How did he take off?
4batz has an undoubtedly distinct sound, but just as importantly, his From the Block performances, with their combination of trench visuals and whispery R&B, are so surprising that they feel genetically engineered for virality. For at least the last year, TikToks with typical rap video setups and neon-shaded pop soundtracks have flooded the internet, with the hilarious discordance making them all ripe for reposting. It’s unclear whether 4batz was going for the same effect, but it’s an inherently surprising audio-visual alignment that gets people talking. Streamers like Fanum are posting reactions to his videos, which themselves are posted onto TikTok by users that are just as shocked as everyone else. Videos like these become fodder for group chats, YouTube reaction videos, and quote-tweets. They’re self-sustaining machines that keep conversations going—and 4batz is at the center of them.
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