Mama I'm A Criminal

About

Mama I'm A Criminal, also known as Mama I'm A Crimdinal or Mamaiymacridminal, refers to a TikTok sound where a voice sings, "Mama, I'm a criminal," however, when slowed + reverbed, it sounds like a "D" is pronounced in "criminal." It's typically used ironically by TikTokers who showcase a barely criminal act that is paired with the overdramatic sound. Also, many of the videos use two characters, one being a mom asking, "Why are the police outside?" and the other responding with the lyric. The second character is sometimes the Smoking Caterpillar or other cartoon characters from TV and anime.

Origin

On August 25th, 2017, music producer ADION posted the YouTube video for, "Mama I'm a criminal," in which the TikTok sound's audio originates. Over the course of five years, the video received roughly 10.2 million views (shown below, left). In late January 2022, Italian hip-hop artist Paky released his album Salvatore including the track "Mama I'm A Criminal," which sampled ADION's song in its production. On February 21st, 2022, the music video was posted to YouTube, earning roughly 3.4 million views over the course of three months (shown below, right).

On February 1st, 2022, the TikTok^[1] account kf_skenderbeu posted a video that showed multiple men running in slow motion while a slowed + reverb version of Paky's intro plays in the background, earning roughly 1.9 million plays and 171,400 likes in three months (shown below).

Spread

Going into March 2022, the sound was used earnestly by TikTok accounts associated with Hustle Culture. For instance, on March 8th, 2022, TikToker^[2] wekekage posted a video with a serious tone that earned roughly 461,200 plays and 52,700 likes in two months (shown below, left). On March 25th, 2022, TikToker^[3] jamiecornforth993tiktok3 also used the sound earnestly, earning roughly 307,200 plays and 18,200 likes in two and a half months (shown below, right).

Going into April 2022, TikTokers started using the sound ironically by flashing small amounts of cash to show they're a criminal but not a successful one. On April 9th, 2022, TikToker^[4] alexmartelll28 started this trend with a video that earned roughly 245,200 plays and 28,000 likes in one month (shown below, left). TikToker^[5] the_real_god_quandale also posted a video on April 9th, earning roughly 118,300 plays and 9,900 likes in the same amount of time (shown below, right).

A new trend with the sound started in late April 2022 and going into May 2022 that involved one "Mom" character asking their son, "Why is the police here?" prompting the "Son" character to respond with the overdramatic lyric. On April 25th, 2022, TikToker^[6] gregorygamezs posted a video that used Fortnite, earning roughly 1.4 million plays and 199,400 likes in ten days (shown below, left). On May 1st, 2022, TikToker^[7] balls_eater.v2 used a "Mom" baseball and the smoking caterpillar with the caterpillar saying, "Mamaiymacridminal," over and over again. Photos of 9/11 flashed in the background. Over the course of four days, the video received roughly 2.9 million plays and 557,000 likes (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References