M Dot R / Big Bomboclaat British Guy

About

M Dot R, also known as Moses McGeorge or the Big Bomboclaat British Guy, is a white, Britsh, reggae dancehall rapper most known for his Jamaican accent and aesthetics despite being native to the UK. M Dot R began making music in the 2010s and gained early virality due to radio show appearances in which he'd freestyle. He went viral for two songs in particular, "100 Gyal" and "Turn Red" (aka "Big Bomboclaat"). In the early 2020s, M Dot R gained frequent virality on TikTok and Instagram, culminating in many memes about him. M Dot R's whiteness that juxtaposed his Jamaican aesthetic inherently surfaced discourse about Cultural Appropriation.

Background

Moses McGeorge, known by his alias M Dot R, is a 38-year-old reggaeton rapper from the Isle of Sheppey outside London, England.^[1] In interviews with Clash^[2] and 'cene^[3] in the late 2010s, M Dot R explained why he uses a Jamaican accent. He told Clash:^[2]

Imagine living in France, but you do Indian music. So, you’re doing French music, but you’re listening to Indian music all the time, so it is always in you. But because that's the music that you listen to constantly, it comes out in bits and bobs, here and there. As the years went on it came out a little bit more, a little bit more, little bit more, until I got to a point where it just fully come out.

It's just natural. It sounds right when it's meant to be, it’s just about the sounds. It’s a little bit of seasoning, you can’t just eat your chicken with salt and pepper, you need a bit of all-purpose.

Online Presence

M Dot R's online presence started on YouTube^[4] with a video uploaded on December 6th, 2012, to his original channel MDOT R, gaining over 670 views in nine years. Two years later, on November 18th, 2014, he uploaded his first Facebook^[5] post. On August 31st, 2017, M Dot R uploaded his first still-accessible post on his Instagram^[6] @mdotrartist, which was a video of him performing that received roughly 144,600 views and 2,900 likes in six years.

Coinciding with the start of his Instagram presence, 2017 was the year that M Dot R first went viral. This occurred due to his appearance on BBC Radio 1Xtra where he freestyled. The video was posted to YouTube^[7] by BBC Radio 1Xtra on October 26th, 2017, where it gained over 590,400 views and 7,200 likes in six years (shown below).

His freestyle's virality circled back to views on his then-recent music video titled "M dot R 100 Gyal dance" which was posted to his YouTube^[8] on October 13th, 2017, gaining over 221,100 views and 1,600 likes in six years (shown below).

Soon after, memes were posted that used M Dot R's BBC freestyle, including one video posted by the Facebook^[9] page The Wall Of Music on October 31st, 2017, who captioned it, "WHEN THE JERK CHICKEN IS EXTRA HOT," gaining over 726,000 views in six years (shown below).

In late 2017, M Dot R gained news coverage, starting with an interview with British outlet Kent Online^[1] in November 2017. In 2019 and 2021, he earned interviews with Clash^[2] and 'cene^[3] as his fanbase grew.

Related Memes

"Turn Red" / Big Bomboclaat

His radio show freestyles continued to gain virality in the 2020s, evident in a freestyle video posted by the YouTube^[10] channel Reggae Selecta UK on June 10th, 2023, which received roughly 894,900 views in five months (shown below).

The freestyle later became M Dot R's song "Turn Red" which grew memes and virality on TikTok. The memes predominantly started on September 21st, 2023, when TikToker^[11] @lowqualitysh1tzz posted a clip of the "Turn Red" freestyle with a humorous caption, gaining over 769,800 plays and 368,000 likes in two months (shown below, left).

On September 22nd, 2023, TikToker^[12] @clips_hut posted a similar video with text that joked about being 0.1% Jamaican, gaining roughly 4.2 million plays and 468,400 likes in two months (shown below, right).

Memes using his freestyle then spread across social media, such as a quote tweet posted by X^[18] user @bensoned0 on November 7th, 2023, which quoted a post reading, "Trust women or be Jamaican," with a clip of M Dot R freestyling, gaining over 19,000 likes in two days (shown below).

https://t.co/lhIxV6ihDe pic.twitter.com/JNKzQP9J5S

— BENSON✞ (@bensoned0) November 7, 2023

LIVE Freestyle

On October 31st, 2023, TikToker^[13] @5starrkz posted a video that was a recording of a then-recent livestream in which M Dot R was singing "Turn Red," gaining over 6.4 million plays and 1.1 million likes in nine days (shown below, left). The video's sound gained usage, evident in a video posted by TikToker^[14] @freebxndzz.k on November 3d, gaining over 147,000 plays and 24,000 likes in six days (shown below, right).

Following

By November 9th, 2023, M Dot R had amassed roughly 254,000 followers on Instagram,^[15] roughly 2,800 subscribers on YouTube^[16] and roughly 278,400 followers on TikTok.^[17]

Search Interest

External References