Aphex Twin's QKThr fuels TikTok surge as he overtakes Taylor Swift on YouTube Music

An obscure 88-second cut from Aphex Twin’s 2001 album Drukqs, called QKThr, has become a staple of short-form online content and helped the producer overtake Taylor Swift in monthly YouTube Music listeners, with 448 million to her 399 million, according to the report. QKThr, a dreamy, ambient piece that was long overshadowed by Avril 14th, now appears on nearly 8m TikTok posts, soundtracking everything from cute panda videos to lightly memed US presidential debates and a fail-video trend dubbed “subtle foreshadowing”.

Electronic DJ and producer RamonPang noticed the milestone and credited the uptick to QKThr, saying: “It really puts in perspective how popular Aphex Twin’s music is in short-form content.” Wider Gen Z and Gen Alpha use of Aphex Twin spans other tracks too: Dagestani men line dancing to Pulsewidth, corecore edits set to Avril 14th and a fart remix of Alberto Balsalm.

LA musician Chloe Saavedra, who posts drum covers of his songs, described his largely programmed music as “not written for humans to play” and said its unpredictability is key to its appeal. Digital culture journalist Kieran Press-Reynolds said hearing Aphex over banal get-ready videos can “added an immense poignancy to what you were seeing.” Commentators also point to the artist’s aura—lore about a street-legal tank, inscrutable aliases, an “alien looking sigil” and the “ghastly face” in some videos—as part of the fascination.

Key Topics

Culture, Aphex Twin, Qkthr, Drukqs, Tiktok, Youtube Music