in December 2024 and was popularized as the subject of memes in July and August 2025 after a video setting it to Jet Set Radio gameplay footage went viral on TikTok, inspiring memes and artwork referencing the song, much of which continued to connect the song with Jet Set Radio.

Origin

On December 6th, 2024, YouTuber^[1] Alex Novell posted a video in which he interviews controversial content creator and former Bachelorette contestant Josh Seiter, who he had tricked into believing that he's talking with conservative online news network The Daily Wire. At the 22:22 timestamp, Seiter speaks transphobically, calling trans people "mentally ill" and saying, "I ain't trying to have all them crazy problems calling me 500 times talking about 'I woke up with a boner, I woke up with a hard penis.' Man, I ain't trying to date no trans women."

On December 12th, 2024, musical artist colon3 released the song "HARDLY KNOW 'ER" across social media, including on YouTube,^[2] garnering over 40,000 views in eight months. The song heavily samples the video by Novell, prominently featuring the moment where he says, "I woke up with a boner."

On July 13th, 2025, TikToker^[3] @_mishanova posted a video setting the song to gameplay footage of Jet Set Radio, seemingly drawing a parallel between the game's soundtrack and the sound of the song, garnering over 102,000 views in a month.

Spread

The song and Jet Set Radio video garnered viral spread in August 2025, inspiring further memes online.

On August 19th, 2025, X^[4] user @ninv2_ reposted the video by @_mishanova, writing, "this is the second time I’ve cried laughing at this today," garnering over 30,000 likes and 4,400 reposts in a week.

Later that day, X^[5] user @Salt5006 quoted the post, writing, "I WOKE UP WITH A WHAT ⁉️⁉️⁉️" garnering over 33,000 likes in the same span of time.

Also on August 19th, X^[6] user @_Zyzx_ quoted the post, writing the lyrics, garnering over 19,000 likes in a week.

On August 21st, 2025, X^[7] user @dapperdog_ posted a piece of artwork showing a dog-man listening to the song, writing, "this song has been stuck in my head since I woke up (with a boner) this morning help me," garnering over 20,000 likes in five days.

On August 25th, X^[8] user @rekkadraws_ posted a piece of art showing someone in bed listening to the song, garnering over 22,000 likes in a day.

Various Examples

@theursalord I woke up with a bone 🦴🍆#animemagic2025 #parappa #parappatherappercosplay #jetsetradio #cosplay @Messy @UghItsMike @Serendipity ♬ HARDLY KNOW 'ER – colon3

@softwarecrow I woke up with a WHAT #jetsetradio #hidekinaganuma #bombrushcyberfunk #colon3 #bigbeat ♬ HARDLY KNOW 'ER – colon3

Search Interest

External References