Roll Safe is an Internet meme in which British filmmaker and actor Kayode Ewumi, while portraying the character Reece Simpson (also known as Roll Safe) in his own web series Hood Documentary, is seen tapping his finger on his head. The images are used, often with joking caption, to mock poor decision-making and failures in critical thinking.[1]
The episode was published in June 2016 and, months later, was used as a reaction image by some British Twitter accounts. In late January 2017, its popularity increased drastically, especially on the Black Twitter community.[1] Khal of Complex declared it was "the new petty meme for 2017",[2] Desire Thompson of Vibe said it was "the best way to kick off Black History Month",[3] and "robopanda" of Yahoo said the meme "is here to give you the best worst advice".[4]
It was included on many best 2017 memes lists, including Thrillist,[5] Complex,[6] BuzzFeed News,[7] The Daily Dot,[8] Insider,[9] BBC News,[10] PCMag,[11] Washington Post,[12] PopBuzz,[13] and MTV UK.[14] The Reddit moderators of the /r/MemeEconomy subreddit told Inverse that they thought it was one of the best memes of 2017.[15]
It was a finalist in the 10th Shorty Awards.[16]
References
edit- ^ a b Feldman, Brian (February 9, 2017). "How Roll Safe (You Know, the Guy Tapping His Head) Took Over Your Timeline". Intelligencer. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "Roll Safe Is the New Petty Meme for 2017". Complex. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ Thompson, Desire (February 3, 2017). "The "Roll Safe" Meme Is The Best Way To Kick Off Black History Month". VIBE.com. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "The 'Roll Safe' Meme Is Here To Give You The Best Worst Advice". Yahoo!. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "The 50 Best Memes of 2017". Thrillist. February 13, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "The Best Memes of 2017". Complex. Archived from the original on April 30, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "38 Great Memes That Defined 2017". BuzzFeed News. December 15, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "The 65 best memes of 2017 (and counting)". The Daily Dot. February 1, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ Shamsian, Jacob. "20 moments that went viral and dominated the internet this year". Insider. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "The top memes and viral videos of 2017". BBC News. December 29, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "Distracted Boyfriend to Salt Bae: 2017's Best Memes". PCMag. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "Trending: Meme Hall of Fame of 2017". Washington Post. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "The Best Memes Of 2017". PopBuzz. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "All The Best Memes Of 2017". MTV UK. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ Paoletta, Rae (December 26, 2017). "Reddit Moderators Reveal The Best Memes of 2017, And The Ones That Must Die". Inverse. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
- ^ "Roll Safe - The Shorty Awards". Shorty Awards. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
External links
edit- Roll Safe entry at Know Your Meme