What’s the song that people were most curious about in the past 12 months?  Masked Wolf‘s “Astronaut in the Ocean,” which is the most-Shazamed song of 2021, not to mention one of the top five TikTok songs of the year globally. Masked Wolf also has 76 million Spotify listeners, while “Astronaut” has racked up a billion streams across all platforms. So what does he think of those crazy numbers? Well, he tries not to focus on it.

“I’ve always said to myself what comes up must comes down, y’know?” he tells ABC Audio. “Whether it was at 22, 27, 12 or 5 [million], at the end of the day, the music’s still there and that’s what’s being listened to.”

“Who knows if I’ve got another hit in the bank…who knows what the future brings, y’know?” he continues. “But it’s about playing live and being yourself throughout everything: the interviews, the performances, and that’s all I try to bring. I just don’t try and change myself.”

However, the Australian rapper, born Harry Michael Avramidis, has a hard time getting used to his song’s popularity, which had put him on the radio and on playlists next to music’s biggest names.

“It’s very weird, when I hear the name I decided to be, and represent myself as, next to, like, Olivia [Rodrigo], Kid LAROI,” he tells ABC Audio. “Like, even when I look at playlists in Spotify and I’m under or above Drake and, like, whoever other rapper…it’s just, like, you wish — you look at it, like, ‘Maybe it’ll happen someday’ — and then it finally happens.”

But Wolf isn’t resting on his laurels: He’s busy working on his debut album and is also planning a headlining tour.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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