Wisconsin-born singer Ava Max has a bubbling hit on her hands with “Sweet but Psycho.” The catchy pop song is produced by Cirkut, who is known for working with Katy Perry, Rihanna, and The Weeknd, and it’s been added to Spotify’s Today’s Top Hits and Pop Rising playlists. More recently, the single has received an extra boost from the social media apps Snapchat and TikTok.
After a steady rise in Genius daily pageviews since its release in mid-August, “Sweet but Psycho” nearly doubled in pageviews when it was used in a Snapchat filter that rolled out on October 27. The song reached a new high of 10,396 pageviews after music fans flocked to Genius in order to learn the song’s lyrics. Before that, its previous high was 5,942 pageviews on October 24. Since that spike, “Sweet but Psycho” has maintained the momentum, fluctuating between 7,257 and 10,033 daily pageviews.
“Sweet but Psycho” has also taken off in popularity on the the lip sync app TikTok, where videos tagged with #sweetbutpsycho have over 9 million total views to date. Perhaps not coincidentally, the only song above “Sweet but Psycho” on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart is YouTube duo iLOVEFRiDAY’s “Mia Khalifa,” which went viral thanks to a TikTok meme that spread outside of the app.
Many fans have noted that “Sweet but Psycho” sounds similar to The Fame-era Lady Gaga. In addition to the familiar synth and dance-pop production, part of the chorus is reminiscent of Gaga’s Grammy-winning 2008 hit, “Poker Face,” when Ava sings:
At night she’s screamin'
“I’m-ma-ma-ma out my mind”
This is similar to the post-chorus of “Poker Face,” when Gaga sings:
Po-po-po-poker face, po-po-poker face
(Mum mum mum mah)
It looks like “Sweet but Psycho” is on the verge of entering the Billboard Hot 100. The track currently sits at No. 24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, which ranks the Top 25 songs which have yet to appear on the Hot 100. If the momentum continues, there’s no doubt that Ava has Snapchat and TikTok to thank for the track’s growing success.
Listen to the song above and read all the lyrics to Ava Max’s “Sweet but Psycho” on Genius now.
