BoyWithUke Grapples With the Cost of Growing Fame in "Rockstar"


Photo: Brian Ziff

Fame is a motherfucker. In his latest offering "Rockstar," BoyWithUke boldly enters the arena of self-absorption and poetically gatling-gunning tropes of excess while vulnerably admitting that he’ll never be able to go back to the life of anonymity he used to once cherish. "Rockstar" continues the breakout star's streak of stellar singles, the likes of which saw him collaborating with notable luminaries blackbear and Oliver Tree, on "IDGAF" and "Sick of U," respectively. 

“This song is about the struggles I’ve had being BoyWithUke. BoyWithUke has become bigger than just me, which creates conflict between who I am and who BoyWithUke is. Rockstar is this conflict written out in the form of a song,” shares the artist. 

Outside of beautiful sonics and ear-candy melodies, it’s BoyWithUke’s poetry that shines through the most on "Rockstar." Similar to being a kid and envious of the adults that are able to have all of the fun, BoyWithUke is nostalgic about the days he had complete freedom. Hindsight is 20/20, as the old saying goes, and ultimately, BoyWithUke is grasping with the notion that he's beyond the point of no return. 

With a platinum record that charted #1 on Alternative Radio, two sold-out headline shows in LA and NYC last year, six million followers on TikTok, 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, and a subgenre of music you could more than argue he was the architect behind, it’s pretty apparent that the bedroom BoyWithUke romanticizes has never grown further away. Such is the cost of fame.

Watch the "Rockstar" video below:


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