This cat meme, known as the OIIA Cat, has been an interest of mine and many others for no less than a few months. The simple graphic with repetitive use of vowel sounds makes it malleable and flexible for others to build on, and so they have.
This version, the video embedded above, features the cat meme edited to replicate the cadence of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” song. In this version, the editor has chosen to use the vowel sounds in the same rhythm as the words in Kendrick Lamar’s song. The pitches of the vowel sounds have been altered to fit those of “Not Like Us” to make it even closer to the original song. OIIA Cat parodies do not stop there as others have utilized this trending feline in other ways.
OIIA cat rave is a video I have seen and rewatched many times because of how quickly and seamlessly it was introduced into a well-established form of entertainment. This time, the editor, or in this case the DJ, used the OIIA Cat audio’s pace and rhythm to tie in a composition they already had. Consistent expectations of what this meme sounds like added to the other features within the track to build up to the base drop. The pitch of the vowels is irrelevant in this case and the timing becomes the most significant portion of this meme in this scenario.
The ways in which this meme is utilized vary across creators, as we see in just these two examples. There are many more examples of this meme being turned into other material, like other popular songs. What creators pull from the sound is different each time. They may use the articulation of the vowels to emulate something, or they only need the cadence of the vowels. There is also the pitch, which is altered in one example above and kept in another.
Modern equipment has made the sharing of audio clips much more accessible and editing software has improved exponentially over time. These things factor into the success and widespread usage of this meme as a motif in people’s creations. Its simplicity makes it a variable canvas to utilize for many different forms of audio that will intertwine through the cultural knowledge of OIIA Cat’s notoriety.