Nightcore originated in 2002 as a Norwegian musical duo consisting of Thomas S. Nilsen and Steffen Ojala Søderholm, who produced tracks by speeding up trance and dance music by about 25-30%. The style eventually evolved into a massive internet subculture where users would pitch-shift almost any popular song to sound like a high-pitched, 'chipmunk' version often paired with anime visuals. In the meme world, Nightcore is frequently poked fun at for the simplicity of its creation process—essentially just speeding up an existing track—and its ubiquitous association with early 2010s YouTube gaming montages. Memes usually contrast the gritty intensity of an original song with the saccharine nature of the Nightcore edit, or depict the frantic energy listeners feel when the BPM starts climbing.