Dominic Fike is an American singer-songwriter, rapper and musician from Naples, Florida. He is associated with alternative pop and first gains attention through songs posted on SoundCloud, after uploading music online during high school and recording material on tapes.

Fike is born in 1995 and grows up in a large family, with an older brother, Sean, a younger brother, Alex, and a sister, Apple. He is of African-American, Filipino and Haitian descent. He goes to Estero High School and graduates in 2014. As a child, he first picks up guitar at the age of ten and learns Red Hot Chili Peppers songs, while also listening to Jack Johnson and Blink-182. His upbringing is unstable, with his mother frequently absent and sometimes in jail, so he moves between different homes and spends time with relatives, his older brother and family friends.

Early projects and local rap scene

During his childhood and teenage years, Fike and his brother Sean spend time freestyling at a guest house known as the Backhouse, and in a nearby wooded area they call the Forest of Avalon. He later forms a rap collective with Slyte, Ike Lysergic and Seno, and creates a subgroup called Lame Boys ENT. That local scene attracts an audience, and by 2015 the group is drawing media attention and being booked for music festivals. Fike also briefly enrols in college, but leaves after less than three days.

Breakthrough and Columbia Records

Fike first gains wider recognition by making beats with producer Hunter Pfeiffer, known as 54, leading to a run of popular SoundCloud releases. His debut EP, Don't Forget About Me, Demos, is recorded while he is on house arrest for battery of a police officer, and he later serves time in Collier County Jail for violating that house arrest. The EP catches the attention of record labels and starts a bidding war. After his release in April 2018, he signs with Columbia Records; all earlier releases are removed from streaming during the label dispute, then the EP is reissued by Columbia later that year. He says the move to a label helps cover his mother’s legal costs, as she is facing drug charges at the time.

His single “3 Nights” becomes a major breakout track and reaches the top ten in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom, while also charting in multiple other countries. Its acoustic guitar sound draws comparisons with Jack Johnson, and it receives radio and playlist support as well as favourable notice from music publications. Billboard describes him as a genre-meshing artist and later names him a breakout act to watch.

Singles, collaborations and debut album

In 2019, Fike continues releasing solo material with “Açaí Bowl”, “Rollerblades” and “Phone Numbers”, the last of which is produced by Kenny Beats. He also announces a tour called Rain or Shine, with a North American leg that runs from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. Around the same period, he confirms a clothing collaboration with Marc Jacobs. He works with BROCKHAMPTON, including on the video “This is Dominic Fike”, and several collaborations with Kevin Abstract attract significant views. He also features on Halsey’s “Dominic’s Interlude” from the album Manic.

In 2020, Fike releases “Chicken Tenders” and “Politics & Violence” and puts out his debut album, What Could Possibly Go Wrong. The album reaches the top 50 in several countries, including the United States and Australia. He also records a cover of Paul McCartney’s “The Kiss of Venus” for McCartney III Imagined.

Later recognition and acting

Fike becomes a headliner for a concert series in Roblox in 2020, and NME includes him on its list of essential new artists for that year. He appears on Justin Bieber’s “Die For You” in 2021, and in 2022 joins the cast of the second season of Euphoria in his first main acting role, playing Elliot.

He also appears in the second episode of The New York Times Presents, and his tattoos include the initials of Lame Boys ENT on his forehead and a portrait of Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante on his right hand.