About

Quit Your Job. Join My Emo Band refers to a series of memes based on an exchange between two users in which one insists the other quits his job to join his emo band. Originating from an August 2015 Tumblr post, the format achieved popularity on Tumblr, later spreading to other platforms.

Origin

Prior to March 10th, 2015, Tumblr^[1] user sassydad posted a screenshot of a three-message exchange between two users in which one offers the other to quit their job to join their emo band. The users in the exchange and the platform the exchange took place are currently unknown. The post (shown below) garnered over 461,000 likes and reblogs in nine years.

In July 2016, an unknown Tumblr^[2] user posted the earliest found meme based on the exchange, replacing the profile pictures with images of Voltron: Legendary Defender characters Keith and Lance (post since removed, shown below).

Spread

The post gained further popularity as a Characters as Tumblr Posts format in 2017 and further. On June 13th, 2017, Tumblr^[3] user jetsetgorillaz reposted a Gorillaz edit originally shared by an private user, with the post garnering over 11,600 likes and reblogs in seven years (shown below, left). On October 3rd, 2018, Tumblr^[4] user cockati3l posted a Persona meme based on the format which received over 100 reposts and 240 likes in six years (shown below, right).

Starting in 2018, the format spread beyond Tumblr, with examples appearing on Reddit and X / Twitter. For example, on August 1st, 2018, Redditor cryingbagel posted a Detroit: Become Human meme that earned over 640 upvotes in the /r/DetroitBecomeHuman^[5] subreddit in six years (shown below, left). On August 21st, 2021, X^[6] / Twitter user @uchihassasusaku posted a Naruto version of the meme that received over 160 reposts and 830 likes in four years (shown below, right).

The format maintained its popularity across all major platforms in the 2020s, with some versions also recaptioning the original exchange.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References