Neekolul
Neekolul is an American Twitch streamer and TikTok personality. Her popularity online rose when she uploaded a TikTok featuring her lip syncing to the song "Oki Doki Boomer" while wearing a Bernie 2020 crop top; this TikTok was a direct reference to the OK boomer Internet meme that was popularized in late 2019.
Neekolul | |
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Personal information | |
Born | 1997/1998 (age 22–23)[1][2] San Bruno, California, U.S. |
Nationality |
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Residence | Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
Occupation | |
Twitch information | |
Also known as | Neeko, Neekolul |
Channel | |
Years active | 2017–present |
Genre | Gaming |
Games | |
Followers | 200,000+ |
Total views | 1.6 million+ |
Associated acts | 100 Thieves |
Follower and view counts updated as of July 26, 2020. |
Background and personal life
On her YouTube account's about page, Neekolul (first name Nicole[3][1][2]) mentions that she is Mexican and Portuguese.[4] Her family immigrated to California from Mexico,[2] and in an interview, Neekolul mentioned that she was born and raised in San Bruno, California. She currently lives in Dallas, Texas.[5][6] In addition to being a full-time streamer, Neekolul also attends college part-time.[5] She formerly studied business and marketing in college.[7]
Online career
Neekolul is primarily a Twitch streamer and partner, having created her "neeko" Twitch account in October 2017.[8] As she is bilingual, Neekolul streams in both English and Spanish.[5] According to social media analytics firm Social Blade, her account has received over 200,000 followers and over 1.6 million views, as of July 26, 2020.[9] She decided to become a Twitch streamer due to it fitting in with her college schedule; as opposed to making content on the YouTube platform, Neekolul did not have to worry about editing her content on Twitch.[7] She streamed Call of Duty early in her career, but eventually switched over to streaming Fortnite.[7]
On March 2, 2020, Neekolul went viral online after she posted a TikTok video lip syncing and dancing to the Senzawa song "Oki Doki Boomer" while wearing a Bernie 2020 shirt.[10][1] The caption of the video read "Like to trigger the BOOMERS #bernie2020."[11] The video and its caption were referencing the OK boomer Internet meme that was popularized by Gen Z individuals, and used to criticize the Baby boomer generation.[10] It received over 6 million views in 4 days on the TikTok platform,[10] before being removed due to a copyright takedown, although the song's artist stated he was not responsible for the copyright strike.[8] On Twitter, the video has received over 30 million views.[12][13] The video was met with mixed reactions, with users divided over whether the video was cute and charming, or "cringeworthy".[11][14] YouTube personality PewDiePie covered Neekolul's video in one of his own videos.[5] Kotaku commented that "the video is mesmerizing in a way that makes you feel a small amount of secondhand embarrassment. In it, Neekolul performs a hyper-feminine and cutesy series of dance movements, with the results bordering on cloying. It's a subtle balancing act between irony and sincerity that TikTok's most popular video makers have mastered."[2] In April, The Daily Dot ranked "'Oki Doki Boomer' TikTok memes" at 12th on their list of "the best memes of 2020".[15]
It has since been noted by various media publications that Neekolul is a supporter of Bernie Sanders and his 2020 U.S. presidential campaign.[16][17] The official TikTok account for Sanders' campaign also commented on the video, and Neekolul stated that the campaign's head of social media reached out to her to collaborate.[5] Uploaded a day prior to the Democratic Party presidential primaries on Super Tuesday, many online users claimed that Neekolul's video had an adverse effect on Sanders' performance in primary voting.[8][10][14] Neekolul stated, however, "I don't think I'm a huge driver of votes or anything, but I think the content creators and Internet culture as a whole can bring awareness to things like this."[5] She also conveyed that the video had more of an effect on building her online brand than turning her into a Sanders campaigner.[13]
After her viral TikTok video, many online users were noted to post messages online describing their physical attraction to her.[16][18] This garnered Neekolul the nickname, "Queen of Simps",[16] in reference to the slang term that describes an individual (often male) who gives an excessive amount of submissive attention to women.[18][19] After revealing she has a boyfriend, she lost over 65,000 Twitter followers within 48 hours.[18] She has since stated she has said this to be entertaining to her viewers; Kotaku wrote that "like many of her fans, she's constantly dancing on the impossibly blurry line between irony and sincerity."[2]
She has since continued to upload content online. Her Twitter account was briefly suspended as a result of her content being tagged by false copyright claims.[7] One of her subsequent TikTok videos featured her dancing along to the song "Mia Khalifa", which drew several comparisons to Belle Delphine's similar 2019 video.[20] Her streaming content has also drawn her comparisons to Pokimane.[2] In April, Kotaku commented on her streams, stating that "even as she's blown up, in her streams she continues to behave in a way that feels accessible and inviting, verging on bubbly. That is not to say, however, that she doesn't know what she's doing."[2] The outlet added that she began to increasingly be known as a personality, rather than as "just as a meme."[2] Later in the month, she signed with Night Media, a content management company.[7] After signing with Night Media, Tubefilter reported that she began planning to branch out on YouTube and had a product line in development.[7] In July 2020, she joined the roster of American lifestyle brand and esports organization 100 Thieves as a content creator.[3][21]
Media reception
Nathan Grayson of Kotaku wrote on Neekolul, stating that "the cutesiness of Neekolul's recent videos and her relative proximity to so-called "egirls" like Delphine has given rise to accusations that the fans who find her attractive are people who want women to behave in ways that are child-like, naive, or foolish."[2] Gita Jackson of Vice similarly wrote on Neekolul's appeal, stating that "like so many objects of male attention before her, her mere presence as a human being will either cause you to simp or to shun. But she's just followed a formula that's been thrust upon young, attractive women since men have been able to gawk at them."[1] Jackson added that, "Some of [Neekolul's] critics say that by wearing a cosplay school uniform, dancing, and talking like a sexy baby, she is reinforcing negative stereotypes about women and encouraging men attracted to women to indulge in a fetish for seeing them infantilized."[1]
References
- Jackson, Gita (April 10, 2020). "Let the 'OK Boomer' Girl Live". Vice. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
- Grayson, Nathan (April 8, 2020). "'OK, Boomer' Girl's Rise To Twitch Fame Was 'A Perfect Storm' Of Memes And Politics". Kotaku. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
- Beresford, Trilby (July 10, 2020). "Bilingual Twitch Streamer Neekolul Joins 100 Thieves' Talent Roster". The Hollywood Reporter.
- "neekolul – YouTube about page". neekolul. YouTube. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- "Catching Up With Neekolul 'Ok Boomer Girl' On Her Overnight Internet Fame And What's Next For Her Career As A Streamer And Influencer". Know Your Meme. March 20, 2020.
- "Neekolul". Know Your Meme. March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
As of March 9th, 2020, Neekolul whose first name is Nicole is 22 years -old and living in Dallas, Texas.
- Hale, James (April 27, 2020). "Neeko—Twitch Streamer And TikTok's "OK, Boomer Girl"—Signs With Night Media (Exclusive)". Tubefilter. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- Burke-Edwards, Eve (March 11, 2020). "Who is Neekolul's boyfriend? TikTok's 'OK Boomer' girl gives away identity on Instagram". HITC. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- "neeko's Twitch Stats Summary Profile (Social Blade Twitch Statistics)". Social Blade. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
- Ritzen, Stacey (March 6, 2020). "Gen Z'ers are attempting to trigger boomers with 'Oki Doki Boomer' TikTok memes". The Daily Dot. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
- Travis, Abi (March 2020). "Here's Why Everyone's Talking About the Okie Boomer Girl from TikTok". Distractify. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- @neekolul (March 2, 2020). "Okie BOOMER KEKW #Bernie2020 🇺🇸✨" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- Tenbarge, Kat (April 9, 2020). "Bernie Sanders built a legion of meme-making, TikTok-loving online fans. Now they're pivoting to new socialist goals". Business Insider. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- Rennex, Michelle (March 10, 2020). "The Baffling TikTok Of A Girl Dancing To An "Ok Boomer Song Has Split The Internet". Junkee. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- Ritzen, Stacey (April 2, 2020). "The best memes of 2020". The Daily Dot. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- Kozma, Leila (March 2020). "We Have Bad News for the Simps out There — Neekolul Has a Boyfriend". Distractifty. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- Vicente, David (March 20, 2020). "Messi, la última víctima del 'deepfake' en las redes: así es su vídeo viral bailando en mini falda". El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- Gramenz, Jack (March 12, 2020). "Woman goes viral after dancing video endorsing Bernie Sanders then loses all her new followers". news.com.au. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- Taylor, Magadalene (2019). "Welcome to Simp Nation, TikTok's New Softboi Club". Mel Magazine. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- Bonfiglio, Nahlia (March 31, 2020). "Who wore it better? Belle Delphine vs. Neekolul". The Daily Dot. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
- Weiss, Geoff (July 10, 2020). "100 Thieves Adds Bilingual Twitch Streamer, Viral Twitter Star 'Neekolul' To Starry Roster". Tubefilter.