What Happened To Ray William Johnson And =3?

=3 was once a titan of a YouTube channel where esteemed host, Ray William Johnson, would pick out several funny internet clips of the week and react to them. 

With how popular reacting to content has become on both YouTube and Twitch, Ray William Johnson could almost be considered a genre pioneer. 

But, whatever became of Ray William Johnson? Is he still making content? Stick around to find out.

The end of =3

Despite having millions of subscribers, in March 2014, Ray William Johnson stood down from his role as the host of =3.

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Many fans speculate why he chose to retire. Some point to depression, while some claim he was hemorrhaging subscribers. 

The most likely reason, in all honesty, is burnout. Having done =3 for such a long time, Ray William Johnson wanted to explore other content creation avenues. 

What avenues are these, you ask?

Your Favorite Martian

Ray William Johnson had dabbled in music before. His popular song "Doin' Your Mom" topped out at around five million views.

Ray would continue to make meme music with a new group of people. They would come to be known as Your Favorite Martian.

Your Favorite Martian is a collection of comedic animated music videos usually focusing on a particular theme or loose narrative.

Noteworthy songs include:

• Orphan Tears
• Nerd Rage
• The Stereotypes Song
• Friend Zone

Ray takes center stage as the main writer and lead vocalist. The songs themselves are a matter of personal taste, and your own preferences will decide whether or not this project was a success.

Your Favorite Martian's revival

At the time, Your Favorite Martian received a lot of backlash for its unfunny writing, lazy mixing, and bad vocals from Ray William Johnson himself. 

The project flopped in such a major way, the channel was renamed "This Project is Retired" for the longest time.

However, much like all artists who pass away or leave the sphere of influence, Your Favorite Martian received somewhat of a cult following, praising the somewhat cringeworthy lyrics.

Your Favorite Martian is now back and bigger than ever, releasing new music videos regularly. 

What's next for Ray William Johnson?

Ray William Johnson is currently a traveling comedian but also uploads YouTube Shorts to his channel now and again.

The Shorts themselves range from mini rants, to small sketches, to introspective reflections.

It seems Ray William Johnson just can't help but produce content, and every time it looks like he's about to retire, he returns with a brand new project.

For more information about internet content creators, check out our dedicated YouTube section.

Featured image courtesy of  YouTube / Ray William Johnson.