DaBaby “Rockstar” hit #1

Rockstar DaBaby with Roddy Ricch

Writer(s): Jonathan Kirk, Rodrick Moore Jr., Ross Portaro IV (see lyrics here) Released: April 17, 2020 First Charted: May 2, 2020 Peak: 17 BB, 110 ST, 19 RB, 16 UK, 11 CN, 16 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 1.8 UK, 9.74 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 933.13 video, 1669.06 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Jonathan Lyndale Kirk (stage name DaBaby) was born in 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rapper released several mixtapes between 2014 and 2017 before signing to Interscope Records. He released two albums in 2019 followed by Blame It on Baby in 2020. It was his third platinum release and second chart-topper. The album featured “Rockstar,” his second single from the album and his first #1 in the U.S. It also reached the pinnacle in nine other countries. The single featured Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr. (aka “Roddy Ricch”), a rapper born in 1998 in Compton, California. He also released some mixtapes before his album debut in 2019. However, he had already reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 a few months earlier than “Rockstar” with his own hit, “The Box.” On the original, the two rappers “draw a parallel between their hip-hop gangster lifestyles and those of rock stars.” SF DaBaby also used firearms to stand in for guitars. He also rapped about an incident in which he was with his two-year-old daughter at Walmart and fatally shot a would-be robber. SF In June 2020, DaBaby released the BLM (Black Lives Matter) remix of the song. It substituted an extra verse for the original intro. It concerned the George Floyd protests that started in May 2020 and DaBaby’s personal experience with police abuse. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for DaBaby DMDB encyclopedia entry for Roddy Ricch SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 4/10/2024; last updated 10/14/2024.