The Rise of Charlie Stardom

By Cooper Clark

It’s time to stop sleeping on Charlie Stardom. The 28-year-old is a professional songwriter and RnB singer native to Indianapolis, Ind., and boasts a melodic, jazzy voice that few — even in the mainstream — can pull off.

As a child, Stardom recalls picking through old vinyls that he found in his grandmother’s house, an interest that eventually evolved into his passion for incorporating jazz elements into his RnB/hip-hop style.

“I would see recurring names. These people write and produce everything, and one of those names was Babyface. He's huge, he's from my city, he's from where I'm from,” Stardom says of the 12-time Grammy Award winning artist. “I realized it could happen for me if I just figure out how to apply myself and meet the right people and stay going at it. And look what happened.”

Eventually, Stardom and some of his friends started working as a group and recording music in high school. He credits his older cousin, “D-Will,” for teaching him lyrical structure and the important elements of songwriting.

The origin of Stardom’s name came from a high school friend: 

“I had a homie who basically just called me Charlie. He’d say, ‘you’re gonna be a star. You’re gonna be a f****n’ star one day. Your name is Charlie Stardom.’ He would call me that all the time and it stuck.”

Soon after, Stardom began releasing self-made tracks, such as “Up” (2014), which has now gained hundreds of thousands of streams across all streaming platforms. This is when he started to become a recognizable name and sound in his local community. As his career in singing and songwriting started gaining traction, his talent began to get noticed by those in the industry. He eventually started writing songs for other artists such as Maurice Moore (@mauricemoore) and most notably, Eric Bellinger (@ericbellinger). 

In 2014, Stardom made the move from Indianapolis to Ventura, Calif., travelling with a few friends who also shared his dream and passion for music. Four years later, he dropped his first album, Love by Night (2018).

After dropping the single, “Without You” (2018) — a track that quickly made its way to the top of Stardom’s discography — he made the decision to fly out to Toronto, Canada to film the song’s music video. While there, Stardom began the process of writing and recording his second album. The album will be titled “Why is the Sky Blue?,” and is set to be finished and released in 2021. According to Stardom, it’s been a long time in the making and is a true reflection of his best work.

“Ive just been recording, recording, and starting the process over. I’ve restarted the album three times and this time it's just perfect and how I want it,” Stardom says. “There's no such thing as perfect, but in my mind, this is the best work I can offer. I feel that 100 percent. I just know that it's gonna translate and people are gonna feel it. It’s different for me — I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and experimented with a lot of different sounds and what's made me, me. It's a step up a whole other notch from what I’ve done previously.”

According to Stardom, he has a four-five song EP with UNDRGRND Magazine’s Pofsky (@trappofsky) on the way as well. Considering both artists have projects to be dropped this year, the EP should serve as a solid boost for the both of them. The duo have been accquainted for a long time now, so expect their new project to be fire when it gets released.

The long term goal of Stardom is to rise to a point at which he can assist younger artists in navigating their way through the music industry. 

“[I want] to get to a point where I can help other artists and help them get their shine,” he says. “Just to be a mentor for all of these artists that are coming up after me. I noticed that when I was coming up, in the beginning and still now, that a lot of people don’t like to help for some reason — it's very rare. I guess everything in this day and age is more ‘do it yourself’ and you just figure it out as you go. But I’d rather just eliminate all of that hassle and confusion for certain people and just help them any way that I can.”

After putting in serious work for years, Stardom has undoubtedly gained a lot of insight on what it means to be a part of the RnB scene in Southern California and “The 805.” He’s got a very positive outlook on the future of the game and towards the artists who are appearing on the radar. 

 “I'm loving it because it's a lot of new fresh ideas that are coming about from new people that you’ve never heard before,” Stardom says. “It's exciting to see that these people, especially because it's a lot of younger people, are bringing it. We are only a few years away from the new generation, but it's like a whole different set of people and ideas. It’s fascinating to watch and to actually take part in and work with these people. I’m super excited about the direction everything is going.”

Stardom is a name to remember. With the days counting down towards the release of his new album and the EP with Pofsky, 2021 is set to be a big year for the midwest-native. Remember to keep an eye out for those, and make sure to check out his previous album, Love By Night, out now.

Stream Charlie Stardom Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/charlie-stardom/673229774 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2VG1P1k546QNGNqZD2vSfS Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtYtu4mQEiurHaFjU4LmdnA

Follow Charlie Stardom Instagram: @charliestardom Twitter: @CharlieStardom

Follow Cooper Clark Instagram: @coopclark_ Twitter: @coopclark