DaBaby: Did He Ever Have a No. 1 Hit Song in the United States?
During the late 2010s, DaBaby became one of the most famous rappers alive. A few of his songs reached the top 10 in the United States and the United Kingdom. Notably, DaBaby decided not to release one of hit songs as the lead single from its parent album.
What DaBaby felt about making music in other genres
During an interview, Rolling Stone‘s Ethan Millman noted fans sometimes thought DaBaby’s songs sounded too similar to each other. He asked if the rapper wanted to try out a new sound. “The fact of the matter is, I’ve been making records like that since before the first record,” he said. “I’d been making crossover records, diverse records.”
DaBaby said he has no issues expanding his sound. “With this being my third album in 12 months, I thought at that point fans would be ready,” he said. “At the end of the day, they take it in how they take it in. I’ve never been afraid to jump in the water. If there’s a style of music I can take it to, I’ll do that. I want to push the envelope and grow as an artist.”
DaBaby didn’t want his No. 1 hit song to be a lead single
Millman asked DaBaby if he anticipated his No. 1 hit song “Rockstar” becoming so popular even though it wasn’t the lead single from Blame It on Baby. “Absolutely, the rapper replied. “A lot of people shoot their shot. I like to bait the fans in.”
“I’ve got ‘Find My Way’ in my hands, and I’ll put that out first,” DaBaby said. “I want to get the fans ready for a different style of music and test them out and see if they’ll embrace it or not. And they did.” DaBaby said he knew the song was going to reach No. 1 as he made it. He said all artists want to have No. 1 hits, whether they say so or not.
The way the world reacted to the song
“Rockstar” became a massive hit. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming DaBaby’s only song to do so thus far. His two other highest-charting hits — “Levitating” and “Whats Poppin” — peaked at No. 2. “Rockstar” remained on the chart for 42 weeks. Meanwhile, Blame It on Baby topped the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 81 weeks.
“Rockstar” was popular in the U.K. as well. The Official Charts Company reports the track reached No. 1 in the U.K., remaining on the chart for 40 weeks. “Rockstar” is currently the rapper’s only No. 1 hit in the U.K. Blame It on Baby peaked at No. 8 there, lasting on the chart for three weeks. DaBaby didn’t think “Rockstar” should be a lead single; however, that didn’t stop fans from bringing the song to the top of the charts.
