Fat Papi\u2019s \u2018Freaked Out\u2019 has landed on the Billboard Hot 100 \u2013 and it\u2019s all thanks to a TikTok-famous haircut.<\/p>\n
A viral TikTok video about a \u201cbob\u201d haircut has launched Aotearoa rapper Fat Papi on a fame spiral of global jaunts, streaming spikes and a scramble to find a manager \u2013 as well as a hit song landing on the US, UK and Australian singles charts.<\/p>\n
Baban Hussain, the Auckland-based Kurdish rapper who has been making music under the name Fat Papi since 2023, shocked local music industry followers by entering the Billboard Hot 100 charts with his recent single \u2018Freaked Out\u2019, a rare feat for a local artist and an especially rare achievement for a rapper.<\/p>\n
\u2018Freaked Out\u2019 sits at No. 89 on the Hot 100<\/a>, surrounded by songs by chart mainstays Drake, Olivia Rodrigo and Future. The last Aotearoa artist to appear in the Hot 100 was Lorde in 2025 with \u2018What Was That\u2019. Before her, Jawsh 685 achieved the same feat in 2020 with \u2018Laxed (Siren Beat)\u2019.<\/p>\n Hussain\u2019s success can be traced to a viral TikTok video and an apparently misheard lyric. \u2018Freaked Out\u2019, a collaboration with the Perth producer prodshushy, was released on June 4. Two days later, TikTok user Jocelyn Meiere, or \u201cMiss Diva Bob\u201d, posted a video that used \u2018Freaked Out\u2019 to show off her \u201cbob\u201d haircut.\u00a0<\/p>\n In it, she shakes her hair to Hussain\u2019s lyrics that say \u201cGet that bag\u201d, apparently misheard as \u201cGet that bob\u201d. With 6.7 million views, Meiere\u2019s video has gone viral, inspiring others to mimic her success and show off their own haircuts with \u2018Freaked Out\u2019 as the soundtrack.<\/p>\n While TikTok videos themselves don\u2019t count towards a song\u2019s placement on the Hot 100, a viral video can push fans to listen to the song on streaming platforms, which do count towards the charts.<\/p>\n Meiere\u2019s video has pushed Hussain\u2019s numbers to spike dramatically. On YouTube, the video for \u2018Freaked Out\u2019 has more than nine million views. On Spotify, it has 50 million streams. Fat Papi has seven million monthly Spotify listeners, pushing him past other local streaming success stories Benee (4.5m), Balu Brigada (5.3m) and Shouse (6.6m).<\/p>\n His rise has been so meteoric Hussain didn\u2019t have time to chat for this story. The Spinoff was told he had just returned from a trip to London, where he met with Meiere and made several videos celebrating their sudden success together.<\/p>\n In one post, Hussain details how Meiere made her viral video. \u201cShe filmed a TikTok at 1am to a random cool sound she liked \u2026 and now I have one of the biggest songs in the world,\u201d he writes<\/a>. In another<\/a>, Hussain says he is the \u201cfirst ever Kurdish artist to get a Billboard hit and second rapper from New Zealand.\u201d (Savage reached number 45 with \u2018Swing\u2019 in 2008.)<\/p>\n The Spinoff was told Hussain spent his weekend packing his bags to travel to Australia, then the US. His new manager said the ink was barely dry on their contract. When we requested a publicity photo, we were asked if we could wait as a photo shoot was scheduled for this week.<\/p>\n Instead of an interview, we were sent this short statement: \u201cThank you to everyone who\u2019s been rocking with \u2018Freaked Out\u2019. We got more bangers coming shortly!\u201d<\/p>\n Viral success is nothing new in the age of social media, but it is rare for local acts to gain the kind of quickfire traction Hussain has chanced upon. Local music journalist and chart nerd Gareth Shute was shocked by how fast it\u2019s happened for him. \u201cThe singular thing about this case is the speed,\u201d he told me. \u201cIn less than two months he\u2019s blown up. That is pretty crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n The trick now is for Hussain to turn his viral success into a long-lasting career. \u201dIt seems like he has good intuition about to to turn this buzz into something real,\u201d Shute says.<\/p>\n Radio support and placement on the soundtracks for popular TV shows or movies could get Fat Papi in front of even more people, Shute suggests. \u201cIt\u2019s a crazy world and once your song is on enough playlists, the numbers tick on and on,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n For now, Fat Papi appears to be soaking up the success of viral fame. He\u2019s just been named on the line-up for Australia\u2019s four-date Spilt Milk festival in December alongside Lewis Capaldi, Baby Keem and Raye, and \u2018Freaked Out\u2019 sits at No. 49 on the Australian singles charts and No. 48 on the UK charts.\u00a0<\/p>\n The only question is, will Hussain get a bob haircut himself? If his TikTok momentum continues, he might just have to.<\/p>\n