About

Room of People or Welcome To The Room Of People Who Have Rooms Of People is a viral audio meme derived from the lyrics of "Heathens," a 2016 song by American musical duo Twenty One Pilots. The phrase is typically used alongside the song's audio, particularly the lyric, "Welcome to the room of people who have rooms of people / That they loved one day, locked away." The format has been used in various fan edits, fancams and other fandom-related content, often accompanied by dramatic or melancholic imagery.

Although the song and lyric were originally associated with earnest fandom edits and fan communities, their repeated use in such contexts eventually gave the phrase a more ironic and self-aware connotation online. By the mid-2020s, "Heathens" had become particularly associated with the exaggerated, edgy and melodramatic style of fandom edits, leading the lyric to be used ironically to parody the perceived cringe associated with these communities.

During the summer of 2026, the "room of people" section of the song resurfaced on TikTok through memes, ironic edits and variations that treated the original lyric as a humorous phrasal template.

Origin

The phrase originates from the song "Heathens" by the pop group Twenty One Pilots, which was released on June 16th, 2016, as part of the soundtrack for the film Suicide Squad.

On June 21st, 2016, YouTuber^[1] Twenty One Pilots uploaded the official music video for "Heathens" to the band's YouTube channel. The video received approximately 2.4 billion views in about 10 years, making it one of the duo's most widely viewed releases.

Spread

Throughout the mid-to-late 2010s and early 2020s, the lyric continued to circulate through fandom edits, eventually developing a reputation for being overly dramatic and "edgy" when used alongside melodramatic fan content.

This association contributed to the phrase's later ironic usage, with users repurposing the lyric to mock the style of older fandom edits rather than using it sincerely.

For example, on June 20th, 2016, YouTuber ShotByBen uploaded a music video edit using the song set to the Suicide Squad movie, garnering over 14 million views, 107,000 likes and 2,100 comments in 10 years.

On October 17th, 2021, YouTuber alexJY uploaded another example of a fan edit, using the song for the TV series Squid Game, receiving over 3.1 million views, 46,000 likes and 1,080 comments in four years.

In June 2026, the audio experienced a resurgence on TikTok and other social media platforms as users began using the lyric for ironic edits and memes.

On July 21st, 2026, TikTok^[2] user @queenofeditz__ posted a fancam of Kai Cenat's Streamer University event set to "Heathens," using the song ironically. The video received over 1.6 million views and 259,000 likes in three weeks.

On August 4th, 2026, TikTok^[3] user @aaidenix posted a video featuring a filter with yellow "scary" eyes while pointing out the awkwardness of the lyrics to "Heathens." The video received over 2.3 million views and 396,600 likes in eight days.

On August 7th, 2026, TikTok^[4] user @chacon.jossue posted a video of themselves appearing bored while playing a game involving matching pipes to a toilet as "Heathens" played in the background. The video received over 26.6 million views and 2.5 million likes in five days and helped spawn a trend of users recreating the format with the game.

On August 8th, 2026, TikTok^[5] user @xennoa posted a video using the same format, staring into the camera while playing the pipe-matching game as the song's dramatic and silly lyrics played. The video received over 6.8 million views and 705,900 likes in four days.

On August 8th, 2026, TikTok^[6] user @nolepicklalt posted a remix of "Heathens" that humorously repeated the phrase "full of people." The video received over 1.5 million views and 216,300 likes in four days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References