About

"Anaconda" is a 2014 rap song performed by American recording artist Nicki Minaj which samples from the 1992 song "Baby Got Back." Prior to its release, photoshop parodies of its cover art, which focused on Minaji's butt, circulated online.

Origin

On August 19th, 2014, the NickiMinajAtVEVO^[7] uploaded the official music video for "Anaconda." Within three days the video gained over 26.6 million views and over 87,000 comments.

Spread

On August 20th, Buzzfeed^[11] published a list titled "The Best Of The Internet’s Response To Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” Video" which featured tweets and Tumblr posts about the video. On August 21st, Mashable^[10] published a list titled "10 Moments From Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda' Video That Will Destroy Your Innocence" which featured notable moments from the music video in GIF form. The video was covered by several other sites including Stereogum^[12] and Rolling Stone.^[13]

Precursors

Cover Art Parodies

On July 24th, 2014, Minaj posted an a picture of the album art for her upcoming single "Anaconda" on her Instagram account^[1] with the caption "7/28 #ANACONDA on iTunes." In less than a week the post gained over 290,000 likes and over 20,000 comments.

The same day Minaj posted a fan made photoshop parody of the cover with put her in the middle of the Google logo so her butt stood in place of the two Os. In less than a week the post gained over 370,000 likes and over 20,000 comments.

Also on July 24th, #Anaconda became a trending topic^[3] on Twitter in the US. On July 25th, The Hollywood Gossip^[6] published a roundup of the photoshopped image titled "Nicki Minaj Anaconda Cover Inspires Booty-Tastic Memes!" The following day Hollywood Life^[2] published a roundup of the meme. On July 27th, Minaj posted a photo on her Instagram account with a caption announcing the release of "Anaconda" had been pushed back, which read:

"My darlingz, I've pushed the release of Anaconda to next week, Monday 8/4. I promise you will understand why before the week is out. Loveeeeeeee uuuuuu"

The same day a roundup of the meme was featured on Hot New Hip Hop.^[5] On July 28th, the meme was covered by MTV^[4].

Notable Examples

Parodies & Remixes

On August 20th, 2014, YouTuber TimmyFellDownTheWell^[8] uploaded a video titled "Nicki Minaj – Anaconda PARODY." Within two days the video gained over 50,000 views. On August 21st, 2014, YouTuber SpikeFe^[9] uploaded a video titled "Nicki Minaj – Anaconda (Official Parody Video)." Within 24 hours the video gained over 1,000 views.

On October 19th, 2014, Tumblr user chenyakumo^[14] posted a remix of Anaconda with PSY's 2012 hit Gangnam Style. The remix managed to gain over 75,000 notes within a month time.

External References