Rickrolling grew out of Rick Astley's 1987 hit Never Gonna Give You Up, which became a bait and switch prank on forums like 4chan around 2007 and exploded as an internet meme in 2008. The gag is simple: promise one link or video, then play the song's unmistakable intro instead. It survived because the setup is endlessly reusable and the song is catchy rather than annoying. Voice tags like this one came later, as creators wanted a spoken punchline to stamp on the reveal instead of just letting the music play.