Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Hi, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. I hope you're doing well.

I come with big and exciting news. Apparently, your boy is a content creator. Yes, that is what I do every day. I wake up in the morning and I'm like, 'Oh, yeah, got to make that content. Got to make that nice hot steamy content on YouTube, on TikTok, on Instagram reels, on Twitch, on Patreon, everywhere where we are. Yeah, let's go!'

It seems all this content I've been making for over 10 years now – because The Needle Drop started originally as a podcast in 2007. God, that means in three more years, The Needle Drop is going to be 20 years old. That's disgusting. I'm going to sidestep the existential crisis that I almost pushed myself into by thinking of that and say – Again, it seems like all this content I've I've been making, people have been taking notice because apparently all those likes and comments and so on and so forth have led to me landing on a very prestigious list. That would be Rolling Stone's 25 Most Influential Creators of 2024 list where apparently I land, I land on this list, and rumor has it your guy ends up pretty high on the list.

With that being said, let's find out where I land on this said list of commentators, content creators, streamers, and internet people of all stripes. Interesting that in this list of 25, it was whittled down from 500 individual nominies. Also, very important:

Editor's Note: platforms listed are for the creator's primary page, and numbers are for those accounts, not their cumulative followers.

Because as Austen will tell you, when we add up the followers across IG and TikTok and all the YouTube channels, it's pretty fat.

So, yeah, let's check out the list, starting with 25, Wendy Guevara, who, according to this blurb, is said to be the most sought-after internet celebrity in Latin America, which I mean, that's big competition. Good for her, and shout out to her.

Also, Nimay Ndolo, software developer and content creator that has used her platform to talk about politics, entertainment, technology, fashion. It sounds like up my alley. Oh, wait, hold on a second. I follow her already. Okay, if you guys are not following her on TikTok, you most definitely need to. She is funny and based as hell. Great energy, good commentary, very cool individual. I already was following her.So this stupid clueless me endorses the statements that current me is saying right now. Very cool that she made this list. That's awesome.

Aliyah's Interlude. Heck, Yeah. She makes bangers. She makes so many bangers. I'm excited for the album when the album eventually comes out, but I'm very, very, very pro Aliyah's Interlude. I will say that.

RDCWorld1. Anime and the NBA may not seem like obvious bedfellows. If you see some of these NBA accounts on Twitter, you most definitely know that anime dudes be some NBA dudes and vice versa. But look, this is also an account that I'm familiar with because any sketches RDCWorld puts up, they have to do with hip hop, especially in the wake of the Kendrick and Cole and Drake beef and so on and so forth. I've been very front and center for that, and those sketches are always hilarious. So here's another one that I'm already onto. I'm surprised to how many of these I know so far. I mean, I'm pleased.

I'm going to be honest. Sometimes I feel old as hell and out of touch. I really do. Omar Herz Show. These guys have been posting from Gaza? Okay, I'm going to need to follow them. Okay, Wisdom Kaye. I will admit I'm not deeply familiar with this guy's work, but I have seen one short-form video that he did where he styled a bunch of outfits based on fonts, and it was pretty frigged incredible. While I am not a big fashionhead, this guy clearly knows what he's doing.

Oh, Hasan Piker at number 15. I'm on this list. I'm on this list, and I'm rocking higher than 15. We're 10 spots in the list. And Anthony Fantano, higher than the boy. I'm sorry, Hasan. This guy's got to get into some music. I mean, that's all there is to it.

There's your guy. There he is. Apparently, it's just blank. I have no blurb at all. Nothing. Oh, there it is. Just popped up. Who is this hideous bald son of a bitch? God, I can't even stand to look at the guy. He just makes my stomach churn. Known to fans as the internet's busiest music nerd or really Melon, that's really actually what you guys call me. I say, 'Hey, it's me, the internet's busiest music nerd. And you guys are like, Melon. His name is Melon.'

Critic Anthony Fantano's channel started as a show for a local public radio affiliate. That is true. Fantano, 38 decided to move the show onto YouTube. Worst decision of my life.

After seeing the burgeoning community on the platform in contrast to the fake, boring personalities on TV, his reviews for albums like Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly and Tyler, the Creator's Igor, rake in millions of views, inspire internet discourse, and draw reactions from the artist themselves.

Number 11 is a very flattering position to be in on this list. Sick, dope. Love it. Fantastic.

We got Theo Von, funny guy, and I do like quite a bit of the interviews here and there on his podcast. The Bernie Sanders one was pretty good. But yeah, Theo Von has a lot of classic and silly little interview moments. I think he's okay. He's a good guy. He seems like a nice guy. Even if all of his perspectives aren't what I agree with, he seems like a solid content creator.

Number seven, Pokimane. I don't watch a ton of her stuff myself, but I have interacted with her on a couple of occasions. She's very nice, and I love that she makes really sweaty neckbeard dudes angry and upset on Twitter because they deserve it. I say as I am in a warm rugby shirt, sweating a little bit and got a neckbeard myself.

Also learning here, Duke Dennis. It says here, Where his charm with the ladies has made him an almost mythic figure for teenage boys. I've got quite a bit of rizz myself, I'll say. Got a neck beard myself. As much as I may respect Mr. Dennis, I don't know if I need any advice on that front.

Okay, going to the top five. Nara Smith at number 4. We have Mr. Beast at number 3. His head is totally cut off. Then at number 2, we're throwing it back to some old school boys, Rhett and Link. I like me some Rhett and Link. We have a lot in common. We are successful, aged YouTube boys. We are into art, we are into music, and we all have vasectomies. Very cool. After all the years of work they've put in. They land at number two. Very nice for them.

And who do we have at number one? It's going to be Kai Cenat. Kai is just the moment. He is just that dude right now. There's not really any denying his number one spot, so it makes sense. But hey, you know what? Can't be number one forever.

I'm very slowly snowballing this whole successful content creator thing. I don't want to do it too fast. I just want to very, very slowly tiptoe my way over to maybe not even the number one spot, like the number four. If I can get up to number four at some point, I'll be totally content. But it'll take me at least 15 more years.

But yeah, that is going to be it. Thank you very much to Rolling Stone for including me in such a list. And shout out to everybody else who was on the list as well.

Anthony Fantano, Rolling Stone, Most Influential Content Creators of 2024, Forever.