Welcome to Gag City: Unpacking the meme that’s taken over Gay Twitter™—and beyond
Why is this place? And, how soon can I get there?Well, it all started—as most things do—with Nicki Minaj.Earlier this year, the Queen Of Rap shared the album art for her long-awaited album, Pink Friday 2, featuring a spotless pink subway car riding on cotton candy-colored clouds en route to a busy skyline.
This fantasy place quickly became dubbed Gag City by Minaj’s voracious stan community, widely known as Barbz, and it wasn’t long before the icon herself had adopted the term, using it to drum up anticipation for the album.When Pink Friday 2‘s original November release date came and went, Minaj shared the album was delayed until December 8—her birthday—and the longer wait only made fans more eager.
Perhaps out of a mix of unbridled excitement and boredom, the Barbz began using AI tools to create images of Gag City and sharing them across the internet.otw to gag city pic.twitter.com/pZNFLBQCksNow, with the album’s release (hopefully!) imminent, the Gag City meme has saturated the culture—so much so that even random brands like Wheat Thins and Mattress Firm are chiming in.
Practically our entire timeline is pink!When asked to produce images of gay holiday parties, Bing Chat keeps creating something similar.
