SINGAPORE — High from the success of his explosive debut hit “everything sucks”, vaultboy is ready to showcase his versatility and range as a singer-songwriter. Out now, “aftermath” is what he claims is “the saddest song he’s ever written”, according to the teaser he uploaded on TikTok earlier this week.
On the inspiration behind the song, vaultboy shares, “aftermath was inspired by a break up a close friend of mine went through that was really rough. Sometimes, I feel like I have an easier time telling a really important story when I’m not the one who experienced it first-hand. That being said, there is a lot of inspiration from my own life in the song as well. I like to tell stories that can help me convey emotions that I have trouble with facing head-on, and this song is a big example of that.”
vaultboy’s debut track “everything sucks” thrust him into the limelight from obscurity. Soon after he uploaded a short snippet of the song on TikTok as a part of his 30-day songwriting challenge, the original sound on TikTok went viral (which now has over 322 MILLION views and countless user generated videos on the platform) with many requests for the release of the full version. Once “everything sucks” was officially released on streaming platforms, it rapidly hit #1 on the Spotify Global Charts staying there for almost two full weeks, and entered Spotify’s Viral Chartsin 37 countries across the globe.
vaultboy has since amassed over 1 MILLION followers on TikTok, with the track streamed over 80 MILLION times and the cheeky music video has garnered over 12 MILLION views in under 2 months. All of which has landed vaultboy in notable international publications such as Rolling Stone, Ones to Watch, American Songwriter and more. Two weeks ago, he released a new version of the hit featuring K-pop sensation Eric Nam.
His storming debut has been evident across Asia, where he steamrolled into the Top 5 of Viral Charts in Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. “everything sucks” also entered top radio stations across the region, eventually landing on Asia Pop 40 (aired on 96 radio stations across APAC) with the music video added to rotation on TV channels like Vh1 India, MTV Asia,Music TV (Indonesia) and VERY TV (Thailand). Recently, vaultboy made his debut as the international headliner on TikTok Asia’s Music Night, #CityPop Edition. Currently, based on his streams worldwide, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore are in his Top 5 countries.
Having your debut track go viral across the world can be an exhilarating yet daunting experience for any young artist, especially when expectations surrounding subsequent releases are sky-high. vaultboy shares, “It definitely has me in my head a bit more during the writing process, but I don’t think it directly impacts the songs too much. Obviously, writing a song that can become a viral hit is the hope, but what actually ends up happening is about half way through a song, I’ll say “I feel like this would do well on TikTok.” But in general, I try to let the writing process stay as organic and detached from the outside world as possible!”
vaultboy first began experimenting with music during high school and has since been perfecting and growing his craft. In 2018, vaultboy started live-streaming himself singing, performing, and also gaming full-time. In late 2020, he officially debuted on TikTok as vaultboy, a name that pays homage to his love of video games, specifically the Fallout series. He began sharing his original music and found, with his fun and relatable lyrics, he was able to deeply connect with the audience that has grown around him. Besides creating his own music, he has written with the likes of gnash along with having co-written Sarah Barrios’ single “Have We Met Before?” featuring Eric Nam. vaultboy is now working on transforming his viral TikToks and YouTube demos into full-length singles, as well as continue to write and record more music for his rapidly growing fanbase.
Check out the official lyric video for vaultboy’s “aftermath” below: