It’s been two years since a YouTuber’s reaction video thumbnail went viral, showing him raising his hands alongside the caption, “Hold up! His writing is this fire?”
The thumbnail took over social media and continues to be a popular reaction image to this day, usually used to give a positive response to something.
The video in question was uploaded on June 30, 2023 by RobTV, a fighting game commentator, esports host and content creator.
While he’s best known for his work within the fighting game scene, Rob has begun branching out into the world of music reactions, sharing his thoughts on various bands, songs and soundtracks on his YouTube channel.
‘Hold up! His writing is this fire?’ Meme explained
The video that spawned his viral thumbnail showed Rob reacting to Billy Joel’s famous song ‘Piano Man’ for the first time — and it’s safe to say that he loved it.
While he was initially skeptical that Billy Joel’s music would be for him, he walked away from his first listen fully invested in the legendary artist.
“Oh my God!” Rob exclaimed. “His lyricism is some of the best I have heard. …I directly expected to not like this, genuinely, and wow, man. He has some of the best, most beautiful, most vivid penmanship.”
The thumbnail for Rob’s video quickly became a meme within the fighting game community and swiftly spread across social media in general, now known as an iconic reaction image.
Rob, for his part, is taking the memes well, and his video reacting to Piano Man has racked up over 900K views in the years since being uploaded.
“This thumbnail is where the ‘HOLD UP!!! HIS WRITING IS THIS FIRE???’ meme was born, for whatever reason lmao,” he said in the video’s caption.
On the day of the thumbnail’s anniversary, Rob has continued to retweet posts celebrating the birth of the famous meme, saying, “This sh*t crazy.”
This isn’t the first time a fighting game fan has gone viral outside the gaming community; earlier this month, a Tekken player named Joe Budden took over social media after winning a set dressed up as Dr Doom and throwing toilet paper at commentators behind the stage at a tournament.
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