WorldStarHipHop, founded in 2005 by Lee 'Q' O'Denat, became a cultural phenomenon as the go-to destination for hip-hop news, music videos, and most notoriously, raw street footage. The 'WorldStar' meme specifically refers to the act of shouting the site's name while filming a public altercation or chaotic event. It symbolizes a specific era of internet culture where going viral often involved low-quality phone footage and high-stakes drama. Today, the term is used as a shorthand for any wild public freakout, and adding the iconic watermark to a video instantly signals to the audience that things are about to get intense.