# Nobody Canna Cross It Nobody Canna Cross It is a viral Jamaican news clip from June 2011 featuring Mavis Bank resident Clifton Brown describing flooding of the Yallahs River in his distinctive 'twang' accent. DJ Powa's autotuned remix turned the interview into one of the biggest Caribbean internet moments of the year. ## Origin On June 5th, 2011, heavy rainstorms battered the Jamaican parishes of St. Andrew and St. Thomas, washing out a bridge over the Yallahs River[3]. A Television Jamaica crew reporting from the scene interviewed Clifton Brown of Mavis Bank, who spoke at length about how impassable the crossing had become[1]. On June 15th, 2011, DJ Powa uploaded an autotuned musical remix of the interview to YouTube, cementing Brown's soundbites as the core of the meme[2]. - **Platform:** Television Jamaica (broadcast) / YouTube (viral spread) - **Creator:** DJ Powa - **Date:** 2011 ## Overview Nobody Canna Cross It centers on a short Television Jamaica news segment in which Mavis Bank resident Clifton Brown, standing near the swollen Yallahs River, insists that nobody can cross the wrecked passage[1]. His delivery blends heavy Jamaican patois with an affected British-leaning pronunciation locals call 'twang,' which gave the clip its uniquely quotable rhythm[3]. The meme took off when producer DJ Powa autotuned Brown's lines into a full song, turning phrases like 'nobody canna cross it' into a hook that Jamaican audiences immediately recognized[2]. Subsequent tributes ranged from cover versions and dance edits to television appearances by Brown himself, making the format less about static image macros and more about musical reinterpretation of the original interview audio[1]. ## How It Spread DJ Powa's YouTube upload pulled in over one million views in the weeks after it went live, an outsized number for a Jamaican-produced clip at the time[2]. Local press followed the momentum, with Jamaica Observer[4] and Jamaica Gleaner[5] covering both the remix and Brown's sudden fame across the island. From there the clip jumped to international humor communities. Threads about the interview appeared on Reddit[6] and forum boards attached to Tosh.0[7] and I-am-bored[8], carrying the twang joke to viewers with no prior context on Jamaican dialect debates. Brown himself picked up follow-up interviews on Jamaican television and even sat down with DJ Powa on air[3]. Organizers of the Smirnoff Dream Weekend festival tracked Brown down in Mavis Bank to enlist him as a promoter, and follow-up commentary in the Gleaner and Observer later raised questions about who actually owned the rights to the viral remix[5][9]. ## How to Use The Nobody Canna Cross It format is typically audio-driven rather than image-based. Creators often sample Brown's original lines or DJ Powa's autotuned hook, then layer them into new beats, dance edits, or comedic voiceovers. It is common to pair the phrase with any situation involving an obstacle, a river crossing gag, or a joke about hyper-formal pronunciation. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Nobody Canna Cross It? It is a 2011 Jamaican viral video and remix series built from a Television Jamaica interview with Clifton Brown about flooding on the Yallahs River[1]. ### Where did Nobody Canna Cross It come from? The source interview aired after storms hit St. Thomas parish on June 5th, 2011, and DJ Powa's autotuned remix was uploaded to YouTube on June 15th, 2011[2]. ### What does Nobody Canna Cross It mean? Clifton Brown used the line to say that no one could cross the washed-out river passage, delivered in a 'twang' accent that mixes patois with British-style pronunciation[3]. ### How do you use Nobody Canna Cross It? People typically sample Brown's lines or DJ Powa's song and remix them into new tracks, dance edits, or jokes about impassable obstacles[2]. ### Is Nobody Canna Cross It still popular? It is now a classic Jamaican internet moment, still referenced in Caribbean media coverage of Clifton Brown and DJ Powa years after the 2011 flood[5]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hknVoAoyy-k]() 2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf04lhs4hLo]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nobody-canna-cross-it]() 4. [https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/]() 5. [https://jamaica-gleaner.com/]() 6. [https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/hknvoaoyyk/nobody_canna_cross_it/]() 7. [https://tosh.cc.com/]() 8. [https://www.i-am-bored.com/]() 9. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkUc1nXdjGo]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/nobody-canna-cross-it Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library