Malcolm Todd is a 20-year-old artist who is rising quickly within the alternative R&B/indie music scene. The 6’4” musician grabs intense inspiration from artists such as Steve Lacy, Tyler, the Creator and Dominic Fike. He produces and writes all of his own music. The music is extremely catchy and has been blowing up on TikTok.
At 18 years old, Todd dropped out of the University of Oregon within the first week of his arrival. With his small fandom growing, he knew he did not belong in school and wanted to pursue music full-time. He moved back to Los Angeles, California, and slowly developed a social media presence.
Todd rose to fame on TikTok, posting clips of his music and claiming it was “Steve Lacy’s new music.” This algorithm attracted fans of Steve Lacy as well as TikTok users who loved using his music as “TikTok audios.” Todd also has explicitly discussed his success online, stating that he was working in an ice cream shop in order to pursue music. He quit working at the ice cream shop once his music began to financially support him. As of October 2023, Todd has almost 10 million likes and more than 240 thousand followers on TikTok.
Todd’s latest song, “Mr. Incorrect,” just came out on October 20, 2023. The song was written by Malcolm Todd and Charlie Ziman and discusses a continuous argument in a past relationship and missing your ex. The refrain is incredibly catchy, repeating “I’m on, I’m on, I’m on; I thought I was right, but you’re never wrong.”
“Roommates”, Todd’s most popular song, came out in June 2023 and has more than 15 million streams on Spotify. This song became extremely admired on TikTok. “Roommates” discusses a rocky relationship that is coming to an end. Todd talks about his feelings about losing his identity throughout the relationship and still missing the person that he loved. The song contains no chorus, rather it tells the story of the relationship unraveling. The upbeat song contains lyrics like “Time is moving, With situations I’m not choosing” and “I wanna tell you I love you, but I cannot reach you; I’m learning to lose, that’s a thing they don’t teach you.”
Todd has only toured three locations: Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago. Todd plans to tour three more locations within the next couple of months. I hope he goes on a full world tour soon.
Malcolm Todd’s music means so much to me. His music is raw, provoking and perfectly represents what young love feels like. My favorite songs by him include but are not limited to “Sweet Boy,” “Art House,” and “Out of Bounds.” I always find myself listening to his music when walking to class, studying or just hanging out with friends. I have gotten all of my friends to listen to his music. This past year, I have been hyper-fixated on Todd’s content. He is extremely talented and I cannot wait to see what he does in the future.