A Cursed Investigation of Italian Brainrot Music

"Earlier this year, somewhere between Trump's inauguration and the AI reggae song " I Forgive That Man" reaching the viral charts in multiple European countries, a zoo of cursed creatures escaped and overran the internet. These included Tralalero Tralala, a three-legged shark with blue Nikes; Tung Tung Tung Sahur, an anthropomorphic wood plank; and Ballerina Cappuccina, a cup of golden-brown coffee in a pink bodice. An endless stream of shortform clips depict the characters eating burgers on the beach,"

"People call these deviants "Italian brainrot," and it's basically the Avengers multiverse of sloptainment. The Italian component comes from the text-to-speech voice that narrates the videos. One of the most popular clips features Tung Tung Tung Sahur moaning "nooo, oh oh," as he's held at gunpoint by police. It's difficult to overstate just how popular this craze is with kids; a YouTube Short from last month in which Italian brainrot beasts are reprimanded for getting bad grades has 112 million views."

Italian brainrot is a viral short-form phenomenon populated by surreal, grotesque characters such as a three-legged shark in blue Nikes, an anthropomorphic wood plank, and a coffee cup in a pink bodice. Videos pair absurd, often violent actions with an Italian-sounding text-to-speech narration. The craze attracts enormous youth engagement, with some clips reaching hundreds of millions of views, while many adults remain unaware or baffled. The trend spreads through algorithmic silos, creating a shared monoculture among younger viewers. The aesthetic evokes nostalgic cartoon violence reframed as concise, algorithm-optimized spectacle for a new generation.

Read at Pitchfork