Fans of Tay Zonday

You may not have heard of him but many have and Tay Zonday has become one of the biggest celebrities of the internet world. He made it to the big time with his song "Chocolate Rain and has the video on You Tube. This is how Tay became so popular.

In the music world that is filled with the unoriginal, comes the musician called Tay Zonday. His music is criticized by many as not being legitimate music. However, what Tay does is go against what is considered the "norm" and continues to make music that is entertaining and has a message. He shares his voice that is deep and quite unusual with a multitude of fans who find his music a breath of fresh air.

Tay does not internalize the comments made by his critics to stop making his style music. He perseveres and does what he wants to do.

Although Tay looks no older than fourteen, he is actually 25. His real name is Adam Nyerere Bahner.
Tay was born on July 6, 1982 and is of African descent. He's a student in American Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
When asked about his race Tay responded:
" The straight-faced answer is that I'm Martian. They don't have a box for me on the census form. I'm the write-in candidate that the government leaves no space for when you have to choose your race. Seriously, is race something you choose? The whole point is that I don't choose it. It is somebody else's shortcut to my soul. So journalists ask "what's your background?" like I'm supposed to retell someone else's story about me as though it's a fact of who I am and where I come from. As long as I talk about myself in fiction that someone else wrote, I might as well write my own fiction: I'm from Mars. Most believe the story that I'm a black mulatto.[3] "

He attended the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy between 1997 and 1998, leaving after his sophomore year. He then went on to earn his undergraduate degree at The Evergreen State College. He has said that growing up, his parents did not allow him to listen to popular music. When music downloading services such as Napster came around, he began to secretly build a small collection of popular music. Tay makes many references in interviews as to how much he loves his parents; despite the fact that many of his songs are dedicated to them, he describes himself as a "musical orphan", having no influences and not feeling particularly connected to any musicians or bands. [4] Tay says his voice is often compared to Paul Robeson, Barry White, James Earl Jones, and Brad Roberts of the Crash Test Dummies.[5]He attended the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy between 1997 and 1998, leaving after his sophomore year. He then went on to earn his undergraduate degree at The Evergreen State College.
He has said that growing up, his parents did not allow him to listen to popular music. When music downloading services such as Napster came around, he began to secretly build a small collection of popular music. Tay makes many references in interviews as to how much he loves his parents; despite the fact that many of his songs are dedicated to them, he describes himself as a "musical orphan", having no influences and not feeling particularly connected to any musicians or bands. [4] Tay says his voice is often compared to Paul Robeson, Barry White, James Earl Jones, and Brad Roberts of the Crash Test Dummies.[5]

[edit] Media response
Within a month of releasing Chocolate Rain, Zonday went from grad student in Minneapolis[6] to appearances on national television. He appeared on the Opie & Anthony Show,[7] G4TV's Attack of the Show!, VH1's Best Week Ever,[8], Lily Allen and Friends, and Jimmy Kimmel Live,[9][10] where he performed "Chocolate Rain" on national television a little over three months after he posted his composition on YouTube. He made the front page of Sunday's Los Angeles Times on August 12, 2007 with additional features in The Toronto Star, The Chicago Tribune''s RedEye, The Star Tribune[11] and People[10] and has appeared on CNN[12] for a televised interview. He also has appeared on Foxnews. On February 12, 2008, he appeared on British television show Lily Allen and Friends on BBC Three, and performed a cover of Lily Allen's debut hit "Smile". In March 2008 this popular video won a Youtube-award in the category "Music", and he was also spoofed in the South Park episode "Canada on Strike".

The Australian Daily Telegraph newspaper wrote: "Tay Zonday has written perhaps the most listened to song in the world right now."[13] People said: "He's scored a YouTube hit with his repetitive, keyboard-driven "Chocolate Rain", and after a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Tay Zonday's star is shining even brighter."[10] The article also noted that celebrity musicians paid tribute to the song as its popularity rapidly peaked in August 2007. Singer John Mayer reportedly mimicked Zonday's keyboard riff with his guitar in concert,[14][15] along with appearing on Best Week Ever improvising a parody to the tune of Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right".[16] Green Day drummer Tré Cool recorded a cover of "Chocolate Rain" which he posted on Youtube.[17] Tay Zonday also became the subject of thousands of other parodies and remixes on YouTube. A clip of his video was also shown on CW11's Online Nation, a new series.[18][19][20]

[edit] Singles
Tay's best known single is "Chocolate Rain", released on YouTube on April 22, 2007. The spread of the song is partly attributed to 4chan.[21] Tay Zonday said,

I'm pretty sure the "Chocolate Rain" attention started as a joke at 4chan.org, an image board 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. [22]

Other releases via YouTube, his website, and his MySpace[23] include "Internet Dream", "The Only Way", "Demons on the Dance Floor", "Do the Can't Dance", and "Say No to Nightmares". He has also performed covers of "Rainbow Connection", "Never Gonna Give You Up", and "Edelweiss" which were removed from YouTube when the artist chose to focus on original material. Tay's singles, in chronological order, are:

"Demons on the Dance Floor"
"Love" (featuring Kooby)
"Never Gonna Give You Up" (Rick Astley cover) (appear in the DJ Raiden's album Never Gonna Give You Up)
"Chocolate Rain"
"Internet Dream"
"The Only Way"
"Do the Can't Dance"
"Say No to Nightmares"
"Someday"
"Too Big for You"
"Get It Back" (Thug Remix)
"Cherry Chocolate Rain"
"Chasing Eden"
"Crash into Weird"
"Start Me Up" (karaoke version of the Rolling Stones song)
"Remembering You"
"Explode"

[edit] Collaboration with Dr Pepper
On 28 November 2007, Tay released a brand new video titled "Cherry Chocolate Rain",[24] which is, in his words, "a music video to celebrate Dr Pepper's new Cherry Chocolate beverage". Since its release the video has maintained a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.[25]

Zonday's collaboration led some to accuse him of having "sold out". In a November 2007 interview with the Star Tribune, Zonday responded to the accusation, stating, "I don't know what people mean by that . . . I still make my own videos. I still make my own music."[26]

From Wikipedia

Many would question why I love listening to Tay's music. Well the answer is that Tay is simply entertaining. I first caught wind of Tay when I was up late one night searching for a song, clicked the wrong link and ended up watching Chocolate Rain. My first response was laughter because Tay's videos are very funny. Although Tay is a serious artist and has said so many times on You Tube, My Space, and various other sites it's his humor that keeps me watching and listening to his prolific music videos. He's so weird which makes him stand out from the rest. Tay doesn't try to be funny. I thought that the first time I watched some of his videos. That's what makes him funnier because there's no pretention in what he does. Tay is doing exactly what he wants to do and doing it the way he sees fit. I could go on and on about Tay but unless you've heard him you won't have a clue about his music.

Squidoo Directory