Meme · meme

By Deimos EMK · Published Oct 4, 2026 · Updated Oct 4, 2026 · 4 min read · AI-drafted, source-checked

Via GIPHY (@marslizard)

• StatusPeaking now
• Typephrase
• Categorymeme
• LaneMemes

See it in action

Video: That was unexpected😳 #haminations #animation #memes, embedded from its original platform.

What the meme is

Haminations Cringe refers to a TikTok trend built around clips from Haminations, a YouTube storytime animation channel run by Bryson Julian Rasmussen, who created it on February 20th, 2017, at age 16. The channel, which had roughly 9 million subscribers and over 2 billion total views by September 2026, was formative viewing for a generation of kids who grew up on late-2010s YouTube.

The trend zeroes in on one specific artifact: 'Who I Am (Official Music Video),' uploaded December 21st, 2019, in which Rasmussen sings an upbeat, theatrical song introducing himself and his interests. By September 10th, 2026, that video had passed 14 million views, and it became the raw material for the meme.

The meme works on two levels at once. On the surface, it's about the perceived cringe of the channel's older content: the high-energy sincerity and total lack of irony that defined that era of YouTube now reads as painfully earnest to the same viewers who loved it as pre-teens. Underneath that, though, the trend is really about self-directed embarrassment.

TikTok users express shame over having watched and enjoyed Haminations as children, and they use the clips to parody their own enthusiasm, the awkwardness of introducing yourself, talking about your interests, or openly sharing things you enjoy. You're simultaneously a participant in the joke and a spectator of your own past.

In practice, the format is flexible: creators pair the 'Who I Am' footage or audio with captions about situations that demand an earnest self-introduction. Viral examples include joking that the song sounds like old Discord profile descriptions, comparing it to what Travis Scott sounds like when you're no longer 12, and mocking how English teachers expect students to introduce themselves on the first day of school.

The tone is affectionate mockery rather than genuine hostility, it's nostalgia processed through irony, the classic cycle of unearthing childhood media and subjecting it to modern scrutiny. [1][2][3][4][5]

Seen in use

People using “Haminations Cringe Spreads On TikTok” in their own posts, each linked to the post itself. These are examples of use, not sources.

Every quote above passed the same verification gate this site publishes under: real source, real date, copied verbatim. See the editorial policy.

How it spread

The trend exploded in the first week of September 2026 when TikTok users began isolating audio and footage from the seven-year-old 'Who I Am' video. On September 7th, @exolindoessomethingidk posted a video using the clips that pulled over 746,500 views and 77,200 likes in about three days, while @morgopegger's Discord-profile joke the same day drew over 732,400 views and 134,200 likes.

The next day @witeral's Travis Scott comparison hit over 621,900 views in roughly two days, and on September 9th @scratchmypony's English-teacher bit gained over 526,400 views in about a day, with @eggheehee joking that you can't miss a single day on TikTok without a new meme taking over.

The trend spread so fast that within days it had already been packaged into explainer articles, which some observers took as a sign the format was entering its archive phase, the point where a meme gets documented for people who scrolled past it.

Whether or not it has staying power, the trend tapped into something durable: the specific discomfort of looking back at something you genuinely loved as a kid and realizing how differently you see it now. That retrospective self-reflection, more than the song itself, is what made the clips so remixable.

Variants & examples

Casual TikTok-native register; it's self-deprecating nostalgia humor, so using it sincerely about the channel rather than about yourself misses the joke.

• “Not the Haminations Cringe trend making me admit I had this song memorized in 2019.”TikTok comment section
• “Me doing the 'Who I Am' intro on the first day of class like the English teacher wants a whole documentary.”TikTok caption over the clip
• “The Haminations song is literally just a 2019 Discord about-me section with instruments.”Group chat
• “You can't skip one day on TikTok, I blinked and suddenly everyone's posting Haminations Cringe edits.”TikTok video caption
• “This is what Travis Scott sounds like when you're not 12 anymore.”Comment under a 'Who I Am' meme

Frequently asked