March 13, 2025 — (New York, NY) — Today, Harlem’s own Sugarhill Ddot reunites with Chicago’s STAR BANDZ in the New York-set music video for “Energy,” out now via Priority Records. Watch HERE. After demonstrating their chemistry on the massively viral 2024 hit “My Baby,” the teen rap sensations got back together for the upbeat, drill-inflected single, which appears on Sugarhill Ddot’s 2 Sides of the Story Deluxe. Listen HERE.
“Energy” is a feel-good track lifted up by stuttering drums, deep bass, bright tones, and the sweetly melodic interplay of Sugarhill Ddot and STAR BANDZ’s vocals. The duo trades lines about living carefree, bringing the party wherever they go, and propping each other up the morning after. “Oh, yeah, I like this side of me / Yeah, I like your energy,” he says, before she replies: “You bring out the best in me / This here feel like destiny.”
The Haitian Picasso-directed video for “Energy” builds on the vibe, dropping Sugarhill Ddotand STAR BANDZ into a house party surrounded by friends. Yes, he arrives in a Rolls Royce wearing Celine, but the energy is low key and familiar as people dance, play cards, and share smiles. The track ends with them both laughing.
Sugarhill Ddot dropped the expanded edition of his celebrated debut album, 2 Sides of the Story Deluxe, in December. Buzzing new tracks like “Energy” and “Like This (Remix)” — featuring Bay Swag and wolfacejoeyy — appear alongside established favorites like “My Baby,” whose music video alone has racked up more than 22 million views to date.
He and STAR BANDZ also took their hit to #FromTheBlock (5.6 million views), gave a joint interview to Our Generation Music, and picked up another 2.2 million views via a pair of video collabs with influencers Idris Majo and Noticuz — suggesting that fans have been turning out not just for the duo’s viral song, but also for their overall chemistry. The two in fact made COMPLEX’s list of “The 13 Best Teenaged Rappers Right Now.” Sure enough, from early days, viewers were clipping content and creating endless video shorts celebrating Sugarhill Ddot and STAR BANDZ.
Despite his age, Sugarhill Ddot has been carving out his own lane for a few years, collecting co-signs from the likes of Cardi B, Drake, Ice Spice, and Lil Durk following a powerful run of self-released songs that culminated in his signing to Priority Records. He dropped a slew of singles across 2023, earning a rep for songs that swirled up the urgency of drill with the wild, youthful innovation that sparked rap’s original rise. 2 Sides of the Story made good on that promise, showing an artist who can easily switch modes — hard-edged to melodic — and smartly curate talent with cameos from Skilla Baby, Hunxho, Luh Tyler, BBG Steppaa, and even the late PnB Rock, not to mention production from Fridayy, Hitmaka, Quay Global, MCVertt, and others.
STAR BANDZ, meanwhile, is at the beginning of what may become her own meteoric rise. The fellow drill prodigy is known for her distinctive flow and fearless lyricism — and also for making major waves without falling back on explicit language. She recently dropped her highly anticipated debut mixtape, ESTRELLA, out now on Priority Records, featuring highlights like “4 Deep,” “Mirror Mirror” with BabyChiefDoit, and her viral “Yea Yea” featuring Veeze, which scored her a place on COMPLEX’s “Best Rap Verses of 2024.”
Follow Sugarhill Ddot
About Sugarhill Ddot
Harlem’s Sugarhill Ddot cut like a scythe through the crowded world of New York hip-hop. The teenaged sensation is on the trajectory to global stardom. His breakout hits which he recorded and released at 13 made the drill music of the present feel connected to the wild creativity of hip-hop’s first golden age. Having established himself as an unstoppable force, Ddot is now taking a moment to fill in the unseen parts of his persona. His debut album, 2 Sides Of The Story, shows not only the young star’s range but reminds listeners that the only way to understand an artist is to look at him in full. When he was 14, he signed to the esteemed invigorated hip-hop record label Priority Records and within a span of a year he opened for Lil Durk at an arena show, and received critical acclaim from XXL, COMPLEX, Billboard, V Magazine and more. All these feats followed his stint as a model for Drake’s NOCTA line. He later modeled clothes for ksubi, made a standout Rolling Loud debut, and has since done givebacks for the kids in his old neighborhood. He went from being a normal kid to a teenaged star on the rise. While Ddot’s music is entrancingly, undeniably New York to its core, he’s been celebrated by artists from across the country, scoring early co-signs from Ice Spice, Drake, 21 Savage, Lil Durk, Meek Mill and more. 2 Sides Of The Story is an artist committed to expressing himself through music, and making sure that he helps to evolve hip-hop in the process. With his propulsive debut album, he’s well on his way with over 105 million streams to his name.
