Numa Numa Meme: Origin, Song, and Gary Brolsma
Gary Brolsma’s 2004 Newgrounds webcam lip-sync to O-Zone’s “Dragostea Din Tei” became an early participatory viral-video format.
Gary Brolsma expected a few friends to laugh at his webcam recording. His swinging arms, eyebrow raises, and committed lip-sync instead became one of the best-known videos of the pre-YouTube web.
Numa Numa is a 2004 video in which Brolsma performs along to O-Zone’s Romanian-language pop song “Dragostea Din Tei” while seated at his computer. He uploaded “Numa Numa Dance” to Newgrounds as GMan250 on December 6, 2004.[1][2][3]
Lead image: Gary Brolsma in the webcam performance that became Numa Numa. Source: Gary Brolsma’s official YouTube upload; original release on Newgrounds, December 6, 2004. This creator-hosted thumbnail is reproduced only to identify and discuss the work. No merchandise, advertising, music, recording, likeness, title, or endorsement clearance is claimed.
Where did Numa Numa come from?
Brolsma has described the recording as a spontaneous performance made for fun. In a 2011 Newgrounds interview, he said he uploaded it to the site’s portal, sent the link to friends, and expected nothing more than a laugh. A 2023 Consequence interview reports that he recorded one take after hearing “Dragostea Din Tei” in an online cat animation.[1][4]
The original platform matters. YouTube was not the video’s launchpad. Newgrounds records December 6, 2004 as the upload date. Consequence reports that Newgrounds founder Tom Fulp placed the clip on the home page on December 12.[2][4]
Contemporary New York Times reporting from February 2005 described what followed: television programs picked up the story, and other internet users made their own dances and parodies. The video reached people through many separate copies rather than one modern platform counter. Large lifetime-view figures combine different mirrors, periods, and estimates, so this article does not present one as a verified total.[5]
What song is used in Numa Numa?
The song is “Dragostea Din Tei” by O-Zone, a Moldovan pop group. “Numa Numa” comes from how many listeners rendered the repeated Romanian phrase “nu mă, nu mă” in the chorus. Brolsma did not create or cover the song; he lip-syncs to O-Zone’s recording.[5]
That distinction helps explain why older copies disappeared. Newgrounds says it retired the original media page as the site moved away from copyrighted music and toward work with original audio. A meme can remain culturally recognizable even when its song, recording, performance, and images carry separate rights.[2][6]
How the format works
The setup is spare: a webcam, a computer chair, headphones, and one performer framed from the shoulders up. Because Brolsma stays seated, his face and upper body carry the performance. He times head turns, fist pumps, mouth shapes, and eyebrow movements to the chorus.
The tight frame made the clip recognizable and easy to imitate. A remake did not need the same room or camera. It needed a visible performer, the song, and enough commitment to sell the lip-sync. The ordinary room and Brolsma’s outsized delivery supply both the joke and the invitation to join in.
Remakes, sequels, and community participation
People answered with lip-syncs, dance versions, and edited copies. The New York Times was already reporting parodies in February 2005. Later mirrors carried the performance onto YouTube, but those copies belonged to its spread rather than its origin.[5][6]
Brolsma also participated in the meme’s afterlife. He released “New Numa” and later returned to the format. In his 2011 interview, he contrasted the managed production of “New Numa” with the spontaneous original he still valued as “pure” fun.[1]
Creator participation does not clear every copy or commercial use. It shows that Brolsma chose to revisit the performance on his own terms.
Why Numa Numa matters in internet culture
Numa Numa shows how participatory video traveled before one platform organized uploads, recommendations, and view counts. A personal recording could be featured by a community site, copied elsewhere, emailed between friends, covered on television, and remade by viewers.
The performance also established a durable format. It does not depend on a hidden punch line or a complicated edit. Viewers understand it by watching someone enjoy a song without holding back, then they can answer with a performance of their own.
Editorial use and rights
Cultural visibility is not commercial permission. O-Zone’s song and recording, Gary Brolsma’s performance and likeness, official video frames, the Numa Numa name, and individual remakes may involve different rights. The creator-hosted thumbnail is used here only for attributed editorial identification. No relevant live MemeMeet product was independently verified, so this article contains no product link. Commercial use would require separate copyright, trademark, likeness, title, and endorsement review.
More documented origin guides are collected in MemeMeet’s Meme Culture archive.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| December 6, 2004 | Gary Brolsma uploads “Numa Numa Dance” to Newgrounds as GMan250. |
| December 12, 2004 | According to Consequence’s interview with Tom Fulp, the clip reaches the Newgrounds home page. |
| February 2005 | The New York Times reports on Brolsma, television coverage, and online parodies. |
| 2006 | Brolsma releases the more produced “New Numa” sequel. |
| 2010s onward | Creator uploads, anniversary material, and retrospectives keep the original format in circulation. |
Frequently asked questions
Who is the Numa Numa guy?
The performer is Gary Brolsma, who used the name GMan250 on Newgrounds. He recorded the lip-sync for fun and uploaded it in December 2004.
What song is in the Numa Numa video?
It uses O-Zone’s “Dragostea Din Tei.” Brolsma lip-syncs to the original recording; he did not create the song.
Was Numa Numa first posted on YouTube?
No. Brolsma first uploaded it to Newgrounds on December 6, 2004. YouTube copies appeared later.
What does “Numa Numa” mean?
The title comes from listeners’ rendering of the repeated Romanian words “nu mă, nu mă” in the song’s chorus. The meme’s name is tied to the sound of that refrain.
Why did Numa Numa become a meme?
Its compact webcam frame, expressive lip-sync, and easy-to-copy gestures gave viewers a recognizable performance they could share, parody, and reenact.
Sources
- “Interview with Gary Brolsma,” Newgrounds / The Interviewer, November 9, 2011
- “Numa Numa,” Newgrounds history archive
- “Numa Numa,” official creator-hosted YouTube upload by Gary Brolsma
- “The Kinetic Poetry of Gary Brolsma’s ‘Numa Numa Dance,’” Consequence, January 2023
- “Internet Fame Is Cruel Mistress for a Dancer of the Numa Numa,” The New York Times, February 26, 2005
- “The history of ‘Numa Numa,’” The Daily Dot, December 11, 2016