Long before TikTok users discovered the trendy “B*tches Come and Go Brah” audio, was Drain Gang. And Shield Gang. And Gravity Boys. And Sad Boys. These are all different names for basically the same thing – a Swedish music group made up of the four rappers Yung Lean, Bladee, Ecco2k, and Thaiboy Digital. The TikTok audio is borrowed from the chorus of Yung Lean’s classic song from 2013, Ginseng Strip 2002. The most popular name the music group commonly goes by is Drain Gang. The group’s fans are known by the artists and between each other as “Drainers.”
What makes a Drainer?
As with any community, there can be many differences between Drainers. Most Drainers foster a lot of tolerance for others’ beliefs, while some outliers are racists. Some Drainers lift weights, and others are built like popsicle sticks. If we were to set personal differences aside and look for similarities within the group, we can see that the vast majority of drainers show qualities like asocial behavior, depression, drug abuse, and spending much time immersed in internet culture. These qualities unite Drainers mostly because they are major themes in Drain Gang’s music.
Drainers can be found all over the internet, but one main platform they use to spread ideas is Instagram. On Instagram, you can find many accounts poking fun at the enigmatic music artists by posting original memes. The next three memes were all created and posted by Instagram user @animebladee .
Meme Examples
Meme using an infamous picture of Bladee slouching in an absurdly over-sized jacket
How to Join The Drainer Community
One of the best ways to get involved in the Drainer community is to join a group chat. The two most popular places to find an active Drainer group chat are Instagram and Discord. I would recommend messaging user @animebladee about an Instagram group chat or clicking the link to a Drainer Discord server in the bio of user @aimeegtb .
Drainers enjoy talking about many different topics. They obviously enjoy sharing their opinions on Drain Gang’s music, but they also enjoy casual conversation and telling personal stories. Many Drainers use the internet to find a sense of digital community when they struggle to form meaningful relationships in their physical surroundings. In my personal experience, Drainers are always a welcoming bunch and they each have their own stories to tell – many of which are funny.
I interviewed one Drainer who started listening to the music group in 2016. “I started listening to Yung Lean, and some of his songs with Bladee features grew on me, and then I eventually started listening to Bladee. The first couple listens were challenging, but there’s some weird thing that happens when you listen to his music enough and you start to like it. It’s like an acquired taste pretty much. I can see why so many people think it’s trash music, but it’s my favorite.”
I then asked the Drainer (who wished to remain unnamed) how does one get started in the Drainer community? They replied, “Well, you have to listen to their [Drain Gang’s] music. I guess you could like the fashion stuff Drain Gang does, but if you can’t talk to me about a couple different albums – or at least your favorite songs – I’m not really gonna be able to talk about much with you. For the most part though, I’m always open to talking with new people who share the same interests as me. It’s cool to see other Drainers’ sense of fashion too.”
In conclusion, the Drainer community is a group of avid music fans that is growing each day. The internet serves as a foundation for their discussions, and there’s many welcoming online groups of Drainers that you can join today!