A rapper-singer with his own catch in his throat, 24KGoldn entered a much more crowded content scene, one in which Drake still runs the board whenever he decides to drop a batch of singles, there’s an endlessly replenishing supply of emo rappers, and even the bros of TikTok are rebranding as latter-day rap rockers (most notably, Jaden Hossler/jxdn). Rodrigo jumped out in part because, as a crack singer-songwriter with a catch in her throat and real-life relationship drama behind the music, she’s the closest thing Gen Z has to Taylor Swift.
The defining tween idol of 2021 is, of course, Olivia Rodrigo, whose “Drivers License” also captured Number One thanks in part to TikTok.
Maybe the biggest: What other cherubic, shortie-courting rising star can claim a TikTok-powered Billboard Hot 100 Number One? That would be “Mood,” featuring gloomy hip-popper Iann Dior (also adorable), which inspired a dance challenge on the video app last summer, crossed over to the top-hits charts on Spotify and Apple, and culminated in a November remix featuring J Balvin and Justin Bieber, riding 24KGoldn’s TikTok wave nearly 15 years after his own breakthrough on YouTube.
24KGoldn, the 20-year-old San Francisco rapper-singer born Golden Von Jones, has big Gen Z tween-idol energy.
