The Story Behind The Song 'Microwave' by Ricky Jamaraz

As of 10th February 2026, my most popular song 'Microwave' turns 3 years old. This is the story of how it came to be.

In mid-October 2022 I posted a TikTok of me singing an early version of Microwave (just the intro verse) with just an acoustic guitar, and it quickly became my most popular video, getting about 500k views in a couple days. I soon passed 10k followers on TikTok thanks to that video, and I decided to record that same intro verse properly, with bass and drums, as if it was a real song.

On 22nd October 2022, I posted a video of me miming along with that recording, seen here...

...And that video got about 3 million views across TikTok and Instagram within a few days.

Seeing as everyone enjoyed this 25-second intro section of a song so much, I saw an opportunity to turn it into a full song for everyone to enjoy, and that's exactly what I did. I remember writing the song on a piano (which is quite rare for me!), an old beaten up one that lived in one of the two practice rooms in the music department at my school. It was in these practice rooms that I spent most of my lunchtimes during this period, and I wrote many songs there.

I released the song on February 10th 2023, which coincidentally happened to be the exact same day Lovejoy released their single "Call Me What You Like" This was a complete accident, but it only served to propel the song higher, as many people already drew many comparisons between my music at the time and the music of Wilbur Soot and Lovejoy, and people saw the two songs releasing on the same day almost like an some sort of rivalry, even though not once have I ever interacted with Wilbur Soot or Lovejoy.

The original single cover for 'Microwave'. I don't know why I remember this but I know the photo was taken on Dec 14th 2022.

I remember when the song was released, I was in school because it was a Friday, and I checked my phone every hour or so, only to see that the streams on Spotify had gone up by a few thousand since I last checked. By the end of the day I think the song had already passed 100k streams on Spotify alone.

It was surreal experience, but it also wasn't. At the end of the day, all the "success" I felt was just numbers ticking up on various screens, and it felt very empty.

Along with this, I was in a pretty dark place and wasn't doing well mentally at all. Being a 15 year old kid suffering with mental health issues and suddenly being lifted up into a world where hundreds of thousands of people expect you to be a silly happy character is quite an ugly sensation, and I don't wish it on anyone.

Because of this, I quickly began to resent the song, despite the amount of new people it was introducing my music to and all the opportunities it was granting me.

I was having zoom meetings with A&R reps from major labels like Sony and Warner almost every week, as they were all keen to cash in on this little boy who somehow managed to tap into something slightly mainstream. Luckily, I maintained my integrity and declined any further discussions of any potential deals that would involve selling my artistic soul.

Since its release 3 years ago, it hasn't left the #1 spot on my top songs on streaming platforms, and it seems like it'll stay that way for a long time. I used to be really annoyed at this idea, and I would often feel powerless against its influence, worrying that Microwave was the first impression that people had of my music, which as you probably know, is a very inaccurate representation of all the different types of music I involve myself with now.

However, as time has passed by, I have become extremely grateful for its popularity, and instead of worrying that people are getting the wrong first impression, I'm just glad I've been able to make as many first impressions as I have. The song now serves almost like an evergreen method of introducing my music to new listeners, who will naturally go on to discover my other music too.

Microwave has always baffled me, and it's a constant reminder that sometimes the things that are most successful take the least thought, at least in a creative context. No matter what AI song meaning websites will tell you, this lyrics to this song are absolute gibberish and don't mean a thing. Create your own meaning.

It's amazing how much this song has connected so many people, and how it speaks to the younger generation in a way that I couldn't understand when I made it, and I still don't understand now. But I'm glad it all happened

Never thought I'd ever be saying this, but long live Microwave!

RJ