Masked Wolf shook up the Australian hip-hop scene in 2021 with his rap track “Astronaut in the Ocean” which has gone on to hit over 470,000 times set to TikTok videos. It is a sleeper hit that took a year to make its way to the top of the charts.
In the song, Masked Wolf talks about his struggle with depression and how he had to get out of the rut. He also talks about how he had to fight to get his music out to the world.
The song opens with a guitar that riffs over three twangy notes. Then the drums kick in, hard. A spy-movie drone plays in the background, and a commanding voice says, “What you know about rolling down in the deep?”
That intro lasts 17 seconds, which is a good length to build up some tension, release some energy and set the tone for a dramatic video clip that could be edited quickly for a social media network like TikTok.
It’s the perfect song for those kinds of videos, which have become a big part of the TikTok ecosystem. The ear-catching intro has been used to soundtrack everything from welding videos to four-wheel drives and acts of impressive athleticism (think parkour and powerlifting).
There isn’t much out there on Masked Wolf yet, but his Australian accent and rapid-fire rhymes make him a great rapper. He’s also got a strong authoritative boom in his voice that sets him apart from the rest of the crowd.
