American Singer Khalid was seen on his Instagram Story dancing in a convertible to Dominic Fike’s hit single “3 Nights” off his debut EP “Don’t Forget About Me, Demos.” Days later Kendall Jenner posted an Apple Music screenshot listening to his track “King of Everything” on her story. The EP has already been reviewed by Rolling Stone and Billboard and with a little investigation you can find videos of excited fans listening to his songs on FM radio for the first time and photos of his freeway billboard advertisement in Naples, Florida.
But where did Dominic Fike come from?
On Tuesday, October 16th, Dominic Fike released the 6-track EP Don’t Forget About Me, Demos via Columbia Records coming in at a total of 14 minutes and showcasing a guitar-based alternative sound with multi-genre versatility.
The Florida-based artist partnered with Tha Lights Global for management (the company that represents Lil Pump) earlier this year before signing to Columbia for a reported $4 million dollar deal this past summer. This all happened after an alleged bidding war that started when major labels got a hold of his demo. “3 Nights” hit 1.2 million streams on Spotify in just over a week proving the investment to be a wise one. What we’re seeing with his quick rise to stardom is something of a rarity in the past decade: a label signing a major deal with an unknown artist off of a demo without a viral record or large fanbase.
The branding and marketing strategies the two backers have put into his career have pulled a star out of thin air in what seems like just under two weeks.
There is barely any record of Fike’s existence before the release of his debut EP but we did find out that he originally self-released Don’t Forget About Me, Demos in December of 2017. The demo was mysteriously removed from the internet after a few weeks upon gaining traction on Soundcloud and then re-released 10 months later by Columbia. He has scarce tracks that can be found before 2017 but what we have heard shows us where Fike’s sound originally budded from: hip hop. Two years ago Fike released track “Jada Pinkett“ with a new-age cloud rap sound and in the same year he introduces Dominic Fike, the singer, with his 9:29 minute “Dishwasher EP.”
Dominic Fike has both mystery and aesthetic that is leaving listeners wanting to know and hear more. Check it out for yourself.
