{"id":2444527,"date":"2026-06-04T10:43:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2444527"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:43:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:43:43","slug":"malcolm-todd-found-fame-on-tiktok-now-hes-handling-stardom-in-real-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/malcolm-todd-found-fame-on-tiktok-now-hes-handling-stardom-in-real-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Malcolm Todd found fame on TikTok. Now he’s handling stardom in real life."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Los Angeles\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/span>Malcolm Todd is 22 with the whole world in front of him. <\/p>\n

At least, that\u2019s what it feels like while sitting on the patio of his new house overlooking the windswept L.A. skyline on a recent afternoon. Inside the sparse, upscale abode, cardboard moving boxes are still scattered across the entryway, and his shelves lack ingredients. But when you walk up on his roof, a scenic view of his home city sprawls beneath Todd. In one corner, you can spot the Hogwarts Castle at Universal Studios, and the San Gabriel Mountains surround its lookout. It\u2019s his first time living on his own, and while the new pad is adorned with Midcentury Modern furniture and eight guitars, almost everything else is a work in progress. <\/p>\n

But that\u2019s OK. The singer doesn\u2019t mind being a work in progress. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re always learning and growing, and my music evolves with my personal life,\u201d Todd said. \u201cI think just growing up and taking more risks and being more open and having more perspective is where the biggest change has come.\u201d<\/p>\n

His new album, \u201cDo That Again,\u201d is out Friday. It\u2019s his second album, but he\u2019s been releasing music since 2022, during his senior year of high school. This spring, he\u2019s been pushed to a new level of musical relevance with his song \u201cEarrings\u201d from his 2024 mixtape, \u201cSweet Boy.\u201d \u201cEarrings\u201d took over TikTok before entering the Top 10 on the Global Spotify chart<\/a>. Todd described having a hit as a \u201clittle fun treat,\u201d but he doesn\u2019t want a song from two releases ago to dictate his current music style. <\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely don\u2019t feel like I have to grab onto it. I\u2019m not really chasing hits. They\u2019re always nice, and to be rewarded for a song you care about is really cool,\u201d Todd said. \u201cAs this has blown up, I\u2019ve just been like, \u2018OK, cool, people like that song.\u2019 All I\u2019m thinking really about is putting out new music.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019re always learning and growing, and my music evolves with my personal life,\u201d Todd said about writing music for his new album \u201cDo That Again.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Evan Mulling \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

The singer feels remarkably relaxed about his fame for an artist on the path to mainstream success. Before being interviewed at his home, he needed extra time to change from his gym shorts into a button-up and jeans for a photo shoot (he didn\u2019t seem to mind the giant hole in the inseam of his pants, either). Walking around in flip-flops and burning his incense while bags from Erewhon sit on his countertop, he exudes an aura of California-cool. <\/p>\n

That makes sense given Todd\u2019s deep Los Angeles roots. His father, Tim Hobert, was a writer and executive producer of the nine-season ABC sitcom, \u201cThe Middle,\u201d<\/a> for most of Todd\u2019s childhood (you can even spot him in a Season 4 episode of the show as a baseball player). His mother, Jill Tracy, worked in theater before slowing down to care for Todd and his three siblings. <\/p>\n

These days, Todd\u2019s most famous family member is his older sister, Audrey Hobert<\/a>. She penned her way into the music industry while co-writing on \u201cThe Secret of Us,\u201d a 2024 album by her childhood friend, Gracie Abrams. After enjoying that process, she released her debut album, \u201cWhose the Clown?\u201d in August 2025, just four months after Todd released his self-titled debut.<\/p>\n

Todd reassured me that there was no sibling rivalry between the pair, laughing while explaining that in his family of six, \u201cthere\u2019s no room for that.\u201d This spring, the two showed their support<\/a> by covering each other\u2019s song for Triple J\u2019s <\/a>\u201cLike a Version.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Hobert siblings grew up around Hollywood, Todd believes the biggest advantage he received was his family\u2019s support of his music career. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely cool to have a creative dad, and I feel like [I had] creative genes passed down to me,\u201d Todd said. \u201cAs far as me feeling like I can do music, I would attribute that to my mom just being super supportive and making me feel like I could do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Choosing music over college, however, wasn\u2019t an easy decision for his family. Todd\u2019s affinity for music began in his sophomore year at Palisades Charter High School when classes were moved online due to the pandemic. Alone in his bedroom, Todd taught himself how to play the guitar. He released his first EP, \u201cDemos Before Prom,\u201d in the spring of his senior year. He enrolled at the University of Oregon in the fall but convinced his mom to let him drop out to pursue music. <\/p>\n

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Todd worked at a Cold Stone Creamery to fund his early musical endeavours. <\/p>\n

(Evan Mulling \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

\u201cIt was a week before I was supposed to go, where I made the decision that I wasn\u2019t going. I really backed out, and I was fighting my mama. She wanted me to go,\u201d he explained. \u201cI convinced her to let me stay under certain rules. So I never touched a college campus. Never went for a second.\u201d<\/p>\n

Todd filled his time eating ice cream while working at Cold Stone Creamery<\/a> and producing music from his childhood bedroom. He found his audience on TikTok, after videos featuring his songs \u201cArthouse\u201d<\/a> and \u201cRoomates\u201d began racking in over a million views. Less than a year after he began posting on TikTok, Todd signed to Columbia Records in July 2023. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was just concocting like a lot of different sugary meals and eating it every day, and then going back home and making all these songs that have blown up,\u201d Todd said. <\/p>\n

In those early TikToks, you can feel Todd\u2019s drive to make it in the music industry. He posted relentlessly, often comparing<\/a> his music to artists like Steve Lacy and Omar Apollo to find his fans. And it worked. In 2024, Todd opened for Apollo on his world tour. Fast forward to today, and Todd has leveraged those comparisons to develop his own sound. <\/p>\n

Todd\u2019s upcoming album builds upon the grooves of his previous work but feels more honest than past releases. In \u201cGun to My Head,\u201d Todd examines ending his relationship to chase stardom, writing \u201cwe were invincible\/till\u2019 my second record deal.\u201d He takes accountability for his role in their dissolution, breathing vulnerability through the lyrics. He believes that \u201cDo That Again\u201d reflects a matured version of himself. He\u2019s an adult, living on his own and responsible for his own life and emotions. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always going to be Malcolm,\u201d Todd explained. \u201cBut I think I was just more evolved as a person, so I was able to be more evolved as a writer and a musician.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Todd\u2019s new album, \u201cDo That Again,\u201d will come out Friday. <\/p>\n

(Evan Mulling \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

He wanted this to be reflected in the music video for his single \u201cI Saw Your Face,\u201d<\/a> in which he chose to \u201clean into male vulnerability.\u201d In the \u201cStrong Boys Club,\u201d he and the grown men around him cry. <\/p>\n

\u201cI did this super sex bomb thing before, and I felt like this album has a lot of versatility,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted with my singles to show the range. I had my sexier song out, and I wanted to really lean on the other side of the spectrum and dig into something more emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n

But accessing that vulnerability wasn\u2019t easy. On the last day of working on \u201cI Saw Your Face,\u201d he \u201cstripped it down and started the whole thing over\u201d after toying with several versions of the song. <\/p>\n

\u201cI learned that I can go back to the drawing board and see a song through, and not just have it be this one-day, easy-going thing. It can be this real hard work that you have to dig in, and treat like a science experiment,\u201d Todd said. \u201cIt was a beautiful moment. It was very cosmic and powerful and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

This flexibility is key to Todd\u2019s performance style. When he played the Fonda Theatre in April for the second anniversary of \u201cSweet Boy,\u201d there were several songs he\u2019d never played live before. Drinking from a bottle of wine and jumping around the stage, he was casually captivating. It was about the music, not just the performance. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to have fun up there, and I\u2019m not chasing perfection by any means, he said. \u201cSo [I] just go into the show with that energy and try to have a blast, and usually if you have a blast, it radiates into the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained that he would rather \u201cmove in silence\u201d than predict what his future performances may look like. He hopes to \u201ccrush a few festivals,\u201d but for now, he\u2019s focused on becoming Malcolm Todd: the musician and the person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see myself continuing to grow as an artist and continuing to grow as a performer and continuing to grow as a human being,\u201d he said. \u201c[I\u2019ll] put forth the effort and give all I have to my career.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n