A year ago, Blueface was a little-known Los Angeles rapper, a former high school football star looking for new purpose, and new attention. Currently, and rather suddenly, he has become a rising hip-hop star with a single, “Thotiana,” that has been a viral sensation for the last few months and reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Thotiana” is an almost perfectly engineered hit of the social media age — it’s an effective song, and has also spawned several memes. Behind it all is Blueface, who despite his relative inexperience, understands how music functions in today’s economy, and has created a self-aware character that functions both as a musician and also as a piece of pliable internet content.

On this week’s Popcast: