Back in October, 26-year-old Joji (real name George Miller) released BALLADS 1, an album that finds him joining the long tradition of artists expressing romantic introspection and melancholy in their music. Although it’s his first full-length album, it’s not really fair to call it the beginning of his career. For all intents and purposes, Joji’s career began on Youtube.

Under the guise of his video personas Filthy Frank and Pink Guy, Joji began vlogging in 2011 and quickly became a meme pioneer and a YouTube sensation. He was a superstar to a certain demo—and a headscratcher to everyone else—thanks to his comedy sketch videos and satirical “anti-vlogs.” His brand of offensive, absurdist comedy became synonymous with gross-out humor, controversial subject matter, and over-the-top production. Filthy Frank TV has nearly 6 million subscribers, and since 2011, his videography has amassed over 300 million views.

Yet, Joji’s debut album is far removed from his past life and it’s clear he’s trying to distance himself from his old persona. The album demonstrates his versatility as a singer, songwriter, and producer, but features no nods to his comedy background. So BALLADS 1 isn’t just another debut album, it’s Joji presenting a new model for how content creators can leverage their following and pivot into a musical career.

Before and during his vlogging days, music always played a role in Joji’s life and career. He spent his formative years in Japan and explained in interviews how music was a way for him and his friends to pass the time and make fun of schoolmates and teachers. By 2013, he helped lauch the Harlem Shake viral video craze, which eventually lead to Baauer’s song becoming a No. 1 hit.

Joji presents a new model for how content creators can leverage their following and pivot into a musical career.

As his star rose and his comedy videos took off, his Pink Guy character dabbled in comedic hip-hop. He made songs about inappropriate attraction to TV starlets (“Nickelodeon Girls”) and aggressive, ironic suicide (“Kill Yourself”). But the songs from that era of his career were comedy for comedy’s sake—they stand in stark contrast to the serious, earnest tone of BALLADS 1.

By 2014, Miller began experimenting with other musical styles, more aligned with the then-burgeoning trend of lo-fi hip-hop. These early songs were initially released in secret, due to his fans’ appetite for filthy comedy. However, it wasn’t long before they discovered this other side of their favorite vlogger. They responded positively, allowing him to begin work on the mixtape project Chloe Burbank Volume 1 in 2015 (which was ultimately left unfinished).

Ongoing health issues caused Miller to retire from YouTube—his character work and video production were cited as major contributors to a wide variety of stress-induced symptoms. His trademark brand of gross-out comedy, while extremely successful, left little space for rest or personal fulfilment.

Admitting he was no longer able to enjoy the content he was famous for, Joji started to to make “stuff that [he wanted] to hear.” This led to the release of the In Tongues EP in 2017.

By removing the artifice and show of his comedy work, Joji was finally able to be more personal in his lyrics. BALLADS 1 was a turnaround, and Joji surprised fans and critics with his musical skill and vocal abilities.

The prevalent themes on BALLADS 1 include loss, sadness, and intense longing. Lyrically, the songs deal with a range of romantic themes: insecurity (“COME THRU”) and the “power ballad” “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK”), devotion (“R.I.P.”) and even friendship and fame (“WHY AM I STILL IN LA” and “NO FUN”).

But it’s the melancholy that flows through the project. On “TEST DRIVE,” he sings about a girl that he envisioned being there for the long-term. Meanwhile, she had other ideas:

I’m looking for a long ride

She just want a test drive

(What do you want, babe?)

Dying on the west side

(What do you want, babe?)

I’ll see you in the next life

(Who do you want, babe?)

In contrast with his comedy projects, BALLADS 1 sees Joji getting introspective and existential. This earnestness shows up on tracks like “YEAH RIGHT,” as he sings about partying hard to fill an emptiness left in the wake of a rough break-up:

What you know about love?

What you know about life?

What you know about blood?

Bitch, you ain’t even my type

As he explained in his Genius Verified video, the song was inspired by real-life experiences at the club. While he doesn’t deny the fun he can have with friends, he sometimes grapples with the meaninglessness of chance romantic encounters:

If you’re an ugly, not a great-looking dude, and you’ve got money and shit and you know that a chick is just spending all this time with you because she knows that you’re just a safety thing or whatever… It’s that point of self-hatred that you don’t mind, which is the way I saw it, because I remembered dancing with a girl and I’m thinking like, ‘You don’t really care.’

Despite all this, there are minor hints of the old playful Joji too. “CAN’T GET OVER YOU” has a lighthearted feel, and is accompanied by a tongue-in-cheek video featuring anime and video game references.

Joji has said that utilizing internet fame to launch a music career was never his goal. He started his career by holding a satirical mirror up to the internet. He reveled in exposing its vapid nature and grew a massive fanbase for his unique and honest take on digital media culture. This honesty is now being directed towards more personal, emotional issues as Joji sheds his alter egos and trademark filthy comedy.

Joji’s BALLADS 1 is not the summation of years of work steeped in internet and meme culture. Instead, it represents an artistic transition that his fans have embraced. The album has already broken records—in early November, it became the first album by an Asian-born artist to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart, and it peaked at No. 2 on their Top 200 List.

It’s more than just a successful debut album, it’s part of an ongoing shift in the nature of the music industry. There’s thrilling intersection of the music, internet culture, and artistic growth and Joji is apart of that wave.