From TikTok to Pop Punk: Who’s the Real Huddy?
The pop-punk revival is alive and well, but it’s more than just the veteran acts making comebacks. Young artists like Huddy are taking a stab at becoming stars in the genre, and thanks to his new single “All the Things I Hate About You,” the 20-year-old might just succeed.
Huddy, born Chase Hudson and formerly known as Lil Huddy online, got his start on TikTok. He was a member of the infamous Hype House before launching his music career last year with debut album Teenage Heartbreak.
Like many great songs, Huddy’s latest single is getting a major boost from some of the drama from which it was born out of. Back in his Hype House days, Huddy dated TikTok It Girl Charli D’Amelio. They had a tumultuous relationship until this year, when she began dating Landon Barker, son of Travis Barker. (For an extra dose of melodrama, the elder Barker produced Huddy’s debut album.)
“All the Things I Hate About You,” and the love triangle it’s rumored to be about, have caused a stir online and may have launched a potential hit for Huddy. It helps that the song is insanely catchy with some of the best burns you can scream along to, like calling his ex a “homie hopper” and referring to the new beau as a “bum star.”
Huddy stopped by the latest episode of Don’t Let This Flop to talk about his song’s budding success, whether the rumored subjects of the song have reached out, and what it was like to be on his first-ever tour.
What’s it been like to see “All the Things I Hate About You” blow up? Were you surprised at the attention that it got?
It’s been wonderful. I really love that. It’s sort of translating with a lot of people. A lot of people have been able to find their own relatability to it and seeing that connect with people both online and recently on tour has been amazing for me.
What’s the most surprising reaction you’ve gotten to the song?
I feel like that most surprising thing for me is when you see kids sort of getting in on your music. I think that’s really like strange to me.
Can you tell us about the process of writing the song and how it came about?
So when I wrote the song, it came about early June. I had gotten in a session with two people. I had never done a session with before. And I told them the concept I had for a song called “All the Things I Hate About You” and we went in and we just did it and took us that first day. Then we came back a second day — after never doing a session before we booked another session the day after — and then we finished the song. It was just such a fast process. I’ve never had a song move this quickly.
Have the subjects of the song said anything to you?
No, not yet. I’ve been sort of like isolated recently through all the process I’ve been on tour and I’ve been like working a lot. I’ve been home and I haven’t really talked to anyone since start of the summer, really
Could you explain the term “homie hopper” to our listeners who may not know it?
I guess, in definition, is person that hops from one friend to another.
You first gained recognition on TikTok. Has your music career taking off affected how you think about the app?
I still love TikTok. It has a special place in my heart, but I’ve really found like a newfound love for music and sort of exploring the world. That’s big commitment. And so I’ve been spending the whole year pretty much just staying in the studio. It’s fun to really explore it. It’s such a creative world. It feels like you’re painting your own video game in a sense. Your creative levels really have no limits in a studio. So it’s fun to really experiment. See what comes about.
What’s on your For You Page right now?
I’ll be honest, probably like 75 percent of it is artists’ live performances. I see their new music. I see edits of them. I see pictures of them. That’s mostly what’s on my For You Page. And then a lot of like dumb jokes, like a lot of like stupid humor.
Any specific artists?
Playboi Carti, you can’t escape him. He’s too good. Every time he does live performance, he’ll see that in a hundred different places. Every time he goes to a fashion show, see that everywhere, just that kind of stuff. A lot of like fashion inspo.
Next month you’re playing When We Were Young, your first festival set. Are you excited?
Well, I just got off my first tour on Saturday and so I feel like that prepped me for what to expect at my first festival. I feel like if I just went straight into my first festival, it might be a little bit more nerve-wracking, but I feel like I’m well prepared for it. Now I’m ready to take it head on. I’m really excited for it.
What surprised you most about being on the road for the first time?
I think the one thing that surprised me the most was probably the lack of sleep. I thought that because you’re performing for such like a small portion of the day, that it wouldn’t take too much of your day, but it really takes your whole day. Even like loading in, setting up, setting up merch booths, getting your voice ready, doing all these other that lead up to the show is a lot. And then after that, usually we’d leave town right away. Like right after the show, we’d go to the next city. It was just such a fast paced thing that I had no idea I’d get used to so easily. It was very tiring.
When did you decide to drop the “Lil” from your stage name?
There was a thought that I was getting older and that I was sort of transcending into the music world a little bit and to feel like I’d be taken more seriously. It was time to drop “Lil” from my name just so I could show a different side from what people have seen of me so far. I want them to know me now as Huddy, the Artist. I’m trying to make that transition really easy for everybody.
What’s the side of you that people haven’t seen yet?
I don’t think people have seen the real raw, realest version of myself. I think that people will get that from the music. I thought by taking “Lil” out of my name, you’d understand that I was a little bit more of an adult and that I was ready to show the world who I am and not take any realness out of it. I want to be a hundred percent authentic in every capacity when it comes to my music.
Don’t Let This Flop is released Wednesdays on all audio streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher and more.