How the ‘Krusty Krew Anthem’ Took Over the Internet
The first episode of SpongeBob SquarePants aired on Nickelodeon one month before Atlanta-based musician and content creator Oddwin was born. “One of my earliest memories is just having that on the TV,” the 24-year-old rapper-producer tells Rolling Stone. Oddwin is responsible for the Kash Krabs Records account that made the viral hit “Krusty Krew Anthem (Back on the Grill),” that’s taken the internet by storm over the past month. The track, which sounds like a formidable Atlanta rap anthem, is voiced over by convincing-sounding impressions of SpongeBob characters airing out canon-appropriate flexes. “Brand new bag for Pearl, but I didn’t pay for it,” Mr. Krabs raps. “I don’t like spendin’ that cash ’cause I’m tryna savor it.” Anyone with access to television between the years 1999 and 2010 surely knows how miserly the cartoon crustacean can be.
Unlike the bevy of similarly infectious viral hits, “Krusty Krew Anthem” wasn’t made with the help of A.I. tools. It’s a genuine Mr. Krabs impression courtesy of Oddwin and his collaborator on the song, Qulan. In a matter of weeks, the pair’s lighthearted creations have blown up online and even led to a track last week produced by the in-demand rap hitmaker BNYX, who produced Drake’s recent single “Search & Rescue.” This week, “Krusty Krew Anthem” reached the top of the US Spotify Viral 100 chart. The track has so far racked up around 1.5 million streams and counting. Oddwin talked to Rolling Stone about making the track as a joke, why he doesn’t like A.I., and why he’ll never wear a Mr. Krabs costume to perform.
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When did you first make the track? What gave you the idea to feature SpongeBob characters?
Initially, it was just a random night just trying to work on a song, and I reached the point where I tried to find a new balance of just having fun while doing it. It was like five in the morning. I was trying to learn a new technique and make a song with it, and I just couldn’t make anything that I wanted to make. So as a joke, I made the Mr. Krabs song, the first one, “Secret Formula.” It started taking off, and I did a couple more tracks. The third one I made, the “Krusty Krew Anthem,” ended up going super viral on TikTok. So I’ve just been running with it.
How long have you been making music?
I’ve been producing for about 11 years now. Since I was 13, I’m 24 now.
Can you explain how you made the vocals? On your page, it says it’s not A.I.
I just randomly did a Mr. Krabs impression. It was more so me grunting on the track. Then it evolved into a Mr. Krabs impression. Some people thought that it was A.I., but I could sniff those rumors out and prove it on my live streams. You can tell the difference because, with A.I., people put it through a program that’ll almost be like text-to-speech software and try to make it rap like Mr. Krabs. Or they’ll use their actual voice and then put it through a filter like the TikTok voice filters but through a DAW.
So you were just doing a straight-up Mr. Krabs impression?
Just an impression. I didn’t plan on doing any type of voice acting, but it’s fun.
It seems like a cross between comedy and hip-hop, which is really interesting.
It initially started as a joke, but I do enjoy the idea of having people question whether or not they should listen to it cause of the fact that it just genuinely sounds like a good song.
Other tracks are floating around, too, like a response track from Plankton. Are you going to try and build your own narrative with these songs?
I plan to have my Plankton track. I don’t know if I can do a Plankton voice myself. I might have to outsource it like I did for the SpongeBob voice. But yeah, there there’s been other Mr. Krabs and Plankton stuff going around with A.I., and people have not been listening to them. [laughs] I have to shoot them down cause I just don’t do the A.I. stuff.
In general, people have a soft spot for SpongeBob online. Characters from the show are always turning into memes. Why do you think that might be?
It’s generational. Cause the appeal of the show is kids obviously enjoy it, but there are elements of it that can apply to adults, too. That’s why so many people resonate with it.
Have you seen the video of fans getting hyped up to the song in a nightclub? Do you think you’d ever go out and perform?
I did see that. That’s not the first live video that I’ve seen. I had a friend randomly hear it at a club, and then he FaceTimed me and put it on his story. I think he still has the video. But yeah, it’s just been crazy seeing all of this. There are 33,000 videos on TikTok with the audio, just a bunch of people either bumping it or making little comedy skits. There’s even a whole animation going around now. I have been asked to perform it and am not opposed. The only thing is I told them I’m not wearing the suit.
Like a Mr. Krabs costume?
Yeah. That’s just not me. If somebody’s in a suit right next to me, I’ll do it. But I don’t want to be the one in the suit.
What can listeners expect from Kash Krabs Records going forward?
A lot of people actually started trying to hit me up to get a Kash Krabs feature. And it doesn’t really do anything for them in the long run. So I just have to turn them down and tell them no. I’m doing this for fun, basically. But I still want to give people a full body of work, a tape, just to solidify Kash Krabs as a fully realized parody project. I’m a content man at the end of the day. This isn’t the first time I’ve gone viral. This one is probably the biggest yet. So it’s just on to the next thing. After I do the tape, I’m done with it indefinitely. I won’t say I’m completely done, but for the time being, I want to focus on more of my own content and my own music that I plan on putting out right after Kash Krabs drops this project.
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