L0thl0rien

Chocolate Rain

Why/how did "Chocolate Rain" become relevant on the internet?

Chocolate Rain is a music video by Tay Zonday that was posted on YouTube on April 22, 2007. It currently (September 20, 2011) has close to 72 million hits. Adam Nyerere Bahner (born July 6, 1982) is also known as Tay Zonday. In April 2007, Adam Bahner, originally a graduate student studying American Studies at the University of Minnesota, introduced deep-voiced singer Tay Zonday. It seems that Chocolate Rain became an internet phenomenon after it got the attention of Anonymous which started posting the video, jokes and remixes on the forum 4chan. This started around July 11, 2007, and by July 26 the video was featured on YouTube's front page which helped boost its' ratings.

There are several reasons that might explain why Chocolate Rain became an Internet sensation. First of all, the cryptic lyrics might puzzle viewers about the meaning of the song. Second, Tay Zonday`s distinct, deep voice (as an old man) along with the same rhythm throughout the song is disturbing/annoying and hypnotizing at the same time. Even though you do not want to listen to the song, you still do. On top of this is the artist's unusual strange performance where he sings with a crooked mouth, and details such as the way he “…move away from the mic to breath”, making the video funny to watch. Hence, it seems like Chocolate Rain's relevance on the Internet has mainly been to humor people.

The video features then unknown baritone singer, Tay Zonday, singing into a condenser microphone with a digital piano playing in the background. The caption “I move away from the mic to breathe in” appears early in the video. When asked on the Opie & Anthony Show about Chocolate Rain's meaning, Zonday answers; “the song definitely has undertones about racism”. On the songs popularity, Zonday said: "I'm pretty sure the 'Chocolate Rain' attention started as a joke at 4chan.org. It spread to a general "I move away from the mic to breathe in" audience and people started uploading spoofs."

Since the phenomenon hit YouTube, Tay Zonday has made numerous appearances on television, performing on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, VH1 Best Week Ever, Comedy Central, America's Got Talent and CNN for interviews. On August 12, 2007, Zonday made the front page of the Los Angeles Times.

How popular is “Chocolate Rain”?

On April 22 2007 Chocolate Rain was posted on YouTube. According to Google insights, the search for “Chocolate Rain” was highest in August 2007 followed by August 2008, but with only half of the searches compared to the year before. The searches for “Chocolate Rain” have been very low, but stabile since September 2008. By September 2011, the Internet meme had reached almost 72 million hits (71,996,068).

Include other memes that may have emerged from this.

After the big success on YouTube with “Chocolate Rain” many known and unknown people have tried to capture Zonday's voice and cover it. Some have done parodies on the popular YouTube phenomenon. If you browse through YouTube and search for Chocolate Rain, you will find that there are numerous people that have tried to sing the song in their own way.

Here is an example where a woman sings the song in a slightly more conventional way than the original:

She is not the only one that has done another version of the YouTube phenomenon. John Mayer has also done a version.

The person that originally sings the YouTube hit, Tay Zonday, has even been hired to star in a commercial for the famous soda brand, Dr. Pepper:

Epic Beard Man

Epic Beard Man's name is Thomas Alexander Bruso aka Vietnam Tom or Tom Slick. He`s a 67 year old Vietnam veteran and became an internet “star” after a fight on an AC Transit bus in nearby Oakland on February 15, 2010. The whole event started with a friendly chat between Tom and a black man (Michael) on the bus, which ended up getting out of control and a fight ensued. The entire fight and arguing was caught on tape by a passenger and posted on YouTube. The video of the fight spread to the forum 4chan and other internet forums after the plight of “Return EBM`s bag”, and it spread fast.

After the video spread on YouTube and 4chan, Anonymous started Operation I Am A Motherfucker. They found Iyanna Washington's (the women who was caught on tape) address, phone number, and social network information just to harass her, berating her for her racist comments and to demand her to return EBM's bag, that she picked up after he exited the bus. This video was among the top 5 watched videos on YouTube the first week it was out, but was not included in the official list. It peaked on February 17, leading to some other Meme`s.

Amber lamps

When Michael tried to tell the other passengers that they had to call an ambulance, since he was bleeding from his mouth, he mispronounced ambulance and said Amber lamps instead. Amber lamps soon became a Meme and the girl who sits behind Michael is now associated with the word. The Meme is based on her lack of any form of reaction that unfolded.

Bring M&M's

Another meme that was based on Michael's mispronunciation of the word ambulance.

I AM a motherfucker

The phrase was written on the back of Epic Beard Man’s T-shirt. A minor meme was born from this and became associated with his perceived personality. It later was the name of a minor documentary about EBM and the incident on the AC bus.