Pluh / "Plug" Sound Effect

About

Pluh, also known as "Plug" Sound Effect, Plugg Tag or Plug Producer Tag, refers to a hip-hop producer tag and sound effect used in rap songs of a guy saying the word "plug" (a slang term for a drug dealer), however, he pronounces it like "pluh." The producer tag was created for the rap collective BeatPluggz in 2015, used frequently by producer MexikoDro across songs with Playboi Carti and Kodak Black, among others, resulting in the eventual Pluggnb genre of Trap Music. The sound became increasingly viral and used in memes in 2022 and 2023, following YouTube streamer Fulcrum's use of the sound in his videos. Thereafter, many memes on TikTok and elsewhere used the sound. The predominant TikTok usage in 2023 was horny ASMR with female voices saying suggestive or lewd things, interrupted by the "pluh" sound to symbolize the man's response. Most of the TikTok memes used Overwatch or Fortnite footage.

Origin

In 2015, producer MexikoDro^[1] and his collective BeatPluggz^[2] created the "Pluh" sound effect as their producer tag. In a 2018 interview,^[3] BeatPluggz rapper Corey Lingo claimed that BeatPluggz producer BeatPluggTwo^[4] created the original sound, recording it with his own voice. According to Lingo, BeatPluggTwo originally recorded the sound saying, "beat plug," but producer MexikoDro later simplified it to just "pluh."

One of the earliest and most famous songs with the BeatPluggz tag is "Plug" by Rich The Kid featuring Playboi Carti and Kodak Black, produced by MexikoDro, which launched on WorldStarHipHop's YouTube^[5] channel on December 11th, 2015, gaining roughly 62.8 million views and 507,000 likes in eight years (shown below, left). Starting in the 2020s, uploads of just the "plug" sound effect were posted to YouTube^[6] (example shown below, right).

Spread

Fulcrum's Use of "Pluh"

In 2022, YouTuber Fulcrum further popularized the "pluh" sound effect in a meme context by using it in his videos, often spamming the sound over and over again. For instance, on August 9th, 2022, Fulcrum posted a video to his TikTok^[7] @graysaberfulcrum in which an earrape version of the "plug" sound is repeated, gaining roughly 151,600 plays and 13,500 likes in 10 months (shown below, left). On December 17th, 2022, TikToker^[8] @yodiegangyoufeelme posted a clip from a Fulcrum video that had similarly repeated "pluh" sounds, gaining roughly 893,100 plays and 163,500 likes in six months (shown below, right).

Horny ASMR x "PLUH"

On May 3rd, 2023, TikToker^[9] @bvs1n posted a video that followed "Pinkcore" and Corecore editing aesthetics, using the audio of a horny ASMR video of unknown origin in which the woman is saying suggestive statements. The ASMR voice was then interjected by the "pluh" sound effect. Although the video's sound has since been removed, it gained roughly 161,000 plays and 24,000 likes in one month. Due to the sound being deleted by TikTok's moderation team (likely for its suggestive nature), TikToker^[10] @bvs1n posted another video with the same premise on May 5th, in which the woman's voice said, "It's getting harder and harder," only to be interjected with "pluh." The second video maintained its sound and gained roughly 483,100 plays and 35,900 likes in one month (shown below).

Going into May 2023, the sound of @bvs1n's May 5th TikTok^[10] gained viral usage by many meme creators on the platform. Going into June 2023, others on the app replicated the format of @bvs1n's videos, using different horny ASMR audios and the "pluh" sound effect. For instance, on June 4th, 2023, TikToker^[11] @amber_loveu0 posted a "pluh" meme, gaining roughly 856,100 plays and 110,200 likes in five days (shown below).

Later in June 2023, similar videos and reposts were uploaded to YouTube.^[12]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References