AboutWhat does the meme depict?
The "Musically Oblivious 8th Grader" meme features a photograph of a young girl, often depicted as naive about modern music. The template consists of two parts: the top caption typically presents the name of a music band, artist, or song, whereas the bottom caption humorously showcases the girl's clear misunderstanding or ignorance about the said musical element. The meme bears resemblance to other memes like 'Idiot Nerd Girl' or 'Technologically Impaired Duck,' which also highlight humorous misconceptions in their respective fields.
OriginWho did it first?
The meme originated from Grace Spelman, who first posted it on her now-deleted Tumblr account in 2009. The photograph she used was of her friend, Emilie Ferreira, taken from Emilie's eighth-grade graduation and found in this web archive and Emilie's Facebook page. Initially, the meme was a light-hearted exchange between friends over music theory jokes. It gained more widespread popularity after being posted on Memegenerator, where users began adding captions involving well-known bands and artists. For instance, the earliest known caption on the platform humorously confused Icelandic singer Björk with the Swedish Chef from The Muppet Show.[1]
Origin: 2009