In the center of meme lore
a 1986 Italo-disco song by an Italian band named P.E.P.E. featuring a green cartoon frog on its cover. Decades later, meme mystics on 4chan would hail this funky tune as the prophetic first incarnation of Pepe the Frog, proof of so-called “meme magic.” What started as an obscure Euro-disco track became the unofficial anthem of an alt-right “meme religion” centered on Pepe/Kek, spawning international in-jokes, a fictional country (Kekistan), and a whole lot of “Praise Kek! Shadilay, my dudes!”
History
In 1986, an obscure Italian disco band named P.E.P.E. released a synth-pop track titled “Shadilay”, complete with cover art featuring a green frog holding a magic wand. Decades later, internet culture discovered this forgotten vinyl and declared it a divine meme omen. That frog wasn’t just any frog.
Timeline
March 1986 A Frog is Born: Italian artist Manuele Pepe (performing as band P.E.P.E.) releases “Shadilay,” a synthy Italodisco single. The record label’s logo? A green frog wielding a magic wand, printed above the band name “P.E.P.E.”
2005 Pepe the Frog Says “Feels Good Man”: American cartoonist Matt Furie introduces Pepe the Frog in his comic Boy’s Club. Pepe’s chill catchphrase “feels good man” becomes an early meme on MySpace and 4chan.
2015 Pepe Goes Political: As the 2016 US election heats up, internet trolls begin spawning edgy Pepe variants to align the frog with the emerging altright movement
September 2016 Prophecy Unlocked: Amid this memetic fervor, an anonymous 4chan user stumbles upon a vintage vinyl that blows everyone’s mind: Shadilay by P.E.P.E. Complete with that frog holding a wand on the cover, band name “PEPE,” and the year 1986 – truly a “wtf bro” moment. On 4chan’s /pol/ board, users go nuts: could this be a sign from the Meme Gods?! The song is posted to /pol/ around September 11–13, 2016, and quickly hailed as “proof of meme magic” and the Prophecy of Kek fulfilled.
Mid Sept 2016 Meme Magic Intensifies: As news of Shadilay spreads, 4chan anons crank the meme machine to 11. A YouTuber reposts the song under the title “/pol/ exclusive – P.E.P.E. – Shadilay”racking up views from curious frogs. The very next day, a remixer named DJ Magaman drops a SoundCloud Eurobeat remix of Shadilay.
January 2017 IRL Meme Magic: The Pepe phenomenon leaps from the web to the streets. At the “He Will Not Divide Us” anti-Trump art protest (a live-stream installation by actor Shia LaBeouf), 4chan users orchestrate IRL trolling raids. Over several days, young men show up on camera with Pepe signs and inside-joke chants. They blare Shadilay on portable speakers and even tape the word “KEK” in big letters on a wall
Tokenomics
