Meaning
What does You Know I Had to Do It to Em mean?
You know I had to do it to em refers to a photoshop meme, depicting a photo of Twitter user @LuckyLuciano17k, standing on a sidewalk in a white outfit, putting his hands together.
The photoshop edit is usually combined with the captions “you know I had to do it to em”.
Origin
What's the origin of You Know I Had to Do It to Em?
The first instance of the photo was shared by @LuckyLuciano17k on Twitter on September 2nd, 2014.
The original post had received a moderate amount of attention, gaining a large number of likes and retweets.
Spread & Usage
How did You Know I Had to Do It to Em spread?
The tweet would not be exploited and used for meme purposes until July, 2016 when Twitter user @ExhelonWinter shared the photo with a mock caption, directed toward snobby hip hop fans.
The meme would later appear on Tumblr as well as Instagram and it would gain further traction in 2017, when @LuckyLuciano17k started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for his legal affairs.
External resources
- New York Intelligencer – What It Means to Do It to Em
- Know Your Meme – You Know I Had to Do It to Em