LMFAO's Redfoo with afro and white glasses at Venice Beach with 'I'm sexy and I know it' caption

I'm Sexy And I Know It

2011catchphraseclassic

Published September 1, 2026

"I'm Sexy and I Know It" is a 2011 electro-hop single by LMFAO whose title line became a catchphrase for cheeky, ironic self-confidence. The music video's wiggle-off between out-of-shape guys in Speedos turned the hook into shorthand for owning your looks regardless of whether you actually match the boast.

viral song memes catchphrase memes early 2010s memes body image memes music video memes

Overview

"I'm Sexy and I Know It" is the hook from an LMFAO single of the same name, and online it works as an ironic self-confidence line people drop when posting a selfie, a fit check, or any moment of not-actually-that-impressive swagger1. The joke lands because the source video pairs the boast with a lineup of average-looking guys strutting around in tiny Speedos, so the phrase carries a built-in wink2.

The song itself was a genuine chart monster before it became meme shorthand. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped charts in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, which is what put the hook in front of enough people to turn "wiggle wiggle wiggle" and "I'm sexy and I know it" into everyday quotable bits3. Parody versions, lip-syncs and reaction uploads started stacking up on YouTube almost immediately after release45.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (music video) / general web (catchphrase spread)
Creator
LMFAO
Date
2011

"Sexy and I Know It" was released on September 16, 2011 as the third single from LMFAO's second studio album Sorry for Party Rocking, written by Stefan Kendal Gordy, GoonRock, Erin Beck, G.M. Robertson and Kenneth Oliver and produced by Party Rock3. The official music video went up on LMFAO's YouTube channel around the same time and framed the track as a comedy bit, with the duo leading a pack of hairy, out-of-shape guys through a beach "wiggle off" while shouting the title over and over1.

The catchphrase itself is lifted straight from the chorus. As the KYM entry notes, the line is a way of playing up self-confidence in spite of, not because of, your looks, which is exactly the gag the video sells2.

How It Spread

The music video racked up hundreds of millions of views on YouTube and pulled the hook into everyday online use, from Facebook status updates to Twitter captions1. Because the visual gag was so specific, people started uploading their own wiggle-off parodies, kid covers and gym edits, giving the phrase a second life as a template rather than just a quote45.

Blog coverage tracked the parody wave in real time. A SodaHead post titled "What is the Best Parody of LMFAO's Sexy and I Know It?" rounded up user-submitted spoofs and argued the hook had the catchiness to keep climbing alongside bigger memes of the era2. Urban Dictionary entries from around the same time show the phrase being repurposed as a sarcastic intro to a pointless story, another sign it had drifted well past its music-video context6.

The song stuck around in pop culture long after the initial 2011 push, showing up in movie trailers, sports arena playlists and workout playlists, which kept the catchphrase in rotation as a low-effort caption for anything vaguely cocky3.

Frequently Asked Questions