Nonchalant Dreadhead

About

Nonchalant Dreadhead is a slang catchphrase that was popularized on TikTok starting in April 2024. Videos about "Nonchalant Dreadheads" typically take the form of ironic POV style sketches in which the "dreadhead" feigns clout and adoration from his friends and schoolmates. These jokes are similar to memes about being a Popular Loner and the Lightskin Stare meme.

Origin

While mentions of the phrase "nonchalant dreadhead" can be traced as far back as the year 2013, with Twitter / X^[1] user @rashfordatl posting a tweet that read, "How would you describe yourself? — The nonchalant dreadhead" on March 19th, 2013.

Nearly a decade later, the phrase "nonchalant dreadhead" began to gain traction as a self-descriptor for Black men, as seen in a February 26th, 2023, post by Instagram^[2] user @bigfoeeeee and various posts on X,^[3] including one by user @amornaiii that read, "Dreadheads don’t do it the best … they some fine ass lying ass hoes that be trying to ruin your life with they sassy wanna be nonchalant asses."

Starting on April 23rd, 2024, TikToker^[4] @breazy2funny began posting a series of TikTok videos joking about the attention and adoration he receives from being a "Nonchalant Dreadhead." The video gathered over 1 million plays and 300,000 likes in two months (seen below).

Spread

TikToker^[8] @breazy2funny went on to post more sketches about being a "nonchalant dreadhead," including a video posted on May 15th, 2024, in which he acts as though his classmates are saying, "I wanna work with the nonchalant dreadhead," to which he responds with "Oi Oi Oi" and "Baka," two sounds commonly associated with cringe anime culture. The video gathered over 10 million plays and 1 million likes in two weeks (seen below, left).

The sound went viral on TikTok in the following days, inspiring other TikTokers to make jokes about being "nonchalant dreadheads" and being adored by their friends and classmates. TikToker^[5] @itsjust_wisnaldo posted one such video on May 21st, gathering over 13 million plays and 2 million likes in two weeks (seen below, right).

Jokes about "nonchalant dreadheads" continued to spread online in late May and June 2024. Non-Black teens began participating in the jokes in late May, as seen in a video by TikToker^[6] @heyladies9, who gathered over 3 million plays and 400,000 likes on a video that also features his friend with actual dreadheads (seen below, left).

On June 1st, 2024, TikToker^[7] @izvkubits posted a Papa's Gameria video about nonchalant dreadheads, gathering over 2 million plays and 300,000 likes in three days (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References