Tik Tok users may have heard this sound once or twice recently: “yo, bro, who got you smiling like that?” Followed up by a catchy, up-tempo ballad playing over the rest of the video.
Aaron Paredes, a.k.a. A-Wall, has been doing a lot of smiling lately.
With good reason. His song “Loverboy,” a Tik Tok sensation, has catapulted him into notoriety, earning him a spot at no. 1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 playlist with almost 30 million listens. The single also debuted at no. 38 for Billboard’s Emerging Artists. Rolling Stone ranked him at no. 9 for its Breakthrough Artists list. To cap it all off, “Loveryboy’s” music video drops today and is embedded in this article. So how is he handling all the sudden attention?
“I’ll be honest, it was a little overwhelming,” said A-Wall during his interview with BackstageOL. “But I took some time to breathe, and I was like, you know what, when I first started music this is what I always dreamed of. What I always wanted, you know… I think I’m ready now.”
@lordawalltv THANK Y’ALL FOR GETTING MY SONG “LOVERBOY” TRENDING ON TIKTOK <3 #Smiling #Loverboy #KillTheLights #fypシ
The History of Loverboy
The dream needed time to develop. Despite its popularity, the song is already two years old. It was part of his sophomore album Helios and was making the rounds on Tik Tok on its own before combining with the signature pre-cursor sound. He was preparing to promote his third solo studio album, Autopilot, just a few weeks ago. Now he’s put that on pause and shifted his focus to “Loverboy’s” music video, a moment that reflects his journey as an artist and the culmination of the people he’s in the process.
“So when I first made that song… I had this whole vision for the rollout, the album and all that it was part of, but I just didn’t have the resources yet. I met a lot of people along the way since then that have helped me bring my visions to life. And so, with this video it was kind of like a nostalgic feeling, like… this is what I wanted to do back then with this whole song and everything and now I’m actually able to do it,” said A-Wall.
The Impact of Dallas
A-Wall gushes about the Dallas music scene he calls a “community.” It’s the source for many of the aforementioned resources and people who have helped mold him.
“I met a bunch of super talented people here in the Dallas scene. And I was like, now that I’ve learned all these things from all these great and talented people, I wanted to put all of that into [Autopilot],” said A-Wall.
The album is a labor of love for the artist, saying “I love working on everything that comes with the music. I’m thinking about the merch when I’m making a song. I’m thinking about the set design on a show when I’m making a song… I love working on all that.”
Social Media Consciousness
Tik Tok’s role may be a factor in his rise, but it isn’t an accident. A-Wall has always been conscious of social media when it comes to marketing his music.
“Ever since the beginning, when I first started putting my music out on social media, I wanted to tie it to some sort of visual or something because I feel like in today’s day and age, people have such a tiny attention span,” he said. “So you really have to make that mark when they’re scrolling on their feed to catch their eyes so that they would want to click on your song or your link or whatever it is.”
It isn’t a coincidence, either, that “Loverboy” is the song attracting new listeners. His core fans have long known about the song’s power. He would tease one more song at the end of all of his shows, and fans already knew what was coming next. So while most people are late to the party, it’s still surreal the traction the song has gained.
“There’s no way I could’ve expected this. Like, number one on the Viral 50? That’s insane. I’m making this music from my bedroom, man. It’s a crazy feeling. I’m super grateful.”
Autopilot and the Future
The success of the song has led to A-Wall delaying the release of Autopilot. It had grown too big to ignore. His hope is the song will draw in listeners to discover the rest of his discography. With the song gaining roughly a million listens a day, he may be onto something. For now, he’s playing it by ear, but he knows timing is everything.
“I am planning on releasing the album soon, definitely. Maybe when this chills out a little bit, but… yeah, I just want to be like, boom! Y’all thought I was done? Here’s this next album!”
The thing about A-Wall is his youth. At 22-years-old, there’s plenty of time for growth and to add on new skills like, for example, doing a verse in Spanish.
For those who have listened to his collaborative album with Dallas rap group CHROMA, the Latinx influence is undeniable. He’s a fan of alternative Latin artists like Omar Apollo and Kali Uchis, and would consider it a success just to meet them. His last name translates to “walls” from Spanish to English. He has a remix coming soon with a fellow Latin artist in Dallas where he has a verse completely in Spanish, something he’s never done before.
A-Wall is a name many may not have heard of too long ago, but a lot more know it now and chances are even more will know it soon. The blue-haired artist from Dallas is still evolving, and only he knows his ceiling.
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