Chase Hudson—in all his kindness—is brimming with competitive spirit. Not in the traditional sense, per se, as he’s not fighting other creators for the ranks of TikTok’s echelon—an app of which he is a favored member—or even other musicians or actors; on the contrary, he’s quite supportive of them. No, when it comes time for Hudson to get in the proverbial ring, the opponent he faces against the ropes is himself.

“I push myself every day in all of the directions that I see myself in. I push myself in everything that I do in life, whether it’s music, fashion, acting, social media, or even if it’s my own health,”he says. “I’m trying to push myself forward every single day, because I think every day is a new day, and people could forget about you tomorrow if you’re not going to continuously show up and show out for the people that do watch your stuff.” This ceaseless quest for improvement has worked out quite well for him.

Hudson, who’s more commonly known by his social media handle, Huddy (previously LilHuddy), danced and lip-synched his way into TikTok fame in 2019, the type of posting that was algorithmically awarded on the app at that time. By the end of that year, he’d co-founded the Hype House, a collaborative content house—well, mansion—for TikTok’s best and brightest, and was already well known for pioneering the e-boy fashion style (baggy clothes, dark colors, streetwear-meets-emo, the like) that still has a significant subset of the internet in a chokehold today. Actually, a simple Google of “e-boy fashion” results in a photo of Hudson himself.

His dreams of a career in social media started at 13 years old, before he even landed on his signature grungy style or realized how far his ambition could take him. Growing up in Stockton, California, with a love of music and fashion that didn’t align with the popular styles of the majority of his peers, Hudson struggled to solidify his own identity. “It worked for me,” he says. “But it didn’t work for everybody else.” More than anything, though, Hudson envisioned his future self as an artist, a creator who would never be afraid to step into uncomfortable places. Making videos with his friends was all well and good, but he wanted to start making music, to pursue fashion and modeling and acting, to make his mark on the world.

“I just always had a love for the arts that I wasn’t able to freely express as a kid,” he reflects. “It was a wild journey from a young age, but I look back on it now and I’m grateful for the trials that I had to go through when I was younger, because they really set me up for who I’ve become today.”

Who he’s become today is, if from nothing other than a numbers perspective, quite the achievement. Twenty three-year-old Hudson’s dedication has garnered him a fanbase of over 40 million followers across several platforms, and with it: a string of concerts packed with screaming fans, Instagram pics with Matthew Gray Gubler and Yungblud, front row seats at Dior fashion shows, international trips, photoshoots, festivals, parties, and on and on and on.

Despite it all, Chase Hudson is refreshingly, almost unbelievably, chill, especially considering that this is a man who has millions of people hanging onto every snippet of his life that he shares, whether it be a recent outing at the Renaissance fair or his appearance at Warped Tour Orlando. He seems relaxed as he speaks about the trials of his past and the excitement of his future from his Los Angeles home, emanating a cheery, unaffectedness borne only from knowing exactly who one is, what one wants, and how to get it.

But Hudson wasn’t always so at peace with himself. He was lost for a while, solitarily spinning in the vast maelstrom of social media, dealing with insecurity and questioning everything about himself. But after years of braving the storm, time and experience have made Hudson feel “super intentional now.”

“I was a little bit more lost when I was growing up, and I think I’m a lot more found now. I understand who I am and I understand my uniqueness, and I really lean into it,” Hudson shares. “I understand what I’m doing with my career for the first time.”

A large part of that is due to his burgeoning music career. After dropping his debut album Teenage Heartbreak in 2021—co-signed by Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker, no less—Hudson solidly established himself as an artist to watch in the pop-punk revival. Music for Hudson, from the penning of his lyrics to screaming it out on stage, is more than catharsis, it’s the answer to everything.

“I was always searching for the understanding of what it was that I was doing and what my reason for being born was,” he confesses. “The answer for me was: now I’ve found hope and connection with the youth and the people that listen to my music…giving them a reason to see—this is where I was at. I’m not in that place anymore, and I’m a lot happier.’ But it’s because I went through these moments and I recognize them that I’m able to find the light in that bit of darkness.”

Over the summer, he dropped two new singles, “Vendetta” and “Fragile,” both of which offer a more nuanced spin on his earlier work. His latest offering, “Burn the Ballroom Down,” takes form as a gritty, rebellious anthem that advocates for embracing and escaping the chaos. Soulful, raw lyrics flow over head-banging guitar tracks, every chord and word expressing a vulnerability and self-reflection that will define his upcoming sophomore album. But Hudson needs us to understand that this album, now four years in the making, isn’t taking aim at anyone in particular. Instead, it’s a sonic autobiography with a clear and uncomplicated message: he isn’t going to let anyone else tell him who he is.

“Even the songs that are about the pain that I’ve gone through, it’s strictly just kind of about what’s going on in my mental state through these moments. It’s not about being like, ‘I hate everyone on the internet, and I hate everyone that’s done me wrong,’” he clarifies. “These are the ways that I feel. And if you feel this way about me, then I don’t care, you know? It’s just a middle finger to the sky.”

Fans and followers, though, sometimes carry the perception that the people they knew first as influencers don’t have, or shouldn’t have, the artistic integrity to be anything other than a simplified figure on their screen. Especially on TikTok, an undeniable leader in the attention economy, manipulating both cultural and physical capital alike, is a place whose most famous users are deemed disconnected, flippant, ironic new leaders of a doomed next gen of the internet.

“It strikes people as confusing at first, but I think people really adapted once they started to see me get some skin in the game,” he says. “And now it’s kind of become a thing where I’m so unapologetically me that people don’t even question it anymore, and can see me for an artist.”

Hudson’s newest venture is a long-time dream realized: acting. After starring in the short film “Downfalls High”—Machine Gun Kelly’s movie adaptation of his album Tickets to My Downfall—Hudson stars in Tubi’s rom-com How To Lose a Popularity Contest. He plays Nate, a popular but underachieving high school rebel, who teams up with Sara Waisglass’s character, Ellie, to win the student body president election, with romance and hijinks ensuing in the process.

One might not expect a man who’s recognizable to most for his grungy fashion style—in which all black ensembles, graphic tees, and leather jackets reign supreme—and pop-punk discography to know the first thing about romantic comedies, but Hudson is familiar with the genre. His knowledge is a direct result of a childhood spent watching rom-coms with his two older sisters, his favorites including How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Easy A, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Twilight— “a rom com in a way,” he insists—which they watched religiously.

“[Being in] a rom-com didn’t feel like a language I haven’t heard of before. It felt like something very familiar to me, and to be able to do something like that was so much fun,” says Hudson. “I’m so glad that I did it, but I didn’t expect myself to do it. I don’t think you expect to do a lot of things in life, but when life throws you a curveball, you’d better swing.”

Hudson has always come out swinging, and always will. Despite the mountain of success he sits on, he’s showing no signs or desire of slowing his ascent. That unremitting pursuit of amelioration, utterly exhausting to many, seems exhilarating to him.

“Now I’m going to start doing movies or TV shows in other places, and branch out and start doing more things. I think there’s always more to be explored, and I’ll never take that for granted, because everything could end for you tomorrow,” he says. “I want to keep connecting with people and let this be my reality for the rest of my life. So every day is a new challenge.”

There’s always going to be another ring to compete in, another stage, another movie set, another media platform or fashion brand to be the face of. Hudson looks toward the endless horizon stretching before him with singular gratitude for all that he’s achieved and fierce ambition for all that he still has to conquer—and conquer he shall.

Photographed by Harry Eelman

Styled by Christopher Campbell

Written by Maddy Brown

Grooming: Nadia Hoecklin 

Flaunt Film: Joey Torres 

Production Assistant: Sophie Saunders