Some Madness and Badness, Combination

About

Some Madness and Badness, Combination refers to a TikTok photo slideshow trend that uses the soundbite of rapper Drake saying "Combination" during his 2023 On The Radar freestyle with fellow rapper Central Cee. Meme creators used the TikTok sound in September 2023, adding three photos in photo mode labeled, "some madness," "and badness" and "combination," showcasing the end "combination" of the first two images, often referencing viral memes, trends or events. The slideshow trend also grew a notorious reputation for gore and other shocking imagery, which passed TikTok's moderation team.

Origin

On July 21st, 2023, YouTuber^[1] On The Radar Radio posted a video of a freestyle between rappers Central Cee and Drake, garnering over 11 million views in two months. At the 0:40-minute mark, Drake says, "Some madness and badness, combination" (shown below). Soon after its upload, Drake saying "combination" went viral on X/Twitter^[2] when user @TheFadeWW captioned it, "When they ask me if I want chicken or beef at the shawarma spot," garnering over 14,900 likes in two months.

On July 23rd, 2023, TikToker^[3] @rclipz5 posted the extended clip of Drake saying, "Some madness and badness, combination," to the new platform, captioning it, "When someone ask are you a introvert or a extrovert," gaining roughly 1 million plays and 164,800 likes in two months (shown below, left). On the same day, July 23rd, TikToker^[4] @ricochico10 also used the soundbite in a video that received roughly 462,100 plays and 12,000 likes in two months (shown below, right).

Spread

After the uploads of the aforementioned videos, TikTokers started to use the TikTok sounds^[5][6] of both for their content. However, despite usage of the aforementioned sounds,^[5][6] the most-used sound as a part of the trend was created by TikToker^[7] @lactosefr with a video posted on July 30th, 2023, receiving roughly 5.2 million plays and 811,100 likes in two months (shown below).

As stated, the sound^[8] of @lactosefr's video gained predominant usage, mostly from TikTokers who posted photo slideshows with the sound, adding three photos labeled "some madness," "and badness" and "combination." For instance, the first known creator to post a slideshow with the sound (other than the TikTok^[9] account of Duolingo on August 3rd) was TikToker^[10] @asheeshkebab26 on August 19th, 2023, whose slideshow referenced Indian food, receiving roughly 372,300 plays and 56,900 likes in one month (recording shown below).

Going into August and September 2023, the slideshows a part of the trend became more humorous. For instance, on August 25th, 2023, TikToker^[11] @ykelv._ posted a 9/11 slideshow with the sound, gaining roughly 8.8 million plays and 1.4 million likes in three weeks (recording shown below, left). On September 4th, 2023, TikToker^[12] @santiagoisokay5 posted a slideshow featuring a dachshund and balloons, gaining roughly 8.8 million plays and 1.7 million likes in 11 days (recording shown below, right).

During the same timeframe, viral slideshows were posted to TikTok^[13][14] using the sound that included gore as the last slide, including a squirrel impaled on a fence post and multiple Oreos in someone's foreskin, among other graphic content that went unnoticed by TikTok's moderation team. Videos, such as TikToker^[15] @rvrslight's on September 12th, 2023, acknowledged the gore but didn't show it, gaining roughly 186,300 plays in three days (shown below).

By September 15th, 2023, the two primary TikTok sounds^[6][8] associated with the trend had amassed roughly 29,600 posts and 77,700 posts, respectively.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References