I Am A Very Good Bad Boy — Close-up of a man with headphones singing passionately with eyes closed in a studio

I Am A Very Good Bad Boy

2012viral videoclassic

Published October 28, 2026

In July 2012, Indian pop singer Vennu Mallesh uploaded his track 'It's My Life What Ever I Wanna Do' to YouTube, where its stilted English chorus turned it into a cringe-comedy favorite. The lyric 'I am a very good bad boy' became an image macro on 9GAG in 2017 and resurfaced as a viral TikTok sound in September 2021.

so bad its good memes cringe memes catchphrase memes tiktok sound trends music video memes

Overview

Vennu Mallesh sings over a slow studio beat about being misunderstood, with vocalist Lipsika interjecting with questions like 'Hey, what the hell do you think of yourself?'1 The chorus pivots on the self-description that gave the meme its name, with Mallesh explaining he searches for good in bad and bad in good, which makes him a very good bad boy2. Viewers latched onto the earnest delivery and the broken-English phrasing, circulating the clip as so-bad-it's-good content.

Two formats run alongside each other. Image macros use a still of Mallesh mid-lyric and pair it with captions where someone owns an insult or flips a question, such as a crush asking 'Why should I date you?'2. The short-form video edits sync the Lipsika question and the chorus to lip-dubs, skits and reaction setups, with the audio functioning as a punchline rather than a song.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (2012 upload) / TikTok (2021 viral spread)
Creator
Vennu Mallesh
Date
2012

On July 27, 2012, Vennu Mallesh uploaded the music video for 'It's My Life What Ever I Wanna Do' to YouTube1. The video shows Mallesh in a recording booth with two producers and Lipsika, who opens the track by asking if he is going to sing, prompting his line that it is not a song but his life2. The upload drew millions of views over the following years as commenters flagged the lyrics for not quite making sense in English.

Mallesh is the credited writer and performer, so he counts as the source of the catchphrase itself. The meme format around it, however, grew out of viewer reposts rather than from Mallesh's own channel.

How It Spread

Reposts of the music video circulated on social platforms through the mid-2010s as a cringe clip2. On August 28, 2017, a 9GAG user turned a screenshot of Mallesh saying 'I am a very good bad boy' into a Bobs and Vegana image macro3. On December 27, 2017, YouTuber iiCapricious posted an edit that cut from Lipsika's 'Hey what the hell do you think of yourself?' into the chorus, topped with the caption 'WHY SHOULD I DATE YOU?'2.

Another 9GAG post on April 2, 2019 framed the clip as a reply to a crush asking about oneself, drawing more than 4,800 upvotes4. The audio broke out again on TikTok on September 6, 2021, when @notjepican_ posted a clip that collected over 20 million views within three weeks5. A follow-up from the same account on September 19, 2021 picked up more than 18 million views in a week, and other TikTok users ran the sound in lip-dubs and short skits through the rest of the month6.

Timeline

2012-07-27

Vennu Mallesh uploads 'It's My Life What Ever I Wanna Do' to YouTube.

2017-08-28

A 9GAG user posts a Bobs and Vegana image macro using the 'I am a very good bad boy' screenshot.

2017-12-27

YouTuber iiCapricious posts a 'WHY SHOULD I DATE YOU?' edit of the chorus.

2019-04-02

A 9GAG post uses the clip as a reply to a crush asking about oneself, drawing over 4,800 upvotes.

2021-09-06

TikToker @notjepican_ posts a clip of the audio that collects over 20 million views in three weeks.

2021-09-19

@notjepican_ posts a second edit of the clip, drawing more than 18 million views in a week.

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