Chengdu's "Disney" is a big hit: the "concreteization" of abstract internet celebrities

Recently, the Baxiang Community in Yulin, Chengdu, unexpectedly became a popular check-in spot for Internet celebrities and was nicknamed "China's third Disneyland". Behind this phenomenon, it was actually a rapper named Nomi who triggered an Internet craze with his "abstract" behavior. Netizens imitated his clips on the fitness bike in the community, shouting the slogan "Thank God, thank God, I want Disneyland", making this community a popular attraction for a while. And Nomi himself also relied on this wave of traffic to quickly become a popular Internet celebrity from a failed rap contestant. This incident not only shows the magic of the abstract Internet celebrity effect, but also reflects the popular trend of "abstract expression" in the current Internet context.

During the Qingming Festival, when Hong Kong and Shanghai Disneyland welcomed thousands of tourists, Chengdu Yulin Baxiang Community, which was jokingly called the third "Disneyland" in China by netizens, became a popular check-in spot. Although there was only one fitness bike, the waiting line stretched all the way to the intersection. In order to prevent accidents, the street staff also organized volunteers to limit the flow of people at the scene, and only 20 people could enter at a time.

According to online videos, the Jianqi machine was crowded with people, including local elderly and children, as well as tourists from other places. People held up their mobile phones to record while queuing up to sit on the Jianqi chair, imitating the rapper Nomi's "Thank God, Thank God" MV, shouting a few words "Thank God, Thank God, I want to diss you."

Along with the popularity of "Chengdu Disney", the "originator" of the video, the rapper Nomi, also became popular. According to the Jingzhe Research Institute, Nomi's Douyin account has more than 1.62 million followers, 1.2 million more than the target of the MV diss, Xie Di. It is worth noting that in addition to this online and offline imitation carnival, Nomi's earlier personal experience has also been dug up, and he has also allowed more people to see another way for "Internet celebrities" to become popular.

01 Abstract Internet celebrity effect makes Chengdu gain "Disney"

The phenomenon of rapper Nomi single-handedly making "Chengdu Disney" popular can only be described as "abstract".

Not long ago, Nuomi was a contestant on the variety show "New Rap". He failed to pass the audition during the audition. The audition officer, rapper Xie Di, suggested that he "just treat rap as a hobby" and said that the song he wrote for his grandfather was written for his grandmother. So, in order to express his dissatisfaction, Nuomi wrote a song called "Thank God and Thank God" and shot a MV for it.

In the MV, Nomi sits on a fitness chair in the Baxiang community of Yulin, Chengdu, and keeps repeating "Thank God, thank God, I want to diss you". Because the pronunciation is too similar to "Thank God, thank God, I want Disney", it quickly spreads on the Internet and becomes a popular hot topic. In addition, a wave of imitations quickly emerged on short video platforms, pushing the "I Want Disney Imitation Contest" to the top 6 of the challenge list. The only thing that people did not expect was that the fitness equipment in the community has become a "hot spot", attracting young people to check in on the spot.

In fact, before the "Thank God and Thank the Emperor" MV made "Chengdu Disney" popular, Nomi had attracted some attention on the Internet because of his abstract behavior. For example, in the interview session after the audition of "The Rap of China", Nomi ended every sentence with "Yin Nao San (a homonym of you know what I am saying)". Nomi also called himself an "American boy" and compared himself to an American black man. His behavior was very consistent with the public's stereotype of rappers.

In addition, when Nomi failed the audition of "New Rap" and decided to record a new song to diss the program reviewer Xie Di, Nomi encountered another dramatic scene. At that time, Nomi was resting on the sofa in the recording studio, and standing next to him was a fan of Xie Di who was recording a song to diss Nomi, and this scene was broadcast live by the recording engineer.

In connection with the release of the "Thank God, Thank God" MV, the clues around Nomi's participation in the "New Rap" competition formed a very funny continuous plot: the rapper was eliminated from the competition, recorded a song to diss the judges, but was "close to the face" by the judges' fans. After the MV was released, the brainwashing chorus "Thank God, thank God, I want to diss you" was changed to "Thank God, thank God, I want Disney" by netizens and imitated.

Therefore, in the eyes of passers-by, Nomi, who was initially eliminated from "The Rap of China", might have been just a rap enthusiast similar to the "Super Girls Audition Materials". But after a series of abstract events, Nomi himself has gained an especially "abstract" online image.

Those who imitate Nomi may not know him at all, but the imitation itself is extremely popular and funny, so a large amount of spontaneous traffic poured in in a short period of time. The "Thank God and Thank the Emperor" MV became a top IP on the Internet, brought "Chengdu Disney" into the spotlight, and also helped Nomi, who participated in the show but was eliminated, to quickly become popular in another way.

Not long ago, the Jingzhe Research Institute discussed the possibility of dramatic short video content driving the emergence of Internet celebrity "attractions" in the article "The Growth Logic of the Cultural Tourism Industry Has Changed" . However, the reason for the emergence of "Chengdu Disney" cannot be simply summarized as the traffic effect brought by short video content, but rather the new Internet celebrity effect generated by Nomi as an "abstract Internet celebrity" in the continuous concretization.

02 The Abstract Era of Internet Celebrities

In fact, according to the development law of general network events, most of the Internet celebrities who suddenly become popular are likely to be like Mr. Huang of "Wa Ya Wa", who became popular because of a short video and then was quickly forgotten by netizens. But the special thing about Nomi is that his abstract behavior has triggered a large-scale imitation.

Just like the "Yesimola" in "Guo Yan Guo Yu" and the line "Xiang ray (rui)" when Fei Xiang played King Zhou in "Investiture of the Gods Part I: Chaoge Fengyun". Originally it was just a meaningless sentence or a line with an accent, but because of the fun brought by the abstract expression, it became a popular online meme and triggered netizens to follow suit.

People shouting "I want Disney" on fitness equipment may be just for fun. But this collective abstract behavior, to a certain extent, reflects the preference of Internet users for "abstract content" and "abstract expression" in the current network context, and also reflects another way to gain the attention of netizens and obtain network traffic.

In fact, in the live broadcast era centered on Douyu and Huya platforms around 2015, the popularity of "abstract culture" had already begun to show signs. At that time, Douyu platform anchor Sun Xiaochuan (who has been banned) used a large number of emoji expressions, character symbols, swear words, and dialects in his interactions with netizens in the live broadcast room, thus giving rise to "abstract language."

Although the behavior itself lacks certain logic and the expression is a bit crazy, this nonsensical behavior is very entertaining, so the anchor himself becomes an "abstract incarnation" and satisfies the entertainment needs of netizens. Therefore, during this period, many Internet celebrities became popular with "abstract art".

The most representative example is the former top anchor of Huya, "Brother Yaoshui". The official rise of "Brother Yaoshui" came from a live broadcast in which he had a quarrel with netizens from 8pm to 3am, repeating "Are you worthy of it?" throughout the whole process. The content of this live broadcast not only became the material for netizens' secondary creation, but also made "Brother Yaoshui" gain an abstract and crazy personality and huge network traffic.

During the same period, short video blogger "Black Cat Sheriff Giao Ge" also became an Internet celebrity with the nonsensical phrase "Give me giaogiao". He even participated in "The Rap of China" in 2018 and 2020. Although he failed to make his debut successfully, the huge Internet traffic allowed him to successfully release personal singles and even collaborate with well-known rappers.

From the popularity trajectory of the above-mentioned Internet celebrities, we can see that netizens' imitation of "I want Disney" is a collective behavior based entirely on "abstract culture. " This kind of collective entertainment carnival created on the Internet and even in reality is based on consuming authority and deconstructing idols, and it fights against mainstream aesthetics through spoofs and memes.

Just like Xie Di, who served as the reviewer in "New Rap", represents the mainstream image of the current rap circle, and Nomi's "Thank God and Thank God" MV is a deconstruction of this "mainstream". Netizens used crazy memes to confront and satirize the mainstream market represented by "Xie Di", and in the process they also achieved the purpose of venting negative emotions and having fun.

It should be pointed out that the actions of promoting the popularity of "Chengdu Disney" and collectively imitating Nomi are just another vivid interpretation of "abstract culture". The continued attention Nomi has attracted after becoming popular has attracted users to continue to explore his personal experience, making netizens begin to "examine" Internet celebrities in a new way.

03 The concrete “Internet celebrity”

After Nomi became popular due to a series of plots, the attention from the outside world also made his true identity exposed to the public . However, unlike other celebrities and Internet celebrities who are often exposed to negative news, Nomi, who was "spying" by netizens from all angles, showed a simple and positive image.

According to online reports, Nomi is from Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and his mother works as a cashier at a convenience store. Before he started rapping, Nomi worked as a chef and sold fruit on a tricycle. He also worked as a scaffolder on a construction site with his father, and lost a section of his little finger in an accident. Because of his poor family conditions, Nomi's mother had to borrow money from a neighbor to pay for his plane tickets to participate in the New Rap.

Some netizens also posted photos of Nomi when he was a child helping his family with farm work and studying at school. Nomi in the photos looked very simple. Many netizens also posted photos and videos of them encountering him before. In these online exposures, Nomi was always alone wearing a hat, carrying a backpack, with wired headphones in his ears, practicing his rap while walking, looking very lonely, which further deepened his weak image in the eyes of netizens.

In addition, there are online articles that mentioned that because Nomi was not famous in the early days and making music required money, he often could not afford to stay in a hotel and had to sleep on the streets, and was even beaten up. Some netizens also posted chat records, showing that they invited Nomi to live in their dormitory, but were rejected. Nomi just took a shower and left. There were also fans who sent red envelopes to Nomi but were rejected. He also told fans not to give money to others casually to avoid being cheated.

Even after Chengdu Disney became popular, Nomi only released a video on April 5 to appeal to netizens who went there to check in, saying, "There are only old grandpas and grandmas living around here, I hope you don't disturb them."

Although most of the information from the Internet has not been further confirmed, after the success of "I Want Disney", these online exposures have "confirmed" Nomi's kind and innocent personality. As a result, Nomi's "abstract" personality on the Internet has become concrete.

Before "I Want Disney", he was a rapper eliminated from "The Rap of China" who called himself an "American boy", but now he is a boy from Daliangshan who pursues his dream of rapping despite his poor family background. Even his song "A Pu's Missing" which he wrote for his grandfather was "turned over" by CCTV Culture and Tourism and Liangshan Culture and Tourism as the soundtrack for the local promotional film.

At this point, netizens' attitude towards Nomi changed from making fun of him at the beginning to caring about him after being touched by the concrete sense of reality. This is completely different from "Mr. Guo" and "Black Cat Sheriff Giao Ge" who became famous in the early days of the live broadcast industry by relying on "abstract culture".

It is not difficult to understand that early internet celebrities relied on "abstract life" of curiosity and ugliness, but now users will look beyond the abstract appearance and begin to "dig" into the true identity of the internet celebrities, discovering their concrete and lifelike side. As a result, internet celebrities are becoming more "real".

In addition, the contrast between Nomi and the stereotype of traditional rappers, as well as his simple personality that netizens found to be "poorer the more he was found" after he became an "Internet celebrity", is another deconstruction of the image of "Internet celebrities" in the past. When people are used to the collapse of celebrities and have seen too many rappers with bad records, the somewhat "abstract" Nomi in front of them becomes more real and pleasing to the eye.

In other words, in this collective entertainment carnival event that spread from cyberspace to real space, young people who are keen on "abstract culture" used Nomi as an anti-mainstream weapon, broke the inherent barriers of "Internet celebrities", attracted the attention of the entire social network to Nomi, and thus completed a new round of changes in the "Internet celebrity" model.

“Abstract pranks” can indeed be used for fun, but people still expect the “idol” value behind the traffic.

Author: Xiaodong

WeChat public account: Jingzhe Research Institute