Chocolate Rain: The Derivative Myth Debunked
August 18, 2007 by Mike Abundo
Filed under Computers, Music
Thanks to online video and Creative Commons, one grad student’s apartment demo of his Barry White voice has become a summer sensation. In April, Tay Zonday posted his original song, Chocolate Rain, on YouTube. Four months and six million views later, it’s been remixed by YouTubers, covered by John Mayer, and featured by Jimmy Kimmel.
8-Bit Chocolate Rain
John Mayer – Chocolate Rain
Chocolate Rain on Jimmy Kimmel Live
Whereas Numa Numa was not an original YouTube song, Chocolate Rain is. This song is proof that bottom-up social media memes need not be top-down mass media derivations. While this song denounces racism, this song’s success debunks the Derivative Myth.
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] music for the age of the mashup. Tay Zonday’s Chocolate Rain, a Creative Commons viral video sensation, is getting remixed like crazy. Check out some of my [...]
[...] Ad budgets aren’t infinite. If all that money’s going into online video, it’s getting out of offline video. TV execs should be shitting their pants about now. Chocolate rain… [...]
[...] with Prince’s DMCA takedown notices two thousand times. Purple Rain my ass. We listen to Chocolate Rain [...]
[...] Chocolate Rain singer Tay Zonday delivers a primer on Internet celebrity in this Q&A session at YouTube HQ. Spoiler: they ask him then and there if he wants YouTube revenue shares. Read More [...]
[...] are filled with a mix of excitement and confusion. Gabriel Cheifetz follows Tay Zonday (of Chocolate Rain fame) to his first major live [...]
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[...] Weezer’s collaboration with YouTube stars for their new single Pork and Beans, Tay Zonday sings his own version of the media independence [...]