Thanks to “Track Star” — and an abundance of confidence — Mooski is at the start of what he hopes will be a “legendary” career.
Thanks to “Track Star” — and an abundance of confidence — the rising singer is at the start of what he hopes will be a “legendary” career
One night in February 2020, following a high-level security shift as an officer in the Marines, Mooski went home and wrote a would-be hit in under three hours. He posted the result, titled “Track Star,” on YouTube and soon after noticed celebrities such as La La Anthony and Halle Berry playing and promoting the song on social media. By the end of the year, he started to receive calls from nearly every major label, but a six-month-long courtship by Capitol Records helped make his decision an easy one. “I’ve been counted out my whole life, and I’ve always been successful because I work hard,” he says. “I didn’t need anybody in my corner — I wanted them in my corner.” Capitol Records CEO Jeff Vaughn adds: “It was a long pursuit that got incredibly competitive,” noting that the first time A&R manager Elizabeth Jones played “Track Star” for him, he knew the song would have a long life span.
After signing Mooski in February, the team at Capitol — which includes Capitol Music Group executive vp/president of promotion Greg Marella and Capitol
Records executive vp urban promotion
Bill Evans — immediately got to work on maintaining the song’s momentum one year after its initial independent release. Senior director of digital marketing Dante Smith headed the TikTok strategy, in which fans were encouraged to show off their speed to the song’s chorus, which starts with the line, “She’s a runner, she’s a track star.” Capitol also heavily promoted Mooski in Atlanta during NBA All-Star weekend in March, with him giving multiple performances in one day.
That same month, “Track Star” debuted at No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100, and by May, it entered the chart’s top 40, peaking at No. 31. Already in July, following his performance of the hit to open the BET Awards preshow, the singer scored the top spot on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart. Describing himself as “a singer that sings at a rapper’s pace,” Mooski,
24, was confident the vulnerability of the woozy hip-hop song would connect, calling it “melodic therapy.” And now, he’s well aware of the weight of his success. “Where I come from,” he says, “it’s unheard of.”