Is the MC Mateo Aquarium arm story real? Viral claim surrounding 'rapper' debunked

A story about a rapper named MC Mateo is going viral on social media, with a rather bizarre claim. 

The unfounded rumor suggests that the Atlanta-based music artist had an aquarium implanted in one of his arms. The viral assertion appeared on a TikTok handle @queen.horrors with a narration in Russian. Recently, a similar story was posted by @nightmareink11 on Instagram, with an AI voiceover. The video about MC Mateo claims: 

“A rapper implanted a real aquarium inside his own arm all just to attract attention.” 

The AI-generated animated clip continues narrating the implausible story of the rapper: 

“The artist, born in Atlanta, decided to turn his forearm into a miniature fish tank. He looked for a doctor willing to do something no hospital would ever approve and ended up in an underground clinic. They opened his arm, inserted a transparent container, added colored LED lights, and then filled it with water.” 

The post claimed that the doctors filled the rapper’s aquarium with tiny fish that “swam beneath his skin.” According to the story, the rapper had to regularly change the water and administer special nutrients to the fish for them to survive. @nightmareink11’s video asserted: 

“To show off his creation, he began performing at concerts with the illuminated arm. While he sang, the fish moved to the rhythm of the music and that made him famous overnight.” 

The story concludes with MC Mateo amputating his arm due to an infection and selling the aquarium to make money. The claims made in the viral clip are false, as no rapper from Atlanta pulled off such a stunt. Neither any music artist made that claim in real life, nor any media outlet reported the incident.

The viral MC Mateo is not a real individual, but rather an urban legend on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. Many content creators have used the rapper’s name to churn out fabricated stories with ridiculous claims. 

Netizens react to the fake story of MC Mateo’s aquarium implant

The fabricated story of the rapper having one of his limbs implanted with a fish tank went viral. Social media users were quick to call it fake. 

“Do ever think to your self like dam should I post some real instead,” a user called out the Instagram clip. 

“Top 10 things that didn’t happen,” another user posted a GIF. 

“Source: Trust me bro,” one user commented. 

“😂 stories are getting out of hand 🤚,” another one used a pun. 

A user (@straobewi) explained the origin of the fabricated story and wrote: 

“this is a made up story, I checked it up, it was a fake story and the rapper name was MC Mateo.” 

The user claimed: 

“this story first originated from a facebook post talking about it but it was an AI voiceover of joe rogan to make it seem like he was talking abt it 😭 the hashtag used was #urbanlegend so it's def fake.” 

The aquarium arm is not the only claim that went viral on social media. Another such fake story involved MC Mateo undergoing a procedure to achieve a golden, scaly skin around his neck and shoulders.