Is Timothée Chalamet Secretly Moonlighting As Masked U.K. Rapper EsDeeKid?

Speculation has been swirling lately that masked U.K. rapper EsDeeKid is actually Oscar-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet.

Yahoo reports that all over social media, fans of the rapper and the actor are trying to figure out if they are the same person. I have to admit, too, there’s certainly some convincing evidence. People have pointed to things like the double “ee” in both of their names and the very similar appearance in their eyes.

Some have also noted that Chalamet randomly turned up at fakemink show in London earlier this year. Fakemink and EsDeeKid are frequent collaborators. It’s also been noted that the Dune actor recently got a fakemink-esque buzz cut.

I’ll say, for myself, this rabbit hole has been eye-opening. I mean, watching videos of EsDeeKid and focusing on how he moves, then comparing that to, say, Chalamet in the hip-hop sketches he did… the similarities are hard to ignore.

As artist/cultural critic KJ Freeman sees it, if Chalamet is EsDeeKid, this might be the only way to chase a hip-hop dream. “The actor-to-musician crossover is very hard to do,” Freeman said in a TikTok video. “The only person who really managed it was Jamie Foxx, and even then, people thought he was doing a Ray Charles impersonation.”

I do think one could argue that Donald Glover/Childish Gambino is maybe a better example of someone who made the transition from acting to music. He was certainly known for his comedy work and role on Community first, before his hip-hop career took off.

EsDeeKid Probably isn’t Timothée Chalamet, but the evidence is very convincing

One thing working against this theory, for me, is EsDeeKid’s voice. I mean, it just doesn’t sound like Chalamet. Then again, it kind of sounds like there’s a filter or effect on his voice, so maybe it is?

If it is Chalamet, there’s also the chance that the EsDeeKid thing could be for a broader project. Possibly a film? It’s giving Joaquin Phoenix when he pretended to quit acting for a rap career. As we all know now, that just turned out to be a meta, Andy Kaufman-esque bit for the faux-documentary I’m Still Here.

I also don’t know how Chalamet could pull off the live shows that EsDeeKid has scheduled. This week, he’ll be at OVO Arena Wembley in London, and early next year, he’ll be coming to North America for a run of shows.

Notably, Chalamet has his new film, Marty Supreme, coming out at Christmas. The timing works out because he’d have completed global press for the film by the time the tour dates start up at the end of January.

This is a big undertaking for a fake-out, you know? But maybe it’s not a fake out. Maybe if Timothée Chalamet is EsDeeKid, he’s absolutely serious about it. Or, what’s more likely, they are two different people, and EsDeeKid is capitalizing on all the free press. He’s definitely got a lot more eyes on him now.

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