*tap *tap *tap
*whisper *whisper *whisper
*snip *snip *snip
Yes, these are the sounds I hear almost every night as I lay down in my bed and try to fall asleep. I prop up my phone against my pillow, put my headphones over my ears, and I close my eyes while listening to the beautiful, relaxing sounds from the video I’m watching. This isn’t any normal or ordinary video–– not at all. This video is designated for sleep and relaxation. These videos are my one and only ASMR videos, and these one and only videos harbor some of my most favorite ASMRist in the YouTube world. In this article, I want to take the time to highlight some of my ults in ASMR and give them the proper recognition that they deserve for being such dedicated and great ASMRist. So without further ado, let’s get into it!
Before getting into the main focus of the article, I want to explain what ASMR is for those that do not know. “ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, is a relaxing, often sedative sensation that begins on the scalp and moves down the body. Also known as ‘brain massage,’ it’s triggered by placid sights and sounds such as whispers, accents, and crackles” (thinkwithgoogle.com). The acronym was proposed and coined in 2010 by Jennifer Allen who was a participant in an online forum (wikipedia.org). In 2013, ASMR saw a lot of popularity on YouTube when there were over 13 million ASMR videos uploaded (standard.co.uk). ASMR is still pretty popular today and many ASMRist still have millions of subscribers and views. Now back to the story!
About two or three years ago, I finally declared that I would start watching ASMR after all the hype that was surrounding it. I mean, who wouldn’t jump on the trend of listening and watching ASMR when everyone was talking about it 24/7? I remember watching food ASMR videos with my sisters, and we’d usually watch Hunnibee ASMR or SAS ASMR or Zach Choi ASMR. We’d always be envious that they had such exotic and delicious foods for their stomachs to be pleased with. Watching those videos was really the start of my mini attachment into getting into other forms of ASMR such as roleplaying and trigger videos. Once I finally declared my involvement in watching ASMR, I plopped onto my couch and looked up ASMR videos on YouTube.
To my surprise, what seemed like a million ASMR videos, popped up on my phone and I was overwhelmed with the newness of what was about to happen. Without even realizing I should put headphones on, I clicked on the first video and from there the rest is history.
- JoJo ASMR
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This incredible man was the very first ASMRist (who didn’t specialize in eating) that I had ever watched. I vividly remember laying down on my couch and feeling like I was sinking into an endless pit of pure relaxation and calmness. Even without headphones on, his tapping, whispering, and overall sounds spoke to me like he was trying to hypnotize me to go to sleep. He will always be known as my first and most favorite male ASMRist because of his unique ideas and funny dialogues. He’s so creative and dedicated to his craft that he always uploads videos in a routinely manner for the past years he’s been on YouTube. From his Spongebob Square pants skit to his 10-hour video to his hilarious roleplays, I found his channel and ability to be an ASMRist so compelling and inducing. I really have to give all my thanks to him for introducing and keeping me in the world of ASMR. Still to this day, I watch his videos and smile every time I see him. And it also helps that he’s very handsome!
- Madi ASMR
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After getting more acquainted with ASMR and falling in love with JoJo, I decided maybe I should start to branch off into other ASMR videos. I wasn’t trying to acquire another favorite ASMRist, but I wanted to explore and see what other kinds of videos were out there. I started to really like JoJo’s roleplay videos of him playing as a doctor or ear cleaner or hairdresser, and I wanted to see if there were other videos like these, and boy, were there. Again, that overwhelming feeling filled my body as I searched on YouTube, ASMR roleplay videos. So many videos of different people popped up playing as dentists, teachers, and other professions that I didn’t know which one to choose. I kept scrolling until I came across a video of a woman holding a pair of scissors and a long piece of hair. I was curious and pressed the video and from there I became a die heart follower of Madi ASMR.
She can be considered my first female ASMRist (that didn’t have to do with food) that I had ever watched. Her channel was full of different roleplays that made my heart kind of pound faster at the thought of it. There were so many health professionals roleplays and styling roleplays and personal attention roleplays that I didn’t know where to start. I instantly fell in love with her channel and found myself on her page almost every night watching her relaxing and fun videos. She also is known for having an opening line at the beginning of her videos which makes me feel so warm and reassured that this video was going to be great. The opening line is “Hello Sweetheart.” Just her manner of creating videos and her fantastic roleplay made me finally decide that maybe I should add her to my favorites list. So now she and JoJo ASMR became my ride or dies in ASMR.
- Lizi ASMR
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I just want to say that lately, Lizi ASMR has become my main ASMRist at the moment. Every time she updates, I know that I will have a good night’s rest. Even her older videos never get old. After becoming more accustomed to my two favorites, Madie and JoJo, I was very much done with watching other ASMRist because I figured I had all the videos I could ever need with the ASMRist I had then. I did not begin to search on YouTube for other ASMR videos as I did before, so how did I find Lizi ASMR you might ask? I found her through a collaboration video.
One night, I saw that Madi ASMR posted a video on her channel with a collab with another ASMRist who happened to be named Lizi ASMR. It was a doctor roleplay where they were both doctors and I liked Madi’s doctor roleplays, so I decided to give it a watch. I watched the video and it was good, and I liked the part where Lizi ASMR came on and did her thing. When the video ended, I was still not as tired so I decided to go on Lizi’s channel just to see what she was all about. When I went on her channel and saw her videos, I noticed that she also had a bunch of different roleplay videos that piqued my interest. I thought why not, and clicked on a hair styling video and I began to watch it. I’ll just tell you it was pretty cool and sleep-inducing. I looked around her channel more and saw she had a video where she had a twin sister. I watched that and it was amazing! She edited the video so well and made it seem like she was actually having a conversation with another person when in reality it was her playing two roles. I also like how she mixes Russian into her videos (since she is Russian) and gives Russian lessons in an ASMR manner. She’s so creative and hardworking with all her videos that it left me wanting to watch more and more of her content. Therefore, she became the third member of my ASMR favorites and now remains as my number one ASMRist if I had to choose.
- Prim ASMR
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Prim ASMR is another ASMRist that I was introduced to thanks to Madi ASMR. Madi ASMR was opening presents she received from others and she explained how an ASMRist named Prim sent her one of the gifts. I got curious again because if Madi talked about her she must have been amazing, and I looked her up on YouTube. She also specialized in roleplays, but she had content that I didn’t really see on the other channels of my favorite ASMRist. Her other videos seemed to reflect the style of vlogs where she took the time to talk about her life and activities she’s done or special objects she had with her. She has a couple of videos where she shows her albums for different soundtracks from movies or from bands that she likes. She also has some videos where she dyes her hair and talks about the process of doing hair since she was a hairstylist. She has videos with her family where they participate in her ASMR videos whether she gives them a haircut or shows off her collections with them. Her videos are so different, yet they feel like they connect with her audience. She goes live and just talks to her audience which is pretty comforting and nice. She does something I never knew ASMR could enter into because it was all about sleep and relaxation for me until I started to watch her videos. Don’t get me wrong, I still get very relaxed and often fall asleep to her content, but it’s just so raw and refreshing how she connects herself to her audience. She definitely got added to my list of favorites in ASMR.
I want to quickly add an ASMRist who I have recently been watching a lot called Latte ASMR. She does videos in Japanese, Korean and English, and her videos expand to so many different roleplays as well. I love how she starts a lot of her videos. She doesn’t just go into her videos with audio, but she first shows her surroundings and the process of crafting her videos. You have to watch one of her videos to better understand what I mean. I’m starting to almost consider her for my list of faves, but I need to keep watching her videos and becoming more familiar with her style and content.
We’ve reached the end of me talking about how much I have an attachment to people who tap on mics and pretend they’re nurses. You might be thinking that I’m hella crazy for taking such a thing so seriously, and this might be because of my attachment issues, but ASMR is just something so sacred and important to me because it helps me in ways I never knew I needed. If you’re still confused, think of it in terms of kpop. Fans become so attached to one specific group then eventually branch out to other groups and start to form their ult groups and biases. I have my ults in ASMR just as they do in kpop. Maybe one day I’ll stop feeling like I should just watch only a few ASMRist instead of watching whoever and whenever, but for now, I have my favorites and that makes me all the happier!