Last fall, the Russian music scene unexpectedly birthed a global phenomenon: “Sigma Boy.” Released by young singers Betsy and Maria Yankovskaya, this catchy tune exploded across social media platforms, racking up millions of views and sparking a viral dance trend among young audiences. However, the song’s ascent to internet fame hasn’t been without its detractors. From the European Parliament to Russian Orthodox traditionalists, voices from across the spectrum have called for censorship, labeling it everything from “brainrot” to a tool of “Russian information warfare.” This article delves into the story behind “Sigma Boy,” exploring its origins, its meteoric rise to virality, the meaning behind its seemingly nonsensical lyrics, and the controversies that have engulfed this unlikely hit.
The Genesis of a Viral Track: How “Sigma Boy” Was Born
The masterminds behind “Sigma Boy” are two youthful Russian talents: 11-year-old Betsy (Svetlana Chertishcheva) and 12-year-old Maria Yankovskaya. For Betsy, viral success is not a new experience. Three years prior, she captivated the internet with “Simple Dimple Pop It Squish,” another infectiously bubbly song that garnered over 8 million views on YouTube. Maria Yankovskaya also boasts an impressive resume in the entertainment industry, hosting a show on Russia’s STS Kids channel alongside her singing and blogging endeavors.
“Sigma Boy” made its debut on YouTube on October 4, 2024, and within a few short months, it had accumulated nearly 70 million views. Interestingly, the official video is far from a high-production affair. It features simple 2D animated cutouts of Betsy and Maria dancing against a backdrop of falling snowflakes, highlighting the song’s raw appeal rather than elaborate visuals.
Image of Betsy, Мария Янковская – Сигма Бой (official Audio)
Alt text: Official audio cover for Sigma Boy Russian song featuring Betsy and Maria Yankovskaya.
The song itself taps into the current vein of “brainrot content” that populates the internet. This category encompasses intentionally nonsensical and often absurd memes and videos, exemplified by the wildly popular Skibidi Toilet series created by Alexey Gerasimov. “Sigma Boy,” with its repetitive lyrics and simple melody, fits comfortably within this landscape of intentionally lowbrow yet highly engaging content.
The creative force behind “Sigma Boy” comes from Betsy’s father, composer Mikhail Chertishchev, who collaborated with musician Mukka (Serafim Sidorin) on the song’s lyrics and music. Mukka is known for his hit song “Devochka S Kare” (“The Girl With a Bob Cut”), indicating his familiarity with crafting songs that resonate with younger audiences. “Sigma Boy” was released under the label Rhymes Music, a company specializing in music for teenagers and known for working with popular artists like Dora and Maybe Baby, as well as previously collaborating with figures such as Morgenshtern, Soda Luv, and Tima Belorussky.
Chertishchev, at 38 years old, is a seasoned music producer and composer-arranger. He began his career creating ringtones, which he claims achieved “nationwide” virality in Russia, showcasing his early understanding of catchy melodies. He later transitioned to composing music for video games and films, contributing to numerous episodes of popular Russian animated series like Barboskiny and Luntik, as well as soundtracks for films by Melnitsa Animation Studio, including those about the Russian bogatyrs (epic heroes). Notably, he composed Vasilisa’s song for the 2013 animated film Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf 2, a song frequently performed on the Russian version of The Voice, highlighting his established presence in Russian popular culture.
Image of Иван Царевич и Серый Волк – 2: Песня Василисы
Alt text: Scene from Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf 2 animated film, featuring Vasilisa singing, highlighting Mikhail Chertishchev’s work in popular Russian animation.
In an interview with Kinopoisk, a Russian film website, Chertishchev revealed his intention behind “Sigma Boy,” stating he wanted to create a song about “an incredibly cool guy that everyone likes, but where the girls should be even cooler.” To achieve this, his co-writer Mukka delved into teenage internet slang to craft lyrics that would resonate with the target demographic. Interestingly, Chertishchev admitted, “I didn’t know about the ‘sigma’ meme, and honestly, I still don’t really get it,” suggesting the song’s connection to the “sigma male” concept was somewhat accidental or developed organically after the song’s release.
From Obscurity to Internet Sensation: The Viral Trajectory of “Sigma Boy”
After Betsy and Yankovskaya initially shared “Sigma Boy” on their social media platforms, the song quickly gained traction among their followers. However, its true ascent to internet stardom began when young people on TikTok and Instagram started using a snippet of the chorus in their dance videos. This user-generated content proved to be the catalyst for virality, as the catchy tune and simple dance moves became easily replicable and shareable.
Soon, social media influencers jumped on the bandwagon, creating their own dance videos and further amplifying the song’s reach. This influencer endorsement solidified “Sigma Boy” as a bonafide viral hit, propelling it into the mainstream internet consciousness.
Image of WOW ПРЕМЬЕРА! 04.10 релиз нашей с #БЭТСИ песни #СигмаБой🔥 #мариямараховска #музыка
Alt text: Social media announcement by Maria Yankovskaya promoting the Sigma Boy song release with Betsy, showcasing their initial self-promotion efforts.
The appeal of “Sigma Boy” extended beyond just teenagers. Older content creators also embraced the trend, creating remakes of the song, incorporating it into memes, and featuring it in “edits”—fan-made remixes and modifications of existing video and audio content. While the lyrics are primarily in Russian, the song’s accessibility is enhanced by the incorporation of numerous borrowed foreign words and recognizable brand names such as “sigma,” “boy,” “back,” “bankroll,” “Skittles,” “Snickers,” and “bitcoin.” This linguistic blend makes the song more universally understandable and relatable, even for those unfamiliar with Russian.
Pinpointing the exact moment “Sigma Boy” went truly viral is challenging, but a significant factor was the German TikToker simon.bth, who boasts 1.5 million followers. His signature style involves walking into public spaces with a large speaker, blasting music at full volume, and performing backflips. Simon created a series of videos featuring “Sigma Boy” set to his backflipping antics, with his most popular video amassing over 27 million views. Other videos in the series garnered between 1.2 and 20 million views, demonstrating the immense popularity of this particular trend. Maria Yankovskaya herself even made guest appearances in some of these high-energy videos, further boosting their appeal.
Image of Sigma boy 🐲 #tanzen #sigmaboy #backflip #fyp
Alt text: TikTok video thumbnail featuring German influencer simon.bth performing a backflip to Sigma Boy song, highlighting a key factor in the song’s viral spread.
In January 2025, “Sigma Boy” achieved a remarkable feat, reaching seventh place on the Billboard Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart. It positioned itself among established pop giants like Charli XCX, Ariana Grande, and Billie Eilish, even surpassing Kesha and Katy Perry, demonstrating its widespread popularity in the dance and pop music scene. Prior to this Billboard success, the track briefly topped Spotify’s Viral 50 Global chart, indicating its global reach and trending status across various regions, including Germany and South Korea.
Decoding the “Sigma Male” Meme: Context and Misinterpretations
To understand the “Sigma Boy” phenomenon, it’s crucial to understand the “sigma male” meme it references. The term “sigma male,” as it exists in internet culture today, emerged in the late 2010s within online forums that promoted pseudoscientific theories about male psychology and social hierarchies. These theories typically categorize men into archetypes like alpha, beta, and sigma, often within the context of the so-called “manosphere.” Like other concepts originating from the manosphere, the sigma male paradigm is often viewed as an example of toxic masculinity due to its rigid gender roles and hierarchical worldview.
But what exactly defines a “sigma male”? According to this online theory, a sigma male is characterized as masculine, similar to an alpha male, but crucially, he does not seek validation from others. He is portrayed as a “lone wolf,” operating outside of conventional social hierarchies, living by his own rules, and not driven by a desire for external recognition. Unlike alpha males, whose primary motivation is often seen as power and dominance, the sigma male’s driving force is supposedly self-expression and independence. Pop culture examples often cited as embodying the sigma male archetype include figures like Keanu Reeves, Yura Borisov’s character from the film Anora, and Soviet rock legend Viktor Tsoi, all known for their independent and somewhat enigmatic personas.
Image of sigma boy😎 | Patrick Bateman edit (American Psycho) | Sigma Boy (Slowed)
Alt text: American Psycho Patrick Bateman edit paired with Sigma Boy song, illustrating the meme’s association with varied and sometimes contradictory figures.
However, over time, the lines between alpha and sigma male archetypes have become increasingly blurred, to the point where the term “sigma” can now function as a general term of emphatic endorsement for almost anything deemed cool or impressive. For instance, Christian Bale’s character Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, a narcissistic and violent character, is often ironically labeled as a sigma male in online memes, highlighting the term’s evolving and often contradictory usage. In fact, the dance Betsy and Yankovskaya perform in the “Sigma Boy” music video begins with a reference to Bateman’s signature smirk from the film, demonstrating this ironic appropriation of the sigma male concept.
Interestingly, Betsy offered a different interpretation of the song’s meaning in an interview with the newspaper Argumenty & Fakty last December. She stated that the idea behind “Sigma Boy” “is that Masha and I are so cool, and the Sigma Boy is trying to win us over, and we are trying to win him over, too.” This interpretation frames the “Sigma Boy” not as an embodiment of the sigma male archetype, but rather as a figure to be pursued and potentially even surpassed in coolness by the female singers.
As acknowledged by its creators, “Sigma Boy” was consciously engineered to appeal to fans of existing viral trends such as the “fluffy hair” meme and “mewing” (a debunked oral posture technique popular in “looksmaxxing” subcultures focused on physical appearance improvement), as well as the popular online game Roblox. Many videos associated with these trends involve rating people’s or characters’ appearances using exaggerated percentages, such as “100000000% sigma boy,” further linking the song to this specific corner of internet culture.
Image of Do you have fluffy hair?🧑🦱 #shorts #fluffy #hair #sigma
Alt text: Short video thumbnail referencing the fluffy hair meme and sigma trend, illustrating the internet trends associated with Sigma Boy’s virality.
Backlash and Bans: The Controversies Surrounding “Sigma Boy”
The first significant criticism of “Sigma Boy” emerged last December from the left-leaning German newspaper Die Tageszeitung. The newspaper voiced concerns that young fans were idealizing a song that, in their view, “glorifies sexism and outbursts of violence.” This critique highlighted the potential negative interpretations of the “sigma male” concept and its association with potentially harmful behaviors.
A month later, in a speech to the European Parliament on January 26, German politician Nela Riehl advocated for banning the song. Riehl argued that “‘Sigma Boy’ is a viral Russian trope used on social media that communicates patriarchal and pro-Russian worldviews.” She described the tune as an “example of Russian infiltration of popular discourse,” asserting that the European Union must “target even these subtle infiltrations and falsifications.” This political condemnation framed “Sigma Boy” as not just a piece of viral content but also a potential tool of geopolitical influence.
Surprisingly, Riehl found an unexpected ally in the radical Orthodox movement Sorok Sorokov in Russia. This group, known for its traditionalist and conservative views, also voiced objections to “Sigma Boy,” but for different reasons. Sorok Sorokov activists complained that the song sexualizes teenagers, deeming it “obscene and harmful to children.” The group formally petitioned Russia’s Prosecutor General to investigate the track for allegedly violating the country’s media laws, citing concerns about its impact on young audiences.
In response to these criticisms, composer Mikhail Chertishchev defended his creation. He suggested that Sorok Sorokov’s activists were projecting their own “sexual baggage” onto the song if they perceived something inappropriate in two preteen girls dancing. He also refuted the accusations of patriarchal messaging, maintaining that there is nothing “patriarchal” about the lyrics and insisting that the song is simply about “lighthearted relationships between girls and boys” devoid of any political undertones.
On February 7, the Center for Countering Disinformation, a subsidiary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, entered the fray, tweeting that “Sigma Boy” is “part of Russia’s information warfare.” The center called on audiences to reject “Russia’s return to the global information space,” arguing that:
Russia has long used music as part of its information warfare in shaping its image in the international arena. The song Sigma Boy is no exception. Its popularity on TikTok, YouTube, and Spotify plays into the Kremlin’s hands by blurring critical attitudes toward Russian content and facilitating its return to the global cultural space. […] The success of Sigma Boy on social media creates a positive image of Russia among young people. […] Sigma Boy is not just a trending song; it is Russia’s test to see if the world is ready to accept its content again without criticism. If society does not recognize such manipulations, Russia will continue to return to the global information space, using culture as a weapon.
This statement escalates the controversy, positioning “Sigma Boy” as a deliberate tool of Russian propaganda and a test of the global community’s vigilance against Russian influence.
Despite these international and domestic criticisms, “Sigma Boy” has also found support within Russia’s political mainstream. The song has received endorsements from politicians in major political parties, most notably Leonid Slutsky, a prominent figure in the LDPR faction. Slutsky publicly denounced Nela Riehl’s speech in the European Parliament, characterizing it as an example of “cancel culture repression.” He argued that “the soft power of Russian culture is winning on the global pop scene” and that “our girls, talented schoolgirls, are advancing, crushing the corrupt foundations of LGBT fascism,” bizarrely linking the song to a culture war narrative. However, even within Russia, there has been some dissenting voices. Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the Safe Internet League and a prominent censorship advocate in Russia, criticized State Duma members for focusing too much attention on “Sigma Boy,” suggesting that there are more pressing issues facing the country.
Unfazed by the talk of potential bans and censorship, both domestically and internationally, Chertishchev seems to view the controversy as potentially beneficial. “If they want to, I actually think that kind of thing only makes people more curious to find out what’s being banned. Forbidden fruit is always the sweetest… So let them ban it if they want. It kind of works in our favor,” he stated in an interview in January, echoing the sentiment that controversy can often amplify rather than diminish a piece of content’s popularity.
In conclusion, “Sigma Boy” is more than just a catchy Russian song that went viral. It’s a cultural artifact that reflects the current landscape of internet trends, meme culture, and even geopolitical tensions. From its humble beginnings as a simple song by two young Russian singers to its unexpected journey to global virality and subsequent entanglement in political controversies, “Sigma Boy” has proven to be a fascinating and complex phenomenon, sparking debate and raising questions about the nature of online culture, viral content, and the unexpected ways in which music can become a lightning rod for diverse and often conflicting interpretations.
