Ajay was all but one among the hundreds of thousands of people across the United States who were sitting in front of their televisions, eagerly waiting for the music video of the song they had so loved to drop.
A group of young boys, who once again gathered in the neighbourhood record store in Compton, stood in front of the TV, much to the annoyance of the old man.
Record stores all over the country saw at least a group of two or three people gathered around the television playing MTV, waiting for the "Thrift Shop" music video.
Brad Grey and the others who were deeply involved in the making of "Thrift Shop," like Philip, the sound engineer, and Jake, the beat maker, had all gathered around the television in the office, looking at the screen without averting their gaze.
In North East New York, DJ Real Talk put on his headphones and directly turned on the TV, ready to review the music.
DJ Blood, in his Compton house, sitting on his sofa, stared at the television with a scrutinising gaze.
DJ West Side, DJ Premier, and all the other DJs who had reviewed the single were now in front of their televisions, eagerly waiting for the music video to drop.
Rappers were no different either. Weezy, Drez, Prophet, R Double Dean, Southpaw, Knowledge, and others had all turned on their televisions, prepared for the music video to drop.
A staff member at MTV was pleasantly surprised when the ratings actually saw an increase of a few percent.
"What is happening?!" He was utterly bewildered. "The VMAs have ended. Shouldn't the ratings have fallen, like usual? Why have they increased instead?" he wondered out loud.
"Hehe," one of the superiors at MTV laughed after hearing the confusion in his staff's voice. "A music video for a popular song is being released today, so of course people are curious."
"Which one?"
"Thrift Shop."
The staff member didn't immediately remember which song it was, but the name did ring a bell. He scratched his head and thought about it, and suddenly his eyes widened. "The latest gold-rated single by Lil Tjay featuring Reggie?"
"Yup."
"Damn! Heard it's a good song. I haven't listened to it yet, but they still haven't released the music video? It's by BMG, right? Are the people at BMG idiots?"
"Haha, it can't be helped." The superior shrugged. "They probably didn't want to introduce competition for Whitney Washington."
"Besides, ultimately they succeeded in 'Midnight Summer' winning the VMAs, weren't they?" He let out a regretful sigh. "Though Lil Tjay did get the shorter end of the stick."
The staff member nodded in understanding and continued observing the numbers, counting down the time for the music video to drop in his heart.
Five, four, three, two, one.
The music video of Brittany Swartz came to an end, and immediately after that, a group of young black men and women appeared on the screen, riding bicycles, some even sitting on toy three-wheelers.
The teenagers at the neighbourhood record store immediately laughed, looking at the image.
"Bruh! Are they for real!"
"Look at Tjay, bruh! Motherfucker acting like he's on a Cadillac."
"Look at that chick on the left, she is riding a toy, throwing a Crips sign. This shit's funny, cuh."
Even DJ Blood, sitting in his home in Compton, couldn't help but chuckle a little. The crap was so ridiculous that it was funny, and he couldn't help it.
The song continued with Lil Tjay riding a scooter board with two fine ladies by his side, walking towards a classic DeLorean.
Then the chorus kicked in, with Lil Tjay giving a few pretentious poses without opening his mouth, as if he were some sort of model wearing billion-dollar clothes, causing the audience across the nation to smile.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
When the rapping part started, the image immediately shifted to an enclosed space looking like a club, but the lyrics and the absurdity of Tjay acting as if he were flexing a million dollars made everyone's eyes glued to the television. It was genuinely the first time most people were seeing a video like this.
"This shit is nice." DJ Premier in New York bopped his head, thoroughly enjoying the beat and the video.
Finally, as the song reached the part where Lil Tjay was actually going through the thrift shop, one aisle at a time, and acting as if he was flexing all the second-hand goods, people all over the country burst out laughing, especially when he jumped around the old sofas, which even had stains visible here and there.
The kids at the neighbourhood store even started dancing right in the store, enjoying the music to the fullest.
As for the rappers and the industry professionals from other studios, they realised that the way the video was shot was fresh. It was completely different from what they were doing.
"Who shot this video?" A senior manager at Warner Music inquired, and his assistant immediately got to work. A few minutes later, he came back and informed
"It's Cory, sir. Cory Schwartz."
The Senior Manager was a little taken aback. "Are you sure?" His head swiftly turned towards his assistant.
The assistant didn't know why the boss was surprised, but he still looked at the information available to him and resolutely nodded, "Yes, sir," he said.
"Well, isn't that unexpected?" the boss muttered to himself and went back to watching the music video.
Corey is definitely a veteran among the music video directors. He had directed many music videos, and he even won several VMAs, but it was all in the past. His new work has been criticised by everyone in the industry for being a bit too avant-garde and unrestrained, so the top artists have actually stopped working with him, but looking at the music video right now, a new and never-before-seen style, he couldn't help but consider inviting Cory to shoot the next music video for Lincoln Memorial.
By the time the music video ended, the people at MTV were jumping up and down in excitement. Today was supposed to be a slow day, a day after the MTV music awards, a day for everyone to relax, but the ratings had actually spiked several percent, making it reach normal levels of regular days.
It might not sound like much, but considering that usually on a day like this there would be a dip of several percent, the fact that a single music video was able to pull up the viewership of such a big platform alone shows how popular a music video is.
"Talk to the President. Ask him to re-run the video once again in the evening and once more tomorrow morning." One of the executive members who understood what was happening immediately ordered his personnel within the company.
Then, feeling like it was not enough, he immediately called one of his friends, another executive in a different department, and excitedly yelled, "I want to ask the President to run Thrift Shop once every hour. I need your support."
By the next day, Thrift Shop had become the talk of the town throughout the states.
"This is not a music video for a rap song, but a parody of modern rap culture and how ridiculous it is." Rex Luthor from Street Level Magazine.
"Corey has once again given us a music video that enhances and visualises what the artist is trying to say, as opposed to overwhelming the music and becoming its own thing. As of late, music videos are becoming more and more important to the success of a song. Corey maintains the original intention of the song and showcases that for a music video to be successful, it does not have to be flashy and in your face. 9 out of 10." Angela Brooks, Billboard.
"At its core, this is a sharp visual satire wrapped in the language of mainstream rap aesthetics. It walks a fine line between humour and commentary, and largely succeeds in making its point without losing musical identity." David Mercer, Rolling Stone.
"The video feels like a deliberate throwback that both celebrates and pokes fun at hip hop tropes. It is playful, self-aware, and surprisingly effective in reinforcing the track's message without distracting from it." Marcus Hill, The Source.
"The director continues to blur the line between storytelling and music promotion. While some moments lean heavily into stylisation, the overall execution remains grounded, allowing the song itself to stay at the centre of attention." Elaine Carter, Spin Magazine.
For the next week, Brad Grey and the people at Bertelsmann Music Group were on cloud nine. Record sales began to pick up, and even the vinyl sales, which had dropped after the initial popularity, began to show an upward trend, and the CDs were no different. They sold like pancakes on a winter night.
Without wasting any time, BMG released a deluxe edition vinyl, and it was sold out within a day, prompting the company to manufacture more immediately.
Additionally, only a few days later, Brad was informed that several record stores had reportedly sold out the entire inventory of the normal vinyls and CDs and were immediately requesting an urgent shipment.
Brad and the management team responsible for the project immediately knew they had hit a goldmine, so without hesitation, Brad mobilised all his resources, contacted the executive Michael, and directly took the matter to the decision makers at the top. After understanding the situation, the president put the company in crisis management mode, and the CDs along with vinyls were printed overnight.
The large machinery of Bertelsmann Music Group began to operate like a Behemoth coming alive, and in only 48 hours after the orders were placed, shipments through UPS were sent across the country.
Only a week after the music video was released, the sales broke past 600,000 copies and were heading towards 700,000, and it showed no signs of stopping.
The song was played everywhere: barbershops, shopping malls, public buses, cars, radios, clubs, literally everywhere.
Unexpectedly, for the upper management of Bertelsmann Music Group, the song became popular in the corporate world.
Because of its clean and fresh image and the absence of any slurs or negative connotations such as drugs, sexualisation, or NC 17 content, it became a favourite for infomercials and commercials from various companies.
Unsurprisingly, the value of Lil Tjay and Reggy E went up, and the cost for them to perform directly doubled.