"Rockstar" is a song by American rapper DaBaby, featuring vocals from American rapper Roddy Ricch. The song was released on April 17, 2020 as the second single from DaBaby's third studio albumBlame It on Baby. It was written by the two performers and its producer SethInTheKitchen. "Rockstar" has spent seven non-consecutive weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Its music video is set in a zombie apocalypse. On June 12, 2020, DaBaby released a BLM remix of "Rockstar" featuring an extra verse from him before the rest of the song, regarding the George Floyd protests that started in May 2020, and his own experience with police abuse.
Critical reception
Reviewing the song's parent album for Entertainment Weekly, Sam Hockley-Smith found "Rockstar" and "Find My Way" "catchy and brooding", "allowing him to rehash harrowing moments of violence, inner turmoil, and PTSD." In Pitchfork, Dani Blum noticed DaBaby "doesn't imitate Roddy Ricch as much as adjust his tone to complement the feature," thus, "his voice becomes softer, as close as DaBaby gets to tender, as he talks about the physical jolt of PTSD."
Commercial performance
"Rockstar" reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in its seventh week, for the chart issue dated June 13, 2020. It became DaBaby's first chart-topper and Roddy Ricch's second. It also became DaBaby's first number one and Ricch's second on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts. Along with "The Box", Ricch became the first artist to achieve his first two number one singles in the same year since Ed Sheeran did it in 2017. Topping the chart for a second week, it became the first single to spent multiple weeks on top after a run in which five songs each spent a first and only week at the summit. It has spent spent seven non-consecutive weeks atop the chart so far. "Rockstar" has also spent six weeks at number one in both Australia and the UK, and eight weeks atop the Irish chart.
Music video
DaBaby teased a music video for "Rockstar" a week before its release, posting pictures on Instagram of the filming location. The Reel Goats-directed clip was released on June 26, 2020, starring the two rappers hunting zombies in an open field. The seven-minute video also features a scene set to DaBaby's "Amazing Grace", following by the credits playing his verse from the remix. In Rolling Stone, Jon Blistein noted the clip "boasts a distinctly cinematic feel" as the two rappers are heavily armed shooting an horde of zombies with "plenty of over-the-top action," that is "balanced by a refreshingly self-aware sequence" in which the two perform the song backed by a group of zombies dancing and playing instruments.
Remix
On June 12, 2020, a remix of the song, titled "Rockstar Black Lives Matter Remix", was released. It joined many other protest songs that spoke out against police brutality in the wake of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd's murders. Jessica McKinney of Complex noted how on this version, DaBaby "discusses his multiple run-ins with the police, saying, 'Cops wanna pull me over, embarrass me/Abusin' power, you never knew me, thought I was arrogant/As a juvenile, police pulled their guns like they scared of me', while Roddy Ricch "shares a similar experience, recalling a time the police stopped him at a gas station".
Live performance
DaBaby and Ricch performed the song live at the 2020 BET Awards. The performance opened in a close-up shot of DaBaby on the ground with the knee of a police officer sitting on his neck—a recreation of George Floyd's murder. He then appeared surrounded by protesters—channeling the nationwide protests against police brutality—and performing in front of burning police cars. Ricch joined him for his verse, standing atop a cop car.
