In Praise of Black Nerds, Part 2

I was ambivalent about whether to post this video or not, largely because almost everyone has seen it. Then, when I knew the subject couldn't be avoided, I hedged again, thinking that I might curse you to hearing this song in your head all day, walking around screaming "Chocolate Rain!" all day for no apparent reason, just as I am. And you will be singing "Chocolate Rain!" This video is sort of like marijuana; the first time you experience it you think 'What's the big deal?' Then later, when the effects kick in, you realize you've been kicked down the stairs and onto your ass.

What is so intriguing about Tay Zonday's little ditty? Is it the fact that his head appears, gnome-like, at the bottom of the screen before jumping into action? Is it that during the song he dodges to the side, lizard-like, to breath? Is it that he looks like he could be 14 or 40, male or female, but whoever he looks like doesn't look like someone who would sing with that bass voice? Perhaps it's the lyrics themselves, serious words that are easily misinterpreted as scatalogical humor. Or maybe it is just the way he stares at the camera at the end, with a look that is either the most innocent expression in the world or the most creepy. Maybe it's just that the song goes on for four minutes without break or hook or self-consciousness about this fact.

Here's to Tay Zonday, for being black and intelligent and eccentric and creative and completely unapologetic about that fact. So unapologetic, in fact, that when he does a reading to show viewers his speaking voice, he chooses as his source material Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried." No Maya Angelou for this brother.



This is exactly what the world needed: a nerd Jon Lucien! For those who have slept on the magic of JL, click here to be initiated:

CHOCOLATE RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!