If you've been on the internet/TikTok recently and have a sense of humor, then chances are you know my girl Rosa very well.
She's become somewhat of a viral legend since this historic video was first posted onto TikTok in January, and she is now being quoted by teens and adults alike worldwide.
To date, the video has gotten over 9.8 million views on TikTok.
Since asking us for a dollar on that fateful day, Rosa's taken us on a journey through her love life...
...classroom feuds...
...and even a pregnancy scare. ๐ฌ
Behind that contour, big false lashes, and an even bigger personality is 20-year-old San Antonio, Texas, native Adam Martinez.
Adam told BuzzFeed that Rosa's persona is modeled after the girls he grew up with. He said, "Everybody just knows her, everybody loves her. It's a familiar feeling you get when you hear her voice. It was just something that I wanted to bring back."
Creating such hyper-specific, yet relatable moments can be hard for most, but to Adam it just comes naturally. "I pretty much put myself in her shoes and think about what she would experience on a daily basis and how she would react to certain situations."
โMEE OR HER?โ๐ญ
Since "open your purse" came into our lives, Adam has gained nearly two million followers on TikTok and gotten over 14 million likes on the platform. And honestly? He deserves every single one of those, plus more.
Hell, people are even making cookies in Rosa's likeness.
always fucking looking at me dude
And painting her onto classroom windows.
Love my school. Everythingโs there, the lash, the missing nail, I donโt want her to ever leave lol #UTRGV
And it wasn't until Adam saw his Insta following randomly blow up that he knew Rosa had gone multi-platinum. He said, "At that point I didn't even have a name for Rosa." When she first originated, she was simply known as the "Arizona Tea and Hot Cheetos queen."
Since all of Rosa's videos are filmed as if she's speaking to the viewer, many others have remixed Adam's videos. Two stars who found viral success of their own doing this are Marlene Mendez and Carlos Pereda.
P.E class with Rosa and Marlene @MarleneDizzle @ADAMRAYOKAY
"I think they're real dope," Adam said of the duo. "It's so cool how all three can come together and create this nostalgic feeling for people."
Rosa asking you for a chongo in 3rd period.
Marlene told BuzzFeed that she initially only made these reactions for her close friends on Twitter and never expected them to get so much love.
Rosa about to get down in 3rd period.
She went on to say, "Itโs been amazing seeing a lot of people relate to the reactions I post. Iโm glad people are enjoying them as much as I enjoy making them. Iโm just extremely grateful for it all."
They are all truly the Latino dream team.
Before I get hate yes I know Iโm nothing compared to Marlene but I still wanted to try this out! Rosa caught me crushing on her ๐๐
Adam said he makes these videos with the goal of making people laugh, and that that's going to be his goal forever. He wants people to focus less on the negative things in life and just to be a bright light of positivity in somebody's day.
@ADAMRAYOKAY yesterday my friends made me this poster for my last swim meet of the season because they know i fucking love you dude๐ญ๐
So what's in store for Rosa's future? Adam says he doesn't want to rush anything and wants to continue putting effort into his videos. "I take it day by day...figure out how I can just let Rosa be Rosa. I want to continue growing with her, and one day, would love to see her in a movie."
And if youโre wondering โ yes, Rosa did get that slushie.
