Low Taper Fade Meme Origin and ‘Still Massive’ Meaning

Musician ericdoa was in the middle of a long Twitch freestyle when the session turned personal. He had been singing about his grandfather, who died from COVID-19, and felt himself getting too exposed in front of the stream. His escape route was a line that made no obvious sense: “Imagine if Ninja got a low taper fade.”[1]

The Low Taper Fade meme began when ericdoa improvised that line in early January 2024. Ninja then played along, revealed a meme-inspired haircut, and kept referring to the joke until its refusal to end became a second meme.

The phrase names streamer Richard “Ninja” Blevins and a haircut that tapers close to the skin near the ears and neckline. Its specificity gave listeners an image they could build: Ninja, known for bright hair and his gaming persona, suddenly presented like the subject of a barbershop reveal.

Where did the Low Taper Fade meme come from?

Ericdoa, whose name is Eric Lopez, improvised the line during a Twitch broadcast in early January 2024. In a later Rolling Stone interview, he said it was the first silly thought that came to him when he felt close to crying on stream.[1]

The exact surviving record is messier. Know Your Meme dates the stream to January 5 and places the line around 29 minutes into the Twitch version and 25 minutes into an edited YouTube upload.[3] Yahoo reported an hour-long January 5 stream, while Rolling Stone described a broadcast lasting more than two hours.[2][1] The original Twitch VOD is no longer available at its cited link, so “a long Twitch freestyle in early January 2024” is safer than claiming an exact duration.

A clip reached TikTok through the @ericdoaclips account. Early posts paired the audio with reactions, images of Ninja, edited hairstyles, Fortnite scenes, and exaggerated claims that the haircut would solve everything.[3] The joke worked before Ninja responded because it treated an ordinary grooming choice as an event worth imagining in detail.

Did Ninja actually get a low taper fade?

Ninja reacted to the audio and posted that he would do it.[5] On January 13, 2024, he revealed a haircut set to ericdoa’s line. The NFL TikTok account also posted the reveal.[2][3]

Contemporary coverage noted disagreement over whether the result met a barber’s exact definition of a low taper fade.[2] The meme did not depend on settling that point. Ninja had answered the hypothetical and turned an invented scenario into a public event.

His response also changed who could steer the joke. The first wave belonged to ericdoa’s audio and audience edits. Once Ninja adopted it, his reactions, streams, haircut, and later references became source material for the next wave.

What does “the low taper fade meme is still massive” mean?

The line refers to a later clip in which Ninja says the Low Taper Fade meme is “still massive.” Users treated that claim as proof that he was dragging out a joke whose first viral peak had already passed.[4]

Posts imagined him repeating the line weeks, years, or entire lifetimes later. Editors put the quote into baby videos, animal clips, future timelines, and increasingly distorted audio. A copypasta preserved the stop-start cadence: “You know what’s crazy?” followed by the insistence that the meme remained massive.[4]

This second wave made expiration the subject of the meme. A post could argue that the joke was dead while supplying another example of it. Every complaint became fresh material, so the format continued without pretending it was new.

How the format changed

The meme developed several related formats rather than one fixed template:

1. The original audio: ericdoa’s repeated sung line over piano.
2. Slideshows and edited portraits: photos of Ninja lead to a visual answer to the haircut hypothetical.
3. The real haircut reveal: Ninja performs the scenario for the camera.
4. “Still massive” posts: future timelines, distorted audio, animals, and copypasta mock the meme’s refusal to end.
5. Tfue High Taper Fade: users substitute another streamer and reverse “low” to “high.”
6. Barbershop redraws: artists put game, anime, and cartoon characters into haircut scenes.

These mutations explain why a single lyric lasted longer than a normal audio trend. Creators did not need the original setup after the first month. They could parody the response, the passage of time, another streamer, or the growing archive of fan art.[3]

Why did the meme last?

The premise is easy to replace. A creator can swap the person, haircut, time period, art style, or level of seriousness while leaving the sentence recognizable. The phrase also has a melody that can be repeated, stretched, filtered, or rewritten.

Ninja’s participation gave the meme an unusual feedback loop. The subject reacted, fulfilled the premise, discussed the joke, and eventually sold an official Low Taper Fade T-shirt through Team Ninja.[6] Fan edits and official responses kept feeding each other.

The result is also a joke about platform memory. Most trend cycles arrive, peak, and disappear. Low Taper Fade posts name that cycle inside the content. “Still massive” can sound proud, exhausted, ironic, or all three at once.

Cultural meaning and rights

The Low Taper Fade meme shows how creator culture can turn a stray line into a shared serial. Ericdoa supplied the sound and a candid origin story. TikTok users built the visual premise. Ninja’s response made the imagined haircut real. Later creators treated the meme’s age as its main feature.

Attribution still matters. The melody and lyric came from ericdoa’s performance. Ninja’s name, image, and brand are part of the joke. Individual Photoshop edits and redraws have their own creators. Viral circulation does not erase those contributions or grant merchandise rights. No corresponding live MemeMeet product was verified, so this article contains no product link. Any commercial use would need separate rights, trademark, likeness, and legal review.

More origin guides are collected in MemeMeet’s Meme Culture archive.

Timeline

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Frequently asked questions

Who made the Low Taper Fade meme?

Ericdoa improvised the original sung line during a Twitch freestyle in early January 2024. TikTok editors turned it into slideshows and visual edits, so no single person created every part of the later format.

Why did ericdoa sing about Ninja getting a low taper fade?

Ericdoa told Rolling Stone that he had become emotional while singing about his grandfather and wanted to break the moment with something silly. Ninja getting a low taper fade was the first absurd thought that came to him.

Did Ninja really get a low taper fade?

Ninja posted a haircut reveal on January 13, 2024, in response to the meme. Some viewers disputed whether the cut was technically a low taper fade, so it is best described as his meme-inspired version of the haircut.

What does “the low taper fade meme is still massive” mean?

It mocks the idea that Ninja kept referring to the meme after its first viral peak. Users extended the joke into future timelines, animals, babies, distorted audio, and copypasta, which made the meme continue while they joked that it should have ended.

Is the Low Taper Fade meme an official song?

The line came from an improvised performance rather than a conventional released single. The recording, melody, lyrics, and later clips still have creators and rights holders even when they circulate as meme audio.

Sources

1. “Meet Ericdoa, the Reason Why Ninja Got a Low Taper Fade,” Rolling Stone, January 19, 2024
2. “Popular Twitch streamer Ninja gets ‘low taper fade’ haircut,” Yahoo News, January 17, 2024
3. “Imagine If Ninja Got a Low Taper Fade,” Know Your Meme
4. “Explaining the Ninja ‘Low Taper Fade Meme Is Still Massive’ memes,” The Daily Dot, December 5, 2024
5. “I’M DOING IT TODAY! ALL FOR YOU CHAT,” Ninja on TikTok, January 12, 2024
6. “Low Taper Fade Black Tee,” Team Ninja