Who is DaBaby? The US rapper making waves with his new single Rockstar

DaBaby has enjoyed one of the most meteoric rises in music over the past year, and now his talents are bursting on the Official Singles Chart in a big way.

Real name Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, the rapper from Charlotte, North Carolina has quite the work ethic. After a major label bidding war led to him signing with Interscope in January 2019, the 28-year-old has already released three studio albums, with another expected to drop in 2020.

All of those albums - Baby on Baby, Kirk and Blame It On Baby - have gone Top 10 in the US, with the latter two topping the Billboard 200 albums chart. Kirk was a modest success in the UK, cracking the Top 40 for a single week, but we have a feeling Blame It On Baby will have more longevity than its predecessor, judging by its Top 10 debut and the popularity of its big single Rockstar ft. Roddy Ricch.

MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2020 so far

Rockstar and the TikTok challenge 

Entering the Official Chart at 29 in April, Rockstar climbed the Official UK Chart steadily week-on-week before reaching Number 1 in its fourth week on chart. Its popularity stems from hooking up with Roddy Ricch, another rapper on a upward trajectory, and the fact it has its own challenge on TikTok.

Rockstar racked up 7.95 million UK streams in its first three weeks, and a further 5.4 million was added in the week it topped the charts, nearly its then combined total as the viral craze picked up the pace and radio added more spins of the record.

DaBaby's other hit songs

Rockstar may be DaBaby's highest charting single, it's not his first trip into the UK Top 40. DaBaby made a mainstream move by collaborating with Camila Cabello on My Oh My in December 2019. While Camila released five singles from the album prior to its release (discounting Shawn Mendes collaboration Senorita which he had lead credit on) it was My Oh My that emerged as the most popular, reaching Number 13. It's DaBaby's most streamed song so far as a result, clocking up 46 million UK plays.

While DaBaby has caught the admiration of pop artists, he has the respect of his rap peers too, judging by how many high profile collaborations he's had in the span of just one year. DaBaby assists Post Malone on Enemies, an album highlight from the latter's third record Hollywood's Bleeding, he's jumped on remixes of Lil Nas X's Panini, Lizzo's Truth Hurts, and Future & Drake's Life Is Good, and he's drafted in the likes of Nicki Minaj, Ashanti and Megan Thee Stallion on his own albums.

With a collective 228 million streams across his entire discography in the UK so far, DaBaby is taking far more than baby steps into the limelight.