Charli D’Amelio, an 18-year-old TikTok celebrity, released her debut single “If You Ask Me To” on October 26 after expressing interest in music earlier this year.
D’Amelio, who has over 148 million followers on TikTok, was the platform’s most followed user until comic creator Khaby Lame surpassed her in June.
In a trailer for season two of “The D’Amelio Show,” a Hulu reality show following her and her family, including her sister Dixie, who is also a TikTok star who debuted her own music career in 2020, D’Amelio hinted at her interest in music.
The tape, which was posted in early September, depicted D’Amelio stating that she enjoys performing but is not yet prepared to “teach Dixie about music” because it is “sort of her thing.”
D’Amelio stated in a statement to Insider about her debut single, “I have always appreciated music and performance. Once my online following began to grow, I was able to demonstrate my passion for dance, but I thought there was no room for me in the music industry due to the large number of competitors.”
Her father, Marc D’Amelio, pushed her to pursue singing, and with each session, her “passion for the process deepened.”
“If You Ask Me To” was one of the first songs D’Amelio ever penned and recorded, but it quickly became her favorite.
She added in a statement, “I tweaked it and altered certain lyrics and production over the course of several months until I was completely satisfied.”
Andrew Sandler, who has worked with artists including Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande, directed the music video. It earned 625,000 views within 14 hours after being uploaded to YouTube.
A TikTok video posted to D’Amelio’s account unveiling the song has received close to seven million views, while an Instagram post has received close to one million likes.
Numerous Instagram and YouTube comments stated that they were “proud” of D’Amelio for releasing the song despite anticipating criticism. According to TikTok users, the song pleasantly pleased them.
A post by charli (@charlidamelio) on Twitter.
Additionally, Twitter users have applauded the song, which is about falling in love, for being “extremely relatable.”
It has also been criticized, with listeners claiming it lacks originality and comparing it to Olivia Rodrigo’s “drivers license,” which was published in January 2021, as well as claiming it is “indistinguishable” from Dixie’s music.
Several TikTokers have attempted to leverage their social media popularity into music careers. In January 2021, Chase Hudson, also known as Lilhuddy, began releasing music, and two months later, Addison Rae released “Obsessed” to mixed reviews.