Rick Astley released Never Gonna Give You Up in 1987, and the song became the centre of the Rickroll meme in the late 2000s, when misleading links sent unsuspecting viewers to its music video instead of the promised content. The prank spread across forums, YouTube and social media because the cheerful chorus was instantly recognisable and harmless. Low-bitrate and ultra-short versions like this one keep the joke alive by compressing the setup into a two-second gag that works even in fast-scrolling feeds.
About this sound
A very short, low-quality 8kbps clip of Rick Astley's voice from Never Gonna Give You Up, used as a quick Rickroll gag in memes, edits and prank videos.
A tiny two-second burst of Rick Astley at deliberately crushed 8kbps quality, so the familiar pop vocal arrives muffled, buzzy and instantly recognisable even through the distortion. The low bitrate strips away the polish of the original recording, leaving a thin, warbly snippet that sounds like it is playing through a broken phone speaker. That degraded quality is the joke: viewers expect a clean chorus, get a glitchy tease instead, and immediately recognise the Rickroll before it cuts off, which makes the clip perfect for abrupt punchlines and bait-and-switch moments.
