When I read the headline “Watch: Janet Jackson Explores ASMR for the First Time; Talks Plans to Work with Bruno Mars, Her Favorite Food Places and More [Video],” the first thing I thought was, Damn, that’s a long headline. The second thing I thought was, Hmmm, weird that someone would ask Janet Jackson to do ASMR. But the third and most important thing I thought was, Wait this makes perfect sense!
Because, when you think about it, Janet Jackson’s soothing, whispery voice already is and always has been ASMR. But I’m getting ahead of myself! Do you even know what ASMR is? For the uninitiated, the acronym stands for “autonomous sensory meridian response,” which just means it makes your skin tingly and gives you pleasant chills. ASMR videos have been growing in popularity on YouTube over the past couple years, thanks to users like ASMRTheChew, ASMR Darling, and, most recently, LifeWithMAK.
Those vloggers are lucky Jackson is too busy to make ASMR her full-time gig, as she is a master who would destroy all their careers with the creation of her own channel. In the video, produced by the iconic Los Angeles radio station 102.7 Kiis FM, she whispers responses to a series of softball interview questions (things like “name someone you’d like to collaborate with”) while occasionally throwing in some classic ASMR sounds like tapping hard surfaces, rubbing soft ones, and chewing.
If you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll be nutty, nutty, nutty for it.