Hello, this is either going to be a really good idea or a really really bad idea. I'm making this post to bring awareness to the ongoing joke in the osu community where people see me, a minority, a black person, streaming osu, and their first message is calling me Sytho.
I've been in the community for a few years now and I've been streaming osu for just as long. The amount of times someone came into my chat and called me Sytho or said I look like Sytho is absolutely astounding. I used to laugh it off, brush it off, because it's honestly not that serious. That said, after years of being told this joke and ignoring it, I've kind of reached a breaking point where I feel like something needs to be said to ALL of you.
I do not look, sound, or play osu like Sytho. Sytho is well-known for playing osu, I'm semi-well-known for making music. The ONLY similarity between Sytho and I is our skin color. Which leads both he and I to believe that this joke is racially motivated and frankly, we're both fucking tired of it. Yes, we know that there aren't many black osu players in the streaming space. So yes, I can understand why when people see me, the immediate comparison is Sytho as he's the biggest black osu creator. I am my own person however, and while Sytho is my friend, WE don't want to be compared to each other by a bunch of strangers PURELY because of our skin color.
It's not all the time but every once in a blue moon I might show my face in the osu! Discord server and just chill and talk to people. More than half the time I join the VC and show my face, I get called Sytho. The joke is old, it's not funny, and it needs to stop.
It's stuff like this that makes it really difficult for me to see the good in the osu community. I wouldn't still be in the community if I wasn't enjoying my time here, but time and time again I find myself rethinking my position in the community and if I should just find another game because of the strange negativity and racism that keeps showing itself. I don't want to be pessimistic, I know there are good times and good people in this community, which is the only reason I'm still here and making this post. THERE IS HOPE.
I addressed this on stream immediately after someone made the joke to me here if you're interested: Stream
I know that not every person that makes the joke has racially motivated intentions and just might think it's funny. I'm here to tell you that as one of the few black osu streamers in the game, (please notice I said streamers and not players), the joke is not funny. I am respectfully asking that we put an end to this joke because Sytho and I are not laughing. Yes I am speaking on behalf of Sytho as well because he has already expressed to me in VC his distaste with the community for constantly making this joke.
This is my first major public statement to the osu community. I will continue to make music for this game until I feel like I should disconnect myself. If you took the time to read all this, thank you. Have a good day.
The same type of jokes get posted here (and get removed) and it's just as tiring and annoying (e.g. asian person -> mrekk). I figure it's mostly just children rather than racially motivated, but I can't say for certain and it's unfortunate either way.
It's also just always been an issue in the osu community. The reason I initially left this community 8 years ago was because of how normalized using the n-word was. I left the cookiezi discord even while being an active mod for his twitch and openrec channels because of how many people in that discord (some other mods included) would just spam the n-word.
Other streamers also had similar issues with these things.
Unfortunately, this is just how the internet/gaming space is everywhere. A deadlock pro named ABL, in EU got banned from the weekly deadlock tournaments because he called someone the hard r on stream because he was tilted or something. Val is known for random people using the n word or being shitty people off stream/in game and pros girlfriends calling someone the n word off streams, csgo is... well we know what csgo mm/community is known for.
Promise this is not just an osu community thing and more so a internet/gaming space situation that's always been happening.
I don't think you understand how common this actually was. Also abl was known for being a shithead like that way before deadlock so it was simply something people expected of him lol.
Also these kinda aren't the same thing. It's more normalized as a funny thing within the osu community I think. People treat it as a joke. They simply don't see any wrong with it.
Nowadays the n-word isn't really used for that anymore, people are doing it in less extreme but also racist ways now, like what OP is commenting about. I don't think they're actually racist or that they even mean to insult him. They just think it's funny. The examples you gave, they use it to be insulting.
Why would you assume people in those communities aren't also using it to be funny behind the scenes if those communities and people in those spaces are comfortable using it in more deliberately insulting ways though?? I could give other examples (especially from the valorant comms) where the n word is using much more "casually" but I don't think that matters at this point. We overall agree with each other that it's wrong regardless.
I just disagree with claiming osu specifically has this problem and think that's disingenuous just because the game is very small. That's my main thing. This truly does just happen everywhere and you might think it mainly happens in osu because (I'm gonna assume this since osu is in your name) this is probably 1 of your main games and communities you frequent a lot, but things like this happen all the time in other communities but because osu is much smaller in comparison, you will see it more and it will get more attention because of this. I don't necessarily think it's an osu problem and rather it's more kids and (unfortunately) young adults being stupid and insensitive.
I agree, IMO its an unfortunate side effect with growing up online, with social media pushing racist and generally negative rhetoric to young people where they can engage with it anonymously.
I play a lot of valorant with my friends and the number of people openly saying racist/sexist things is crazy to the point where i have to turn off comms.
It's unfortunate but a rhythm game like osu will always have a younger audience and somehow they still find this stuff funny.
Osu is not one of my main games or communities, this account is just 15 years old lol. I've been part of a lot of communities over the years, some communities that are considered extremely toxic like the fgc (my main community) and they were still not as bad with casual racism.
Other communities are bad, but osu is especially bad because the player base is just a lot younger. It comes with the territory.
Kannst gleich wieder abhauen >.> Aber big sad
i dont think ive seen asian person = mrekk outside of osubuddy lately at least
Yeah because I remove them
thank you for your service 🫡
goat
wait alexrljones is a mod
for 3 years now
goat
goat
thanks man, i’m glad there’re people that are against this stuff rather than for it. cheers :)
you are awesome
That's why osubuddy is goated
the only time i've seen the asian=mrekk joke be funny is when someone compared Alex T
remember when any black person = varvalian in like 2021? shit was unfunny
The more i read the comments, the more i'm convinced it is indeed a bunch of racists
the mrekk jokes are when the person actually looks like mrekk tho lol
You'd be surprised
yeah and they were all well received lol
Because the community is racist, SHOCKER !!!
the biggest problem is that it’s so unoriginal and unfunny. as you said the majority of people making this kind of joke probably don’t have bad intentions, but man it’s gotta be annoying
back then people used to call black osu players Varvalian
To be completely honest, quite a lot of the osu! playerbase is both young and immature (especially in regards to race / nationality and gender questions)
The internet in general also loves making (or laughing at) racial jokes even when they're not the right people to make them
I think the community is generally getting older these days so that might be changing for the better, but ... yeah, sadly not surprised
This is a good point, I don't mean to make it seem like it's just the osu community because the Internet is the Internet but all honesty I don't receive this energy from anywhere else.
As much as some people in the community are getting older and maybe "growing out" of racist/homophobic/misogynistic/transphobic "jokes", many other kids are always joining the community, so I dont have much hope on it getting better, sadly.
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sadly this community wont ever change they all got 13y humor, sorry for this man
100% agree the jokes were annoying from the start and are even more annoying now, but it still gets repeated all the time, also including stuff like asian = looks like mrekk/btmc even though the people mentioned look nothing alike
from experience, a noticeable percentage of this community is/has been racist, and a larger percentage doesn't care [enough] about changing this/is complicit. i don't play any other games so i can't say if that's just gaming communities in general but it's unfortunate either way
Not a surprise, people support top players besides incidents like spamming the n word. They don't care about the players history, they could be the most racist, sexist, pedo piece of shit and the community doesn't give a fuck as long as they can get plays with big pp.
Fr we just tryna enjoy the same game
I’m sorry you have to deal with the constant racism, hopefully posts like these can bring light to the issue
NOT MY BROSKI CITY HE JUST A INNOCENT MF FUCK RACISM
Hi runny :>
hi runny
hi runny >_<
this is what happens when you have a community of sheltered internet users who see black people as a novelty rather than humans
people do better
I remember being called varvalian 🥀
back in 2020/21, i used to own a somewhat large osu server - qts (or the former .gg/osu) - and the server basically imploded on itself. a chunk of the staff were just outright immature & a lot of the server members were just teetering along the no instigation/problematic behaviour rules, which i foolishly allowed. a large portion of the community had racism or some form of -ism/-phobia that just didn’t sit right with me.
though the server’s downfall was entirely my fault mismanaging things and just being young with no experience, even if the server still existed like it used to previously, i don’t think i would’ve enjoyed it. it got so bad that i ended up making a different server that was entirely inclusive, non problematic, etc - completely unrelated to osu; it basically appealed to the crowd osu community would make fun of. anyway, at a certain point, i just realised the maturity of this community was that of an edgy 13 year old, so i didn’t bother reviving it and moved onto other things.
i really do like to think that the people that ive interacted with have improved as people, but it does sadden me that the community teeters this way. i’ve met some awesome people on there that i’m still in touch with to this day, and its cool to see people thrive in their own environment + watch them grow/mature as people.
my apologies for such a long ramble/comment, but seeing someone speak out about this community does strike pretty close to home considering the stuff that ive experienced, haha. i’m glad that at least someone had the courage to speak up and say something, cause i definitely didn’t and i don’t think anyone did several years ago. i do hope things in here improve in the future, cause this is an awesome game i’ve basically grown up with, and id love to see it thrive with amazing people. :)
Thank you for sharing your experience and why my post resonated with you. I didn't consider that I'd be a voice for others?.. I just got tired of it and figured people won't know that it's not cool unless I said something. It's disheartening to see the amount of people in these comments that have experienced something similar or even worse. Let's just hope that 2026 sees improvement in the community and hopefully this post can be a starting point.
considering all the upvotes your post got, you’ve definitely resonated with others and are appreciated for speaking up! :)
i do hope that 2026 brings new beginnings as well; here’s to a new year! 🥳🥂
The people that play this game is a bunch of white 13yo dweebs that think being racist is funny
Unfortunately, based on my own experiences trying to argue with those creatures here trying to justify that racism is just a phase and that it isn't that big of a deal, they are never going to change.
Imo you need to start banning everyone that comes into your chat making those kind of "jokes", set the tone real fast to the type of people you want as your audience.
If you watch a few minutes of the stream I linked (it takes you to the timestamp), I mentioned how that's what I intend on doing in the future from now on. I appreciate you for reading through it and giving your thoughts. ❤️
Idk if you stream with the 18+ tag but starting there might help a lot filtering out some of the immature humor.
Good idea. I have my stream marked as "Mature" so that when people joins stream it says that but I can add 18+ to tags as well.
Is the discord server referring to osugame? If so then that's also a cause since that server well... is filled with immature people. Then again I don't know how bad the standard community is but at least in the smaller mania servers people are way better.
Yeah I'm talking about osugame, I agree that there's a lot of immaturity. 🫤
dont worry you're not just "some black dude, basically sytho lol" to everyone, you're hearing the loud minority. For example to me you're the goat that remixed symbol I fire, that's your defining trait. People that compare you to sytho probably have nothing else to say and point out the only thing they can see through their blind ass eyes. It's individually not meant to be mean/racist, they are very likely only making a connection on the first thing they see, but as a whole it completely is racist, people dont realize. You're a good dude for staying objective while getting harassed and not hating the individuals themselves, only the entire thing, respect for that.
Idk if im making my point really clear but anyways i hope it's gonna stop, you deserve better from this community, i absolutely love your remixes, i hope your day is gonna be better after reading all the supportive comments
What a snowflake
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it's not that deep tbh
i wouldn't care to be compared to a great latino guy in the community, even more if we look alike
Sytho is a great guy
maybe you really look like sytho ?
not everything is racist imo
"It's not racism because i said so, i get to say when and what racism is !!!"
"it's racist because i said so, i get to say when and what racism is !!!"
No, it's racist because the comparison isn’t based on behavior, voice, content or personality, it’s based literally solely on the skin color. Reducing two different people to “you look like X” only because they’re both black treats blackness as the defining trait and erases individual identity.
Even if someone thinks it’s a joke, the logic behind it is still “Black people are interchangeable,” and that’s exactly what makes it racist.
lol have fun getting triggered by anything in your life, bro didn't get called racial slurs.
poor guy look vaguely like sytho so some kids will call him sytho, that's not the end of the world.
i wish you experience real racism somedays and rethink about this whole "look-alike" situation :)
1- He doesn't vaguely resemble sytho at all.
2- Calling someone slurs isn't the only way you can be racist, not even close.
3- You don't get to tell what is and what isn't racism.
1- he does vaguely resemble him
2-fair point but what's happening here isn't racism but some kids trynna clip farm for him
3- you don't get to tell what is and what isn't racism either lil bro ?
4- get off my dick and get laid
1- He does not vaguely resemble Sytho in any way besides the racist comment of deciding that saying every black person is the same supposed to be funny.
2- What is happening here is racism and racist people trying to tell a victim of racism that they aren't.
3- The comparison isn’t based on behavior, voice, content or personality, it’s based literally solely on the skin color. Reducing two different people to “you look like X” only because they’re both black treats blackness as the defining trait and erases individual identity.
Even if someone thinks it’s a joke, the logic behind it is still “Black people are interchangeable,” and that’s exactly what makes it racist.
4- I will do whatever i want, if you are not happy about being called the racist that you are, tough luck.
"racism jokes are bad because i said they are bad!!!!"
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hate to say it but... have you considered maybe its because the long dreads, the clothes, the durags, the facial hair? it's disingenuous to say that it's just a racial thing.
idk man i don’t go around calling people on the internet abe lincoln cause they’re tall, well dressed, have similar hair style, and have facial hair (forgive me if i made an awful comparison but i hope you get the point im trying to make lol).
adding to how OP mentioned “asian person = mrekk” - i get called kim jong un a solid amount of the time when the other party finds out im korean, and im sure other people of colour have had stuff like this occur to them. it unfortunately most likely is a racial thing. :(
Well as I mentioned I've been getting called Sytho for years and I've only had this hairstyle for around one year so far. Before, I had just normal hair, no locs, and people were still calling me Sytho. I don't expect you to know the history of my hair but even with my hair like this now, it looks nothing like his. His locs are long and even dyed, mine are still a bit short and a completely different texture. Our facial hair and clothes is COMPLETELY different 😭. Sytho has a sort of small beard while I have a mustache and often get sideburns that I have to cut off. Sytho doesn't wear durags he usually wears hair caps. He's very fashionable and I just wear casual/basic clothing. These comparisons just don't add up which is why it feels like a racial thing. Hope you can understand.
Why stay in the community then? It's not like a country or place where you live, it's very easy to just ignore
Telling somone to leave the community because you want to keep making racist jokes is indeed a choice.
it is because it's always easier (and usually the only realistic choice) to change something about yourself rather than trying to change a good chunk of the community
Realistically, any decent community should be able to push back against racism that plagues instead of just letting it fester.
Unless you're a racist yourself and rather push black people away because you don't want them in the community.
problem is such 'decent communities' do not exist because far less people care about it than you think
it is somewhat possible if it's heavily controlled by admins/mods etc but this is clearly not the case for osu
also no i dont care about blacks or whites or anyone else. im gonna push away ppl who are offended over every little thing on the internet that can be easily ignored. go play in your little isolated safespaces and dont enforce your rules on mentally healthy people
No, it's very possible for the members of the community to call out racism and it does work.
Thanks for letting me know that you are indeed a fucking racist that does not mind racism in the community (also funny that you talk about "not possible" to push people away while also saying you will push people away that don't comform to your racist ideals of being offended by what your pale ass decided is not enough to be considered racism).
Mentally healthy people don't think racism is a "little thing".
yeah and we're still seeing 'oh no X is being a racist/pedo/transphobe/sexist/etcetcetc' posts like every other week or so lmao. clearly works, one day the community will be free of those!!
the best you're going to achieve is expose specific people and maybe they will be forced to disappear from the public for a while (assuming they care about it in the first place). that barely does anything to other people (private discords etc)
i don't mind racist jokes because they are jokes yeah. quoting a certain someone down the thread 'you do not get to decide what is racism'
You literally just said you don’t mind racist jokes. That’s the whole disagreement.
Nobody is claiming calling shit out magically deletes racism forever. The point is setting a line for what’s acceptable in the community (and you even agree with that, since you also said that you will "Push people away who are offended over every little thing on the internet ", why would you do that if you think it doesn't work ?
When people affected by a joke say it’s not funny and your response is “I don’t care,” that’s not being neutral as you are actively choosing to be the orc that you are.
Also, something being a jokes does NOT make it not racist, not in the slightest, if anything people thinking it's funny that works is proof that it is racist
the thing is that a) i don't exactly care that much about pushing people away, it'd be nice if thats the case but if not it's also not a big deal and b) it's going to happen naturally as long as nothing is happening on a big scale. there's not a lot of options for people who are constantly experiencing negative emotions off interacting with a community - they either start caring less, leave it entirely or in rare cases continue seething for a long time (which is also fine with me since i then get to engage in some reddit tomfoolery from time to time). it'd be a different story though if such stories resulted in actual changes in the game/community but so far the only one i can think of that impacts me in any way is banning ai maps from being ranked - even then it's not really that bad because i barely keep up with newer maps and don't map myself anymore
what if i told those very same people that them asking me to not joke about something is offending me and limiting my freedom of expression on the internet? how come their negative emotions are going to be worth more over mine especially in a scenario when they are deliberately trying to restrict my actions whereas i had no negative intentions towards them from the start?
again, 'you do not get to decide what is racist'. even the definition states that racism is a 'belief' and jokes obviously aren't always reflecting the actual thoughts of a person
You keep reframing this as if anyone is asking you to personally care, or as if the only two outcomes are “racism is solved forever” or “nothing matters so why try.” That’s a false choice you’re inventing.
Nobody said calling things out instantly fixes a community. The point is deciding what behavior is acceptable. Communities don’t improve by magic or "naturally", they improve because people actively push back instead of normalizing shit.
You’re also not being restricted in any meaningful way. No one is banning you, silencing you, or stopping you from making jokes. People telling you “this is racist and we don’t want it” is social consequences. Freedom of expression doesn’t mean freedom from criticism or judgment (Especially when it's a racist like you trying to act like a victim).
The “you’re offending me by asking me to stop” argument doesn’t work either. One side is saying “this behavior targets a group and causes harm,” the other is saying “I want to keep doing it because I find it funny.” Those aren’t equivalent claims, and pretending they are is dishonest, though i'm sure you are very aware of it.
Hiding behind dictionary definitions doesn’t save you. Racism isn’t only about what someone consciously believes in their head. Repeated jokes aimed at a group precisely due to their race is racist regardless of intent, especially when the people affected consistently say it’s not funny. Intent doesn’t erase impact.
At the end of the day you’ve been very clear, you don’t care if racist jokes push people away, and you’re fine with that. That’s your position as a racist. Just own it instead of pretending this is about free speech, definitions, or “nothing ever changes anyway.”
How is it discriminatory.
Seriously? Being called someone else because of their skin color when it's blatantly not mistaken identity, come on.
are we deadass
Explain how it is discriminatory then.
????
It’s discriminatory because the comparison isn’t based on behavior, voice, content or personality, it’s based literally solely on the skin color. Reducing two different people to “you look like X” only because they’re both black treats blackness as the defining trait and erases individual identity.
Even if someone thinks it’s a joke, the logic behind it is still “Black people are interchangeable,” and that’s exactly what makes it racist.
probably ofd topic, but although thats is rather a disgusting and childish joke, it is not racist..