The rumors had swirled for months, a captivating mystery gripping the internet: was Hollywood heartthrob Timothée Chalamet secretly moonlighting as the enigmatic Scouse rapper, EsDeeKid? The speculation, fueled by a striking resemblance and an air of deliberate ambiguity, reached fever pitch.
EsDeeKid exploded onto the music scene last summer with “Bally,” a track that quickly gained traction across the UK, Europe, and even the US. His debut album, “Rebel,” soared to number nine on the UK album charts, all while the artist remained shrouded in mystery, performing always masked and speaking with a distinctive Liverpool accent.
Chalamet himself playfully stoked the flames, offering only a cryptic “no comment” when questioned, then hinting that “All will be revealed.” It wasn’t a tease he left unanswered for long. He dropped a surprise remix of EsDeeKid’s “4 Raws,” accompanied by a music video that shattered expectations.
The video opened with Chalamet fully embodying the EsDeeKid persona – balaclava, hood, the whole enigmatic package. Then, a dramatic reveal: he pulled back the mask, exposing a freshly buzzed head and his own unmistakable features. The internet collectively lost its mind.
The remix wasn’t just a visual stunt; Chalamet unleashed a torrent of surprisingly sharp and audacious lyrics. He rapped about “model b*hes in Peckham,” playfully referenced being “Ryan Reynolds in Wrexham,” and casually mentioned a girlfriend with “billions” – a clear nod to Kylie Jenner.
Under the moniker “Lil Timmy Tim,” a throwback to a rapping alter-ego from his high school days, Chalamet boasted of a life lived on a grand scale: “My life is an opera, look at the Oscars, look at the groupies, look at the movies.” He punctuated the track with repeated declarations of “Marty Supreme,” his controversial new film role.
The response was immediate and overwhelming. Studio A24 simply commented “all is revealed,” while fans erupted with excitement. One user declared it “the biggest collab of the century,” admitting to being “shaking.” The track quickly gained momentum, with predictions of platinum status flooding social media.
Yet, even with the collaboration, a lingering doubt persisted among some. Skeptics pointed to subtle inconsistencies, questioning whether the video was a clever deception, a carefully constructed illusion designed to maintain the mystery. “You can’t tell me he’s not him,” one TikTok user argued, “just having someone cover up.”
The roots of the theory ran deeper than just physical resemblance. Chalamet’s past as Lil Timmy Tim, a fully realized rap persona during his high school years in New York City, added another layer of intrigue. EsDeeKid, by contrast, seemingly materialized from nowhere in 2023, his origins deliberately obscured.
EsDeeKid’s anonymity was almost complete, never revealing his face in photos or performances – only his eyes, which bore an uncanny similarity to Chalamet’s. Further fueling the speculation, eagle-eyed fans noticed strikingly similar clothing items appearing in photos of both figures.
EsDeeKid’s rapid ascent was remarkable. His song “Phantom” amassed over 90 million streams, and he garnered over 11 million monthly listeners, a surge undoubtedly amplified by the swirling rumors. This popularity led to a European tour, with dates in Paris, Madrid, Manchester, and London.
The timing of the tour proved particularly intriguing, coinciding with a period when Chalamet’s schedule appeared relatively open – with one notable exception. On October 9th, EsDeeKid performed in Milan, while Chalamet was simultaneously attending a screening of “Marty Supreme” in New York, 4,000 miles away.
A direct flight between the two cities takes seven to nine hours. Unless Chalamet possessed the ability to travel at supersonic speeds, his presence at both events seemed impossible. Was this a deliberate contradiction, a calculated move to further blur the lines between reality and illusion? Perhaps a stand-in for a single show, and a music video, was the perfect way to quell the speculation – or to keep it brilliantly alive.
