If you asked 310babii what school was like after he nailed his first Hot 100 hit, he would probably say it was just another day.
“It wasn’t too crazy,” he says months after watching his viral song “Soak City (Do It)” climb the charts. “Underclassmen would sing my lyrics in the hallway and be childish, but everybody else would be chill to the point where they didn’t make it weird. They knew what was going on with my music, but they didn’t like to fan out to me and yell. They were pretty regular and chill.”
Released last June, “Soak City” became an instant favorite on TikTok, courtesy of 310’s buoyant energy and simple dance instructions. Encouraging listeners to showcase their best moves, all that’s required is footwork and attention to detail. “Left, do it. Right, do it,” chants 310 on the hook like a playful drill sergeant on the playground. Football stars Travis Kelce and CJ Stroud joined in on the action by performing an adapted version of the Squabble Dance during their respective football games. The earworm also got the stamp of approval from LeBron James, Travis Scott and famous Twitch streamer Kai Cenat.
“When I saw CJ Stroud dancing after scoring and they put my song behind him doing The Squabble, I was like, ‘Oh. I think it’s out of here,’” says 310. “That was the first big step to being a hit record. I just needed that push.”
According to 310, the whole creative process only took him 15 minutes.
“I was making songs in my room, doing my regular recording like I would everyday at that time and I just felt good about the song at the moment,” he remembers. “It seemed like everything I said was butter. I wouldn’t say that it seemed like ‘the one,’ but I thought that it seemed like a song that was going to be good. I didn’t think it was going to be on the Billboard Hot 100 and change my life the way it did, but I knew it was a good song. It’s catchy.”
310 also didn’t use fancy studio equipment to make “Soak City.” All he needed was his phone, as he used the app BandLab, a straightforward music recording program, to create the track. According to him, the song wasn’t mastered until months after its release. “Soak City (“Do It”) debuted at No. 100 in September and currently sits at No. 61 on the Hot 100 this week, a new peak.
“I feel like BandLab offers exactly what the kids want and wanna hear,” says 310. “Right now, I’m speaking on behalf of my generation; we don’t want the million-dollar mixes or the Drake mixes. We want s–t that’s not low quality, but it doesn’t need to be too crisp and epic. Sometimes, the 808s are gonna be a little distorted, or the voice is going to sound like [it came from] a cheap mic, but that’s the beauty of it. I think that’s what it was for me,” he says.
He adds: “For so long, the kids didn’t even hear the mixed version of the song, bro. It was just straight off the phone, and that’s what they like. BandLab is just the new wave. They have some presets on there that big industry guys are aware of. It’s for sure a hidden gem.”
“Soak City (Do It)” received the remix treatment with West Coast all-stars Tyga, DJ Mustard, Blueface, OhGeesy and BlueBucksClan jumping on the song. The track’s popularity also allowed 310 to meet Texans quarterback CJ Stroud, the athlete who made him first realize that his music was gaining traction. They met before the Texans’ AFC Divisional Game in Baltimore this month.
“I’m motivated after seeing my song on the Hot 100,” he relays to Billboard. “My mental is just like, ‘Keep going.’ If I can get that one, I can get another by working hard. [It’s] motivation for working on my album and having the determination and work ethic to keep going harder and trying to improve.”
