Who is Malcolm Todd?

In this article, Jack Brouillette talks about musician Malcolm Todd and his musical career.

Who is Malcolm Todd?

By Jack Brouillette

Malcolm “Todd” Hobert was born in Los Angeles, California on Sept. 15, 2003. His father was a sitcom writer, most prevalently known for working on The Middle. His mother was a stay-at-home mom, dabbling in theatricals. Malcolm performed music at parties in high school, releasing his first EP, Demos Before Prom in 2022. Genius quotes him as saying about the EP that he “was just kinda just saying whatever and nothing really meant to me.” Malcolm pursued music on the side while he was working at an ice cream parlor, studying music production at the University of Oregon.

In 2023, Malcolm’s next EP Shower Shoes was released, consisting of six songs, with the first track, “Lovebird”, being the most popular. This EP shows a softer side to his music, with the instrumentals being more focused on guitar chords and soft drum tracks in the background. Shower Shoes was received well, with Album of the Year giving it a 75% approval rating, with his music only became more popular after each release.

Cover of Shower Shoes by Malcolm Todd

The following year, Malcolm Todd’s Sweet Boy was released. Malcolm’s first mixtape consisted of 16 songs, with a total runtime of 45 minutes. The release of this mixtape was when Malcolm truly got popular, with “Art House” going viral on social media and catapulting his monthly listeners to the millions. An executive at Columbian Records noticed his growing popularity and signed him, debuting a sold-out show in Venice, California. He also opened for Omar Apollo for the North American Leg of his tour.

Cover of Malcolm Todd by Malcolm Todd

After the success of this mixtape, Malcolm released “Chest Pain (I love)”. This single got extremely popular on social media, boasting over 98 million streams on Spotify alone. This track was released as a teaser for his first self-titled album, Malcolm Todd. Malcolm Todd was released on Apr. 4, 2025, consisting of 14 songs with a runtime of 37 minutes. This album was highly anticipated with the popularity of “Chest Pain (I love)” and shows Malcolm’s musicality with soft yet cheerful and emotional tracks. Songs like “Cheer Me On” and “Bleed” feature more upbeat and uplifting instruments-- with guitars and soft synths-- while other tracks like “Make Me a Better Man” and “Lying” have harder drums and even harder-hitting strings to show a more emotional and deep cutting part of Malcolm’s musicality. Overall, this album is a strong part of Malcolm’s discography and shows what he is truly capable of in his music style.

Overall, Malcolm Todd is a great musician, with all of his music being above a 7/10 in my opinion. His discography is strong for such a new artist who is growing so quickly. I hope to see more of his music in the future.

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