Industry Insights: AJayII and the Impulsivity of the Music Reaction Video
If YouTube album reviews à la The Needle Drop marked a new age of music criticism in the 2000s, then music reaction videos are this decade’s next frontier.
Industry Insights explores the inner workings of the greater music industry, and what they mean for artists and fans alike.
Written by Myah Taylor
Photo courtesy of AJayll on YouTube
Lorde fans heard it everywhere — the squeals that shook the internet in summer 2017.
Not many videos on YouTube are purer than the one of content creator AJayII reacting to Lorde’s sophomore effort, Melodrama. The 22-minute clip has it all: uncensored emotion, frenetic dance moves, and iconic soundbites.
AJay’s use of profanity as an endearment and her unintelligible, yet enthusiastic singing of Lorde’s “Sober” are just a few of the things that make the video comedic gold.
“Lorde with an ‘e,’ that ‘e’ stands for extra … and I love it,” AJay shouts at the camera in the video. “I don’t know why I’m saying this so angrily. I’m just so happily mad at how good this album is.”
It’s this charm and energy that has gained AJay millions of views and more than 659,000 subscribers on YouTube since she started her channel in 2017. She’s unfiltered, unafraid to express how the music she reacts to makes her feel. Tears streamed down her face as she listened to Kacey Musgraves’ “Rainbow” during her reaction to Golden Hour. The ‘80s-inspired sounds of Paramore’s After Laughter pleasantly surprised her, and Lana Del Rey’s Norman F–cking Rockwell sent her, clad in a witch hat, into a frenzy.
AJay’s approach to music criticism, the reaction video, started gaining popularity on the internet in the latter half of the 2010s. The idea is simple: a person sits in front of a camera and reviews music as it plays in real time. It’s a different format than the album reviews that have made Anthony Fantano a force on YouTube (and a renowned meme king).
In addition to AJay, popular reactors such as Twins the New Trend and Lost in Vegas have cultivated tight-knit YouTube communities where viewers can bond over albums, songs, and pop culture events. The videos, which often get the attention of the artists they feature, have the ability to increase buzz about a new release or highlight a musician that otherwise wouldn’t get much attention.
Reaction videos are authentic and spontaneous, less calculated and pretentious than reviews by legacy music media outlets or even some by Fantano himself. What makes the format so unique is that fans take part in the reviewer’s journey, listening to the music along with them and witnessing their raw reactions to an artist’s song or album.
These videos are another example of the internet’s democratization. Music reactors don’t have to be articulate like a Pitchfork critic or well-versed in music theory, because the non-verbal cues in the video — subconscious head bobbing, mouths hanging agape,overflowing tears — communicate exactly how they feel. AJay in particular is likely so popular because her content is human, and she addresses the camera as if she is talking to a friend. Her channel header reads, “Music on, World off;” the sense of superiority music critics often adopt is absent from her videos because she’s a music fan, just like everyone watching.
AJay’s videos, and those of other music reactors, tend to be heavy on the theatrics. Fans revisit her videos for the entertainment value as much as the music experience. YouTube users in the comment sections on her videos often express how they watch AJay for comic relief or self care when they are down.
It’s easy to believe AJay’s larger than life personality on camera is genuine — if anything because she doesn’t have a euphoric meltdown in every video she makes. When she doesn’t like a song, she wears a confused expression on her face or she grimaces; her uncontrolled dance moves don’t make an appearance.
Yet, AJay’s reactions could just as easily be a farce, a ploy to get clicks on YouTube. Who would yell and scream about a song they vibe to, unless positioned in front of a camera? It’s a legitimate question.
One major criticism of music reaction videos is that they lack valuable commentary, while the reviewer capitalizes off the name of the artist or album they react to. The average music reviewer will tell readers or viewers why an album is good or bad, describing the sounds or analyzing the lyrics in the process. They might let the music sink in for a few days before sharing their final thoughts on it.
In contrast, the music reactor acts on impulse, sharing an instant opinion, verbally or otherwise, without taking a deep dive into the production of the song, an album’s point of view, or its concept. The uncut nature of the format is fun and more accessible for viewers, but largely robs them of a deep analysis of the merits of a song or album.
“Is this writer supposed to be her? … Am I judging the song too early? Let me listen,” AJay says while deciphering the meaning of Lorde’s “Writer in the Dark” during the Melodrama reaction. A few moments later, she realizes.
“Okay, so this song is definitely about (Lorde’s) ex, and the writer she mentioned in the song was her … Girl, my mind went to places, and yes I know. Okay, my bad, my bad.”
When AJay reacted to Taylor Swift’s folklore in July, fans watched the reviewer vibe to Swift’s new indie-pop sound and admire the richness of Bon Iver’s voice on the duet “exile.” She was honest about which songs she liked and which ones she didn’t, and AJay admitted that she needed more time with some tracks. But the main issue with her video was that she missed the concept of the album and the perspectives Swift took in some of the songs.
Because of this, AJay revisited the album in another video to provide a more in-depth analysis. In this instance, along with several others, she showed that she values real commentary, but the essence of the reaction video — because it’s so immediate — doesn’t always create a space for that.
Music reactors also face external pressure from fans who flood comment sections with reaction requests and hope that the reviewer will validate their music tastes. Any critic, no matter the format, can come under this scrutiny, but it seems more personal when directed at music reactors because the videos they make are more vulnerable by nature.
AJay is celebrated when she enjoys the music, but when she doesn’t react in the way that viewers expect, she often faces criticism. She revisited Lady Gaga’s Chromatica for this reason, to reevaluate her feelings about the album after some Little Monsters attacked her in the comments when she didn’t love it on the first listen.
While AJay doesn’t come off as a phony who makes exciting videos just to put on a show and please viewers, it wouldn’t be surprising if other content creators in the music reaction community do feed off the positive reinforcement to bring in the ad revenue.
Regardless, music reaction videos seem like the format of the future. If anything, their popularity highlights society’s inclination toward instant gratification — and deep rooted desire to actually feel something.
Reaction videos may lack some credibility, but they’re also freeing in the sense that they don’t force the reviewer to explain themselves. AJay has the liberty to enjoy music without any justification, and she is equally as unrestricted to feel completely uninspired by it for reasons unexplainable. Unlike the classic music review, this might be more reflective of the music listening experience, and maybe that’s why so many people identify with music reactors. They could just as easily be the reviewer — moved by the music, or not — without all the fancy prose.
This article was added to Industry Insights after its publication, upon the creation of the Industry Insights series.