The Gedagedi meme draws on Cotton Eye Joe, a traditional folk song whose best-known modern dance recording was released by Rednex in 1994. The nonsense-syllable version became widely visible in short-form videos in 2024, especially alongside a spinning or dancing chicken nugget character. Creators repeated the hook, altered the pitch, and paired it with intentionally rough animation, helping the format spread across TikTok and YouTube Shorts. It remains useful because the melody is instantly familiar while the garbled vocal delivery fits goofy ahh sounds and fast, surreal humor.