Dab Me Up Meme Explained: What It Means, Where It Started, and Why It Went Viral
The Dab Me Up meme is that gem on the internet that combines surreal visuals, nostalgic colloquialism, and the right amount of awkwardness. From a minimalistic, stylized emoji with a dap; it has morphed into a weirdly iconic format, replicated in lifestyle group chats, spammed in comment sections, and remixed into TikToks and cursed image edits.
In this Grumpysharks article, we look into what it means, how it was born, and why it is still living rent free in our digital culture.
#1 What Does Dab Me Up Mean?
The phrase “dab me up” is a variation of “dap me up,” which refers to a handshake or similar gesture (usually a fist bump or hand clasp) used when you want to show respect, approval, or friendships/etc. Dabbing someone up, in slang terms, means that you’re greeting them with relaxed and confident energy. It’s about showing that you’re capable of being relaxed, close, or in synchronization.
Keep in mind that this meme has nothing to do with the popular 2010s “dabbing” dance move popularized by athletes and internet culture. It’s understandable that people confuse the two expressions, however, “dab me up” is simply a physical greeting—not striking a pose.
#2 What Is The Origin of the “Dab Me Up” Meme?
The meme started appearing late 2020 likely on Twitter and Instagram, two outlets where image-based humor really takes off. It included a custom-drawn weird image of a yellow smiley face emoji with a strange, awkward grin, gold teeth, and an extended hand towards the viewer for a dap.
It was surreal. It was super awkward. And it was meme material from the start.
The image took advantage of internet users’ affinity for cursed or poorly-rendered images. It looked like somebody stole a cool emoji and tried to illustrate it into existence and ended up with a fever dream – that was exactly what breathed life into it.
#3 What Makes the Golden Smiley Guy Meme So Uncannily Relatable?
The central figure of the meme—the “golden smiley guy,” if you will—is a cartoonish, yellow emoji-like figure. He has a grill, pupils at half-mast, and a sly grin. One of his hands is raised for a handshake. But something about it feels a little… off.
That sense of uncanniness brought it a lot of popularity. People started adding captions that flew at odds with its steadfastness regarding the absurdities of emotions and other reactions:
“Me approaching my homie after I said something deeply questionable.”
“When you gaslight your friend and they still expect a dap.”
And it worked visually because frankly is a mans absurd, it made the perfect reaction meme, low effort meme humor, ironic cringe posts.
#4 How Dab Me Up meme Went Viral?
The meme gained traction with the help of meme repost pages and creators on TikTok that, once again, frequently reused the image and incorporated it as part of their slideshow edits or “reaction” video edits. The original memes and edits were also shared across numerous Reddit threads, particularly in subreddits revolving around memes like r/okbuddyretard and r/SurrealMemes.
While there were many individual moments that went viral, the biggest came when users used the giant golden happy face alongside absurd audio, mis-glitched visuals, and cursed captions. With every weirder combo’s, “Dab Me Up” started to reach audiences that were not strictly niche meme audiences.
By early 2021, “Dab Me Up” became a punchline, a format, and a meme that knew it was an absurd, oddity of a meme and leaned into it.
#5 How Did the “Golden Smiley Guy” Meme Evolve Through Variations and Spin-Offs?
The community did what any solid meme should do: it took off. And then we saw variations of the face make an appearance.
- Animated loops (with hand gestures)
- Glitched edits that basically turned the image into chaos
- Reverse daps, where our character takes back their offer
Some TikTok creators even did parody sketches and used a green screen version of the meme. Other creators placed “dab me up” in other posts that already had slang for comedic and comedic, and digital in-joke where they referenced slang heavy memes. It started reared its head in Twitch chats and began seeing it in Discord servers as our inside-reference handshake.
#6 Why Did the Dab Me Up Meme Resonated Online?
Dab Me Up meme resonates because it is weird, uncomfortable, and profoundly internet. It channels the aesthetic of memes that are “so bad, they’re good” which become increasingly funny for each moment your eyes linger on the bad drawing or uncomfortable facial expression.
It also reflects internet irony: a character designed to look cool, who instead feels like your awkward cousin who is trying too hard, that energy speaks to Gen Z and meme-literate audiences who love the play of cringe, surrealism, and self-aware humor.
#7 FAQs About the Dab Me Up Meme
1. Who created the original “Dab Me Up” image?
The exact creator is unknown, but it’s believed to have originated on Instagram or meme forums in late 2020. The image has since been heavily remixed.
2. What’s the name of the yellow emoji character?
There’s no official name, but fans often refer to him as the “Golden Smiley Guy” or simply “Dab Me Up Bro.”
3. Is “dab me up” still popular today?
While it peaked in early 2021, the meme still appears in reaction threads, Discord chats, and ironic edits—especially in nostalgia-themed posts.
4. Can I make my own version?
Absolutely. Many users create parodies with different characters, hand positions, or even cursed redraws of the original.
#8 Conclusion
The Dab Me Up meme mostly isn’t about cool edits or high-effort edits, but it is about owning the absurd, embracing the weird, and making it so cringey it becomes amazing again.
It captures a specific slice of internet culture—a way to combine a surreal image, subtle social cue, and ironic language, and create something equally dumb and genius—and that’s why it’s not going away anytime soon.
Grumpysharks will always dab you up. Grin and all.
