One of the hottest rappers in Milwaukee doesn’t have upcoming shows scheduled at Vivarium or any of the Pabst Theater Group venues. You won’t see him at the Cactus Club, The Rave, or any Milwaukee music venue, large or small.
Where you might see him is at Walmart. Maybe you’ll see him at Potawatomi, the beach, Target, or the liquor store. Or maybe you’ll be in line for a Baconator at Wendy’s when he walks in with a JBL speaker around his waist.
The rapper is SteveDaStoner, and for the last two months he’s been taking over the city with free concerts, performing his viral song “R.W.S.” anywhere and everywhere.
The live appearances have made him a hit on TikTok; his free performance at Walmart has more than three million views, and his free concert at Walgreens has more than 4.1 million views.
The opening to “R.W.S.”—with SteveDaStoner repeating “Woah, hold on” with a pseudo-dance move where he and his crowd (if they are willing) do a few shuffle steps to the left and a few shuffle steps to the right—is a big part of the song going viral. TikTok was originally a dance app after all. But there’s more to it. The opening lyrics stand out:
Really wack shit
Two Glocks, make ’em do a backflip
We the ones really eating, n—s fasting
Caught a body ’23, that was last year
Some of the free concert videos posted online go past this point in the song, but others stop right here. Either way, the song quality has kept this trend alive, and has kept it thriving in an environment where everyone is always looking for the next big thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFVm9E81RnQ
The other key to SteveDaStoner’s viral appeal is his swagger and assuredness. What he’s doing is completely absurd, and there are people he’s performing for that want absolutely nothing to do with it. Potawatomi is a good example. Or this guy who leaves the Popeyes instead of being in the background of the video. It never phases SteveDaStoner; he approaches every concert with the same seriousness and never breaks or even cracks a smile. On the mic, doing a free concert on a Bluetooth speaker at a national corporation for a one-minute TikTok video, he’s all business. He’s the opposite of Jimmy Fallon.
SteveDaStoner is no stranger to going viral. In 2018, he released “2 Busy,” which featured a viral dance called Buckin’. He wasn’t able to capitalize it at the time, however, because he was incarcerated. (He later did it on Water Street when the Bucks won it all.)
In late 2022 and into 2023, SteveDaStoner had another song of his spawn a viral dance trend: “Barkin’,” complete with the #barkingchallenge. Not willing to let another chance to go viral slip away, Steve made his own Barking tutorial video, and saw people from all over the country doing his dance. The trend got so hot that even David Gruber got in the mix.
@thastonaDavid Gruber wanted me to pull so i said One call that’s all for my dog♬ Barkin’ – SteveDaStoner
Making things go viral is a part of the job for every new musician these days, and SteveDaStoner is thriving at it. He’s also not afraid to do what most people who go viral have to do: keep doing what works. If that means censoring himself at Chuck E. Cheese, so be it.
With the Milwaukee summer and fantastic weather right around the corner, a free concert is probably coming your way. SteveDaStoner is everywhere. Better learn the moves.
Want more Milwaukee Record? Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and/or support us on Patreon.
RELATED ARTICLES
• Watch Brett Newski play a show at Walmart, get kicked out
• NEWSKI: “We played an unlicensed show at Chipotle and everyone hated us”