"Chocolate Rain" is a song by American singer

Tay Zonday Adam Nyerere Bahner (born May 21, 1982), better known by the pseudonym Tay Zonday or as "Chocolate Rain Guy",Fox News report about Numa Numa also mentions: ...fellow viral video star, 'Chocolate Rain Guy', aka Tay Zonday (Sep 22, 2010)Foxnews.co ...

. It quickly became popular after the music video for the song was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

on April 23, 2007, and has since been viewed more than 134 million times. "Chocolate Rain" was ranked as the hottest

viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...

of summer 2007 by CTV and was awarded the 2008 YouTube Award in the category "Music". Lyrically, the song is a metaphor for racism against African Americans in the United States.

Music video

The official music video for "Chocolate Rain," lasting 4 minutes and 52 seconds, was uploaded on April 23, 2007 to

's official

channel. The video portrays Zonday in a recording studio wearing a white T-shirt and singing into a

condenser microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

. Occasional cuts to Zonday playing a

digital piano A digital piano is a type of electronic keyboard instrument designed to serve primarily as an alternative to the traditional acoustic piano, both in how it feels to play and in the sound it produces. Digital pianos use either synthesized emulat ...

are also shown. A caption appears early in the video – "**I move away from the mic to breathe in". The music video was ranked as the hottest

of summer 2007 by CTV. The video has garnered over 133 million views .

Critical reception

Garth Montgomery of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' described the song as having a "hypnotic quality," with "curious vocals that sound like a man much older than the young artist," playing over a "cheesy"

drum loop In music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections can be repeated to create ostinato patterns. Longer sections can also be repeated: for example, a player might loop what they play on an entire verse of a song in order to ...

. During a brief interview on ''

The Opie and Anthony Show ''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show originated in 1994 when Cumia took part in ...

'', Zonday called the song "cheesy" and commented how its lyrics dealt with racism. The initial spread of the popularity of the song was due to

4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime and manga to video games, cooking, weapons, television, ...

. Zonday said, "I'm pretty sure the 'Chocolate Rain' attention started as a joke at 4chan.org, an internet forum that is credited with starting lots of popular internet phenomena. It spread to a general audience and people started uploading spoofs. I don't know what causes people to listen to my music. If I could speak it, there would be no reason to write songs."

Performances

Clips of the video have been played or referenced on television and radio shows, including

G4TV G4 (also known as G4TV) was an American pay television and digital network owned by Comcast Spectacor that primarily focused on video games. The network was originally owned by G4 Media, a joint venture between the NBCUniversal Cable division ...

's ''

Attack of the Show ''Attack of the Show!'' (''AOTS'') is an American live television program and that aired on G4 (American TV network), G4. AOTS features segments on pop culture, video games, and movies. After an initial run from 2005 to 2013 (which originally a ...

'', ''

Last Call In a bar, a last call (last orders) is an announcement made shortly before the bar closes for the night, informing patrons of their last chance to buy alcoholic beverages. There are various means to make the signal, like ringing a bell, flash ...

'' with

Carson Daly Carson Jones Daly (born June 22, 1973) is an American television host, radio personality, Television producer, producer, and celebrity, television personality. Prior to 2003, Daly was a VJ (media personality), VJ on MTV's ''Total Request Live'', ...

, ''

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', '' Maury'' and '' Online Nation''. On August 9, 2007, Zonday performed the song on the late-night talk show ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' as part of its "Internet Talent Showcase".Zonday performs "Chocolate Rain"
on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', August 9, 2007 It has also been performed live on the

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Chris Moyles Show ''The Chris Moyles Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Chris Moyles, originally broadcast as Radio 1 Breakfast from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012 before transferring three years later on 21 ...

''.Zonday performs "Chocolate Rain"
on ''The Chris Moyles Show'' Later, Zonday came out on ''

Lily Allen and Friends ''Lily Allen and Friends'' is a British TV talk show presented by Lily Allen. The programme was produced by Princess Productions for BBC Three. It was first shown on 12 February 2008. The audience consists entirely of Lily's online friends, who ...

'', where he sang in a live performance of

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings publi ...

's song "

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses ...

". Zonday performed Chocolate Rain during the autism education benefit Night of Too Many Stars on October 2, 2010. During some 2007 and 2008 performances,

LeRoi Moore LeRoi Holloway Moore (September 7, 1961 – August 19, 2008) was an American saxophonist. He was a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band. Moore often arranged music for songs written by Dave Matthews. Moore also co-wrote many of the band's ...

, the saxophonist for the

Dave Matthews Band Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...

, integrated the melody into an outro on the band's song " The Dreaming Tree". Zonday also got a " Web Redemption" on

Daniel Tosh Daniel Dwight Tosh (born May 29, 1975) is an American comedian, writer, and producer. After graduating from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Marketing, Tosh moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in comedy. His career acceler ...

's show ''

Tosh.0 ''Tosh.0'' ( ) is an American television series that aired on Comedy Central from June 4, 2009, to November 24, 2020. The series is hosted and produced by comedian Daniel Tosh, who provides satirical commentary on online viral video clips, inter ...

''.

Spoofs and tributes

"Chocolate Rain" is the subject of numerous parodies, tributes, remixes, and covers on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. Major musical artists (such as

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

and

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...

drummer Tre Cool) have spoofed the song on TV and

and Blamesociety Productions produced its own parody using

Chad Vader ''Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager'' is an American fan web sitcom created by Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan, who wrote, directed, and appeared in the series, which parodies '' Star Wars''. The show's central character is Chad Vader, the day-shift mana ...

. Zonday himself appeared on the August 2007 episode of VH1's ''

Best Week Ever ''Best Week Ever'' is an American comedy series created and executive produced by Fred Graver. The series originally aired from January 23, 2004, to June 12, 2009, on VH1.Harris, Scott"VH1 Cancels 'Best Week Ever'". ''Inside TV''. January 13, 20 ...

'' and performed a parody called "Summer Break". In March 2008, Zonday performed the song during ''YouTube Live'' - during the same show,

Bo Burnham Robert Pickering "Bo" Burnham (born 1990) is an American comedian, musician, songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His comedy work often combines musical, sketch, and stand-up elements with filmmaking. Following his success as one of the earliest ...

(with his song " Welcome to YouTube") made a comical reference to the song, with the lyrics "Your favourite coat's got a doo-doo stain, I pray to God that's Chocolate Rain." Zonday was featured in the music video for rock band

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

's song "

Pork and Beans Pork and beans is a culinary dish that uses pork and beans as its main ingredients. Numerous variations exist, usually with a more specific name, such as Fabada Asturiana, Olla podrida, or American canned pork and beans. American canned pork a ...

" and appeared in a YouTube video with Weezer's

Brian Bell Brian Lane Bell (born December 9, 1968) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and occasional lead vocalist of the rock band Weezer, with whom he has recorded fi ...

to play an acoustic version of "Pork and Beans" on June 3, 2008. Zonday himself appeared as a guest voice on an episode of ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...

'', where the song was spoofed as "Chocolate Grain". The song was part of the mashup "Like Tears In Chocolate Rain" from

Neil Cicierega Neil Stephen Cicierega ( ; born August 23, 1986) is an American comedian, actor, filmmaker, singer, YouTuber, musician, songwriter, puppeteer, artist, and animator. He is known as the creator of a genre of Flash animation he termed "Animutation ...

's ''

Mouth Sounds ''Mouth Sounds'' is a mashup album by American musician Neil Cicierega. The album was released independently by Cicierega on April 27, 2014. Consisting of mashups pairing Top 40 hits of the 1980s and 1990s along with Smash Mouth's " All Star" ...

''. On April 2, 2008, ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' aired " Canada on Strike", in which Zonday appears talking about "Chocolate Rain" (along with other Internet memes), only to be killed when a stare from the Dramatic Look Gopher makes his head explode. The title of the hit was humorously manipulated in the phrase "get ready for some chocolate pain" within the episode. The episode brought back the video's popularity and boosted its views by over one million in the days following its airing. In ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

'' episode "

Business Ethics Business ethics (also known as Corporate Ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business co ...

," Michael Scott confesses that when he discovered YouTube, he "watched

Cookie Monster Cookie Monster is a blue Muppet character on the long-running PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' In a song in 2004, and later in an interview in 2017, Cookie Monster revealed his real name as "Sid". He is best known for his ...

sings 'Chocolate Rain' about a thousand times". This prompted the creation of several such videos a few days later. While making a guest appearance on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's lead ...

'' in April 2007,

Paul Reubens Paul Reubens (; born Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer. He is known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, an ...

debuted a spoof educational movie called ''Journey to Banana Land'' that beckoned "Chocolate Rain" when the narrator mentions cocoa trees; Zonday's YouTube video is used as Reubens sings along (Zonday himself performed the song on ''Kimmel'' in August 2007, to a mixed audience reception.) On ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...

'',

Liz Liz is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "God's Promise". It is also a short form of Elizabeth, Elisabeth, Lisbeth, Lizanne, Liszbeth, Lizbeth, Lizabeth, Lyzbeth, Lisa, Lizette, Alyssa, and Eliza. People * Liz Balmaseda (born 1959), Pu ...

called Toofer "Chocolate Rain" in "

SeinfeldVision "SeinfeldVision" is the first episode of the second season of '' 30 Rock'' and the twenty-second episode of the series. It was written by the series' creator, executive producer and lead actress, Tina Fey and directed by producer Don Scardino. Th ...

". It was also referenced in the

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...

episode " Boating Buddies". Squidward spills hot chocolate on himself and SpongeBob says, "Chocolate Rain!" On July 28, 2017 the rock and roll jam band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...

paid tribute to the song by performing it as the opening number to their Baker's Dozen chocolate donut themed concert at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

Commercials

In November 2007, Tay Zonday licensed the song to and recorded spoof lyrics for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

as a promo clip for their show ''Last Laugh with Lewis Black''. On November 28, 2007, Zonday released a spoof/sequel to the song titled "Cherry Chocolate Rain". The music video is professionally shot and makes many allusions to the original song. The song makes fun of itself with its over-the-top visuals and mentions how Zonday was "paid a hefty, hefty fee" to do the video, as well as featuring professional rapper Mista Johnson, who repeats, "He moves his mouth away from the mic so he can breathe." The video and song were created as part of a promotional campaign for Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr Pepper.

License

The song and video are licensed under a

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

BY-NC-ND license. It has been suggested that the relative openness of the license has helped to encourage the song's spread. Creative Commons has praised Tay Zonday specifically for this very reason. Zonday has expressed his own thoughts on the licensing situation on his Myspace blog, stating, "I want non-profit radio and small mom/pop cafes to be able to play my music for free. But I also want giant corporations who can afford to give me a dime or two to pay fair royalties."Tay Zonday's
Myspace page

References

External links

Tay Zonday's Personal Website
* {{authority control 2007 songs Songs against racism and xenophobia Songs about black people Viral videos 4chan phenomena Internet memes introduced in 2007 2007 YouTube videos Creative Commons-licensed works