About

Stay With Me Now refers to a series of TikTok memes that slow fade-in image macros showing a teacher (or professor) writing on a chalkboard (or whiteboard) with a top caption reading, "Stay with me now," that follows a provocative statement. "Stay with me now" implies that the teacher is going to justify the provocative statement with facts and evidence. The videos used the song "Can You Hear The Music" by Ludwig Göransson from the Oppenheimer soundtrack. In turn, the meme was mostly parodying J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Origin

On April 17th, 2024, TikToker^[1] @jay.m1xes posted a video that slowly faded in a meme showing a teacher writing on a chalkboard with a top caption reading, "I couldn't change the hoe, so I changed the hoe, stay with me now." The video used the song "Can You Hear The Music" by Ludwig Göransson from the Oppenheimer soundtrack as the TikTok sound.^[2] Over two months, the video received roughly 5.7 million plays and 1.1 million likes (shown below).

Spread

Multiple TikTokers posted their own versions of the format in late April 2024. For instance, on April 21st, 2024, TikToker^[3] @killaramii posted an iteration reading, "It takes 2 wipes to know you needed 3 but three, wipes to know you need 2. stay with me now," gaining over 6.4 million plays and 878,500 likes in two months (shown below, left).

On April 22nd, TikToker^[4] @meow_meow_ruff posted an iteration reading, "A shoulder to cry on is a dick to ride on Stay with me now," receiving over 7.6 million plays and 1.8 million likes in two months (shown below, right).

Viral iterations of the meme continued in May 2024, evident in a video posted by TikToker^[5] @currant_plays on May 3rd, 2024, that read, "Back in my day we used to read the Great Gatsby, now yall are just concerned where the great gyatts be. Stay with me now…" receiving over 7.8 million plays and 1.4 million likes in a month (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References