Gag City

Submission 14,388

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About

Gag City is a slang term used to describe someone or something that "gags" the viewer, "gag" in this context being a slang term popularized in the LGBTQ+ community used similarly to slay, expressing shock and amazement. In December 2023, social media users began posting AI-generated artwork depicting what Gag City might look like as a location in anticipation of the December 8th, 2023, release of Nicki Minaj's album Pink Friday 2, often depicting it with an overtly pink theme.

Origin

Throughout the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s, the term "gag" or "gagged" was popularized in the LGBTQ+ community to positively express amazement or shock over someone or something.^[1] While it's unclear where or when exactly it was coined, the term "gag city" is used to express similar excitement, although to a stronger degree. For example, "We're in gag city." The terms are also used similarly to "slay."

One of the earliest examples of the term "gag city" being used in this context is a January 27th, 2022, X^[2] post by the Nicki Minaj fan page @4ktbarbie, with further examples appearing on X^[3]^[4] throughout 2022 and 2023, often in reference to Nicki Minaj (example shown below).

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Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday 2 Gag City AI Art Trend

Nicki Minaj's 2023 album Pink Friday 2 was originally meant to be released on November 17th, 2023, but was pushed by Minaj to her birthday on December 8th.^[5] The album's cover artwork shows the rapper standing in a pink subway flying over a pink-hued city and clouds (shown below).^[6]

In relation to the album's upcoming release, Minaj and her fan pages began to use the term "next stop: gag city" to express their excitement. For example, on September 4th, 2023, the Instagram^[7] fan page theminajroom made a post using the phrase, garnering over 3,000 likes in three months. Minaj then used the phrase in a Facebook^[8] post on November 14th.

On December 1st, 2023, X^[9] user @hardtingz posted an AI-generated image of a plane branded "gag city" flying over a pink, cloud-covered city, resembling the city shown on the Pink Friday 2 album artwork, writing, "otw to gag city," garnering over 1,500 likes in five days (shown below).

Further AI-generated images referencing Gag City were uploaded to social media over the following days. On December 2nd, X^[10] user @dxckiii posted an image of a Gag City plane crashing, writing, "🚨 A SECOND PLANE HAS HIT GAG CITY," garnering over 8,000 likes in four days (shown below, left).

On December 3rd, X^[11] user @YSLONIKA posted an image of "CB2 spy ships caught trying to sneak into Gag City," garnering over 3,400 likes in three days (shown below, center). On December 4th, X^[12] user @YSLONIKA posted an image of Gag City residents praying in the streets, garnering over 3,000 likes in two days (shown below, right).

On December 5th, 2023, X^[13] user @TheJuicePop shared several examples of the trend and reported that "gag city" was trending on X, garnering over 2,200 likes in a day. On December 6th, X^[14] user @someonebehavior posted, "arianators have landed in gag city," depicting a UFO that resembles Ariana Grande landing in Gag City, garnering over 4,400 likes in under a day (shown below).

Throughout December 6th, several X users posted AI images of celebrities arriving in Gag City. For example, that day, X^[15] user @barbiecharts posted an image of Michael Jackson making his arrival, garnering over 1,700 likes in under a day (shown below, left). Also on the 6th, X^[16] user @Snshores posted an image of Trisha Paytas arriving in Gag City, garnering over 800 likes in under a day (shown below, right).