Dominic Fike has achieved his first worldwide hit with ‘Babydoll’, eight years after its official release. The song, viral in recent weeks, today reached the highest position in Spotify’s Global Top 50 shortly after having surpassed the one billion views mark. The irony is that for the American fandom ‘Babydoll’ had always been a resounding success.
‘Babydoll’ is proof that you never know when you have a global hit on your hands. The song is part of the Florida artist’s first “formal” project (‘Don’t Forget Me, Demos’), released in 2018 and consisting of six demos. Among these, ‘3 Nights’, one of Fike’s flagships. The reality is that, according to Rolling Stone, Dominic would have played ‘Babydoll’ live more times than ‘3 Nights’, despite it being clearly his best-known song.
Time has proven him right. The ‘Babydoll’ viral started last February on TikTok, sneaking into the lowest positions on the Hot 100 from the beginning. It now occupies number 33 on the list. The trend of the song, used in more than 250,000 videos, is dark and tender at the same time. This consists of edits of different celebrities or deceased characters, from Paul Walker or Mac Miller to Stan Lee. Everything, adorned with the phrase “I can’t move on, babydoll.”
Beyond being the trendiest clip on TikTok, ‘Babydoll’ already had everything to succeed in 2018. It just lacked exposure. Its mix of pop, in its catchy melodies, and rock, in its crude instrumental section, is so brief that the most natural thing is to repeat the song over and over again. There is also the fact that eight years ago it was not so common to see a song of less than two minutes at the top of the charts, a trend that has changed in recent years. Was Dominic Fike ahead of his time?
What is clear is that getting ahead of a trend was not the artist’s biggest concern when he composed the song: “I made this tape in a room where a friend had let me live while he was under house arrest,” Fike has said on his networks. “Don’t think that you are missing out on something by pursuing what you want,” the statement concludes.
@zyvex888 best duo in f&f|| rip paul🕊️||#brianoconneredit #rip #fastandfuriousedit #viral #viralvideo ♬ Babydoll – Dominic Fike
@ob6vious_ I was sad when I made this edit 😭💔 || #arianagrande #arianagrandeedit #macmiller #edit #aftereffects ♬ Babydoll – Dominic Fike
