Rockstar
by DaBaby (featuring Roddy Ricch)

Album: Blame It on Baby (2020)
Charted: 1 1
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, DaBaby and Roddy Ricch draw a parallel between their hip-hop gangster lifestyles and those of rock stars.
  • During the chorus, DaBaby substitutes a rock musician's typical guitar for a firearm. He tells a girl that armed with his Glock semiautomatic pistol on his hip, he's an authentic rock star.
  • Da Baby recounts in his verse an incident that took place on November 5, 2018, when he and his family, including the rapper's two-year-old daughter, were shopping in Walmart and 19-year-old Jalyn Domonique Craig approached them with a gun and attempted to rob them. In self defense, Baby fatally shot Craig in the abdomen. The rapper brings this up as a warning that he's willing to kill those who threaten him and his family. However, he is sorry that he shed blood in front of his little girl.
  • DaBaby also reveals in his verse why he took on the "DaBaby" performing name.

    I'm really the baby, she know that her youngest son was always guaranteed to get the money
    She know that her baby boy was always guaranteed to get the loot


    DaBaby really is his mom's "baby boy."
  • The song is the first official collaboration between DaBaby and Roddy Ricch.
  • SethInTheKitchen came up with the guitar-driven trap beat. The producer also supplied the instrumentation for the Kirk tracks "iPhone" and "Ready."
  • The song became DaBaby's first Hot 100 #1 of his career when it climbed to the summit of the chart dated June 13, 2020. It was Roddy Ricch second - he'd previously topped the tally with "The Box."
  • Amid the protest movement following the killing of George Floyd, DaBaby released a fiery "BLM" (Black Lives Matter) remix of the song on June 12, 2020.

    DaBaby opens the new version by recounting his experiences with the police as a black American and a rising rapper. The brand new verse also includes a reference to the North Carolina native's climb to the top of the chart.

    Number one on the charts, I'm there vicariously

    The remix doesn't change much from the original in its second half.
  • DaBaby tapped his go-to music director, Reel Goats, for the action-packed video, which finds the two rappers hunting zombies. The ensuing bloodbath ties in with the lyric that compares rockstars' guitars to rappers' firearms.
  • DaBaby performed this at the Grammy Awards in 2021, where it was up for four awards, including Record Of The Year, but didn't win any.
  • A Florida-based producer named Craig Mims - who performs as JuJu Beats – brought legal action against DaBaby, claiming "Rockstar" rips off his song "Selena."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"They're Playing My Song

Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.

La La Brooks of The Crystals

La La Brooks of The CrystalsSong Writing

The lead singer on "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," La La explains how and why Phil Spector replaced The Crystals with Darlene Love on "He's A Rebel."

Benny Mardones

Benny MardonesSongwriter Interviews

His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney Princesses

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney PrincessesSong Writing

From "Some Day My Prince Will Come" to "Let It Go" - how Disney princess songs (and the women who sing them) have evolved.

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

When Rock Belonged To Michelob

When Rock Belonged To MichelobSong Writing

Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.