Since Chris Torres uploaded the original Nyan Cat GIF to his personal website in 2011, its classic Nintendo-on-crack theme has turned into one of the internet’s biggest time wasting sanctuaries. Torres explained in an interview where the idea for the animation came from: “I was doing a donation drive for the Red Cross and in-between drawings in my Livestream video chat, two different people mentioned I should draw a Pop Tart and a cat.” In response, he created a hybrid image of a Pop-Tart and a cat, which was later developed into the animated GIF. A few days later, “Nyan Cat,” which merged the classic rainbow-pooping cat GIF with an overly cheerful Japanese pop song, was introduced to YouTube. The video was ranked at number 5 on the list of most viewed YouTube videos in 2011, and now sits at a cool 105 million+ views.
On January 1st 2014, Alvin Risk kicked off the new year with a collaboration of the geekiest caliber: Alvin Risk has chosen Chris Torres, to make the video for his track “ZOOM!”, which is one of the tunes off his Junk Food EP. The aesthetic of the video continues on the viral sensation’s crack-ridden style; however, this time Nyan Cat is joined by an entire eccentric world of 8-bit oddities featuring pizza, aliens, motorcycles, and Risk himself. The tune is an upbeat, vibrant track and Torres has managed to perfectly match its 8-bit video game sound with vigorous, retro looks.
Even though I always imagined Deadmau5 in Risk’s place right now (Joel’s cats’ names are Meowingtons and Miss NyanCat), this is better than anything I could have ever imagined!
You can check out the music video down below and grab a FREE copy of Alvin Risk‘s Junk Food EP here.
