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The mysterious artist blew up thanks to “Rascal” which flips a Rascal Flatts hit.
Here at Genius, we’re in a unique position as a music lyrics site to discover rising artists while staying on top of the latest trends. Millions of fans come to Genius every day after searching for the lyrics to songs they truly love, whether they’re looking for their favorite buzzing artists or the most viral songs of the moment. Based on our data, we’re going to pinpoint why fans have been searching for a selected artist. While our Top Songs charts already reflect what’s popular right now, this is a deeper dive into the data to find the hidden gems.
Mysterious singer RMR (pronounced Rumor) emerged in late February with “Rascal,” a viral song that flips Rascal Flatts‘ 2004 hit, “Bless the Broken Road.” Its music video, which has been pulled from YouTube, featured the ski-masked artist performing the song while surrounded by a gun-toting crew.
@whatrmr – Racal pic.twitter.com/DxTrwCpSyn
— RMR (@whatrmr) February 26, 2020
The contrast between RMR’s crooning vocals and the sight of him performing an anti-police anthem while wearing a Saint Laurent bulletproof vest made “Rascal” a viral sensation and an instant hit on Genius. The country trap ballad racked up more than 4,000 daily pageviews on its first day of release, reaching its current peak of 7,500 pageviews one day later.
On March 2, RMR shared a song snippet flipping Drake’s 2010 hit, “Find Your Love.” This helped “Rascal” maintain strong momentum through the first week of March. The viral hit averaged nearly 5,000 daily pageviews during the window between its release on February 26 and March 7 before then tailing off to a more sustainable 2,500 pageviews from March 8-10.
Little is known about RMR’s background at this time, and he plans to keep it that way. In an interview with Los Angeles Times, the singer explained that the anonymity provided by covering his face is meant to prevent any “preconceived notions” about his music.
“I want you to listen with your ears instead of your eyes,” he said. “The world’s prejudiced. Preconceived notions.”
Approximately in his mid-20s, RMR has revealed that he grew up traveling between the Buckhead district of Atlanta and Inglewood, Los Angeles, exposing him to a variety of sounds.
He shared an eclectic list of influences with Rolling Stone, ranging from country singers like Toby Keith and Jason Aldean to rappers like Drake, Kanye West, and JAY-Z, as well as blink-182, The 1975, and John Mayer.
“Music is music, whether it’s country, whether it’s blues, whether it’s hip-hop, whether it’s R&B,” he told LA Times pop music critic Mikael Wood.
RMR’s team has made a case for his masked strategy by naming famous artists who have employed similar tactics, including EDM hitmaker Marshmello. Malik Rasheed, the president of the singer’s label, CMNTY RCRDS, told LA Times that the anonymity would allow RMR to “have his life.”
His manager, Adrian Swish, believes RMR can be “the hip-hop Marshmello,” referring to the DJ whose identity wasn’t revealed until a couple of years into his career. Other examples of artists who’ve shrouded their identities include Sia, Daft Punk, and Banksy.
According to Woods’ reporting, CMNTY is run by several industry veterans who are well-equipped to pull off the strategy. Rasheed is a former A&R exec at Epic Records and Scooter Braun’s SB Projects, while Michele Harrison has worked with Vampire Weekend and Alanis Morissette. The label’s remaining principal is Philip Lawrence of the production team The Smeezingtons, which is known for collaborating with Bruno Mars.
Thanks to Lawrence, RMR has already aligned with Spotify’s Secret Genius program, linking him with songwriters who have worked with major artists like Lil Wayne, Ariana Grande, and Jonas Brothers.
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Day Two 🔥 Secret Genius x Philip Lawrence @cmntyrcrds @recordplant 📸 – @tyfmedia_
To put together the final piece of the puzzle, CMNTY is looking to partner with a major label to give RMR a full-fledged push and release his music going forward. In the meantime, he played two tracks for LA Times which were recorded for an EP that Rasheed said is due “very soon.”
One song, titled “Nouveau Riche,” is described by Wood as “a hypnotic, slow-rolling hip-hop groove.” The other track reportedly features lyrics about Percocet addiction over R&B production based around a “repeated banjo lick.”
Topping “Rascal” will be a difficult task—the song has racked up more than 2 million combined YouTube views between its original video and an unofficial upload—but RMR has an opportunity to capitalize on his buzz. Whether or not he becomes hip-hop’s Marshmello, the singer is well-positioned to deliver more hits.
