A ledger of cultural firsts

Origin over reach.

Dances, memes, sounds, phrases: the “trivial” culture copyright ignores. Feat Node records who came first and who got loud, on a tamper-evident ledger, and renders the gap between the two.

Record a concept How it works

Origin

Earliest evidence

Authoritative. The first documented instance wins.

authority
┈┈×┈┈
never reach

Reach

Virality

Recorded, but descriptive. Loud is not the same as first.

The ledger

drawn to scale →+ add an entry

majitaphrase

Johannesburg township Isicamtho speakersApr 1956· no reach on the record

heitaphrase

South African township speech communitiesJan 1963· no reach on the record

Where you are?phrase

Indian-descended English speakers of KwaZulu-NatalJan 2010· no reach on the record

bunny chowphrase

Durban Indian restaurateurs of the Grey Street districtJan 2010· no reach on the record

tramakasiephrase

Cape Muslim Afrikaans speakers of Cape TownJan 1992· no reach on the record

kanalaphrase

Cape Muslim Afrikaans speakers of Cape TownJan 1992· no reach on the record

awêphrase

Cape Flats Kaaps speakersJul 2021· no reach on the record

abegphrase

Nigerian Pidgin speakers in NigeriaJan 2000· no reach on the record

wahalaphrase

Hausa and Yoruba speakers in NigeriaJan 1966· no reach on the record

japaphrase

Yoruba speakers in southwestern NigeriaDec 2024· no reach on the record

bussinphrase

Black Southern speech communitiesJan 2010→TikTok food-reaction creatorsunmeasured reach· 10.4 years later

wokephrase

Black American speech communitiesJan 1938→Black Lives Matter organizersunmeasured reach· 76.6 years later

finnaphrase

Black Southern speech communitiesJan 1988→TikTok and Twitter usersunmeasured reach· 32.0 years later

This Is Finevisual motif

KC GreenJan 2013→Instagram & Reddit meme accountsunmeasured reach· 12 months later

Distracted Boyfriendvisual motif

Antonio GuillemNov 2015→Twitter meme communityunmeasured reach· 1.8 years later

Dogememe

Atsuko SatoFeb 2010→Reddit & Tumblr meme communitiesunmeasured reach· 3.7 years later

Damn Danielmeme

Josh HolzFeb 2016→Meme aggregator accounts400K reach· 1 day later

Nae Naedance

We Are ToonzNov 2013→Silento250M reach· 1.4 years later

Juubi Slidedance

Originator AMar 2021→Popularizer B5M reach· 5 months later

Eyebrows on Fleekphrase

Kayla Newman (Peaches Monroee)Jun 2014→Brands & celebrity accounts50M reach· 2 months later

Renegadedance

Jalaiah HarmonSep 2019→Charli D'Amelio150M reach· 3 months later