During the entirety of 2020, one person in the music industry showed what "an overnight success" looked like.

It was none other than Mario Judah, who went viral after releasing just two songs, that too on SoundCloud.

'Die Very Rough,' the viral song, became the 2020's 75th most-hummed song in the US.

This made Judah, a rap-rock artist who discovered he could sing only during the tune's recording, a sensation over a couple of weeks. Aiding his virality was his iconic red hair and singing style.

But the singer disappeared as quickly as he came up, leaving everyone to wonder what had happened to him.

After that, people began to google questions like "Is Mario Judah still alive?" among other things.

In this article, learn about the rising singer whose starlight seems to be fading as quickly as he got them. 

Who made Mario Judah famous?

Judah is still alive but seems very far from the spotlight. A bit of history about Judah might serve better first.

Mario Diamond-Judah Douglas was born in Flint, Michigan, on December 6, 1999.

Born to Ugandan parents, he soon moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he spent most of his growing years.

Considered a math prodigy growing up, he always liked music. But it was only when he turned 15 that he started to create beats.

After getting out of military school, which his father put him in, he delved into FL studio, a music-creating program. The first time he used the application (he was 17), he got intoxicated.

Mario Judah, who is still alive, is now rumored to be making songs with Trippie Redd.

Mario Judah in February 2021. (Photo: Mario Judah/Instagram)

So he put everything aside and focused purely on making music, starting off wanting to be a producer and only creating beats.

But, as the pandemic started, he was pushed into a bad state of mind. "I was down, bro. I was down to the bottom," he told Complex in December 2020.

In early January 2020, as his beat-making business was getting him nowhere, he started writing songs. However, that did not work out that well, worsening his mental state.

So, feeling like he had nothing to lose, he created a beat and sang over it. As soon as he set up to sing over the beat, he realized his singing ability was something of "a treasure or a cheat code."

Then, he recorded the song, named it 'Die Very Rough,' and put it up on SoundCloud in September 2020.

It caught fire within weeks, and many established artists sang praises of the song. In addition, the song caught the eye of many independent industry content creators and producers. 

One such name was JLaw, a Maryland-based videographer from OneRoomMedia, with whom he collaborated to make the video of the famous song. He also appointed JLaw as his manager and agreed to give the former 25% of his revenue from his music.

And as the video version of the song took off, they made different content in the form of Instagram live, vlogs, interviews, and public notices to add to his brand growth.

Eventually, they got a $300,000 offer contract from Atlantic Records, which promised to pay $100,000 advance, a $100,000 marketing budget, and $100,000 for a Ski Mask The Slump God Feature, Cole Benjnett's Lyrical Lemonade music video and a chance to perform at Rolling Loud event.  

In return, the record label asked for two EPs from the rapper with 10 to 14 songs.

Later, JLaw got concerned that the record label's offer differed from what they initially offered via mail. He didn't like the clause that the label would own his client's masters for five years.

According to JLaw, the record label only offered his client a 20% royalty, whereas the label would get 80%. 

Both Judah and he then agreed not to continue the deal because of deception from the record label. The next morning, Judah was nowhere to be found.

As per Youtuber Patric Cc, Judah possibly could have taken a flight at midnight and gone to sign the record deal. But, unfortunately, the rapper never got a Ski Mask feature or a Cole Bennett video. 

But still, his fame was constantly on the rise, and he also performed at Rolling Loud, where he made a controversial comment with the N-word and also covered other people's songs.

Then, in a twist, he put his own projects on hold and went after Playboi Carti. He gave him an ultimatum to release his album, Whole Lotta Red, and threatened to release his own version if he did not.

When the deadline, December 6, 2020, passed, he released his own version of the album with four tracks on December 11, 2020.

After the Carti saga, Judah was seen getting involved in a controversy about his girlfriend.

Fans on Instagram witnessed him pulling up on his girlfriend and beating her for cheating on him.

The controversy brought him the press whatsoever; however, it did more bad than good to his reputation in the long run. He later admitted that he made of the situation to promote his single 'I Cannot Love You.'

Throughout 2021, he only released two singles, 'I Cannot Love You' and 'It's Time to Rock.'

But as the end of 2021 approached, his online presence started declining. Then he disappeared.

What happened to Mario Judah?

If we look at Judah's Instagram, the last post there dates back to December 29, 2021. And his Twitter activity stopped even earlier — his previous tweet: "Good Morning Ragers," came on May 7, 2021, promoting the purchasable NFT he had launched to promote his music.

The year, he was also seen admitting to the fans on Discord that he had been facing management issues and lacking resources to push forward his music and career. 

He only tweeted next time on September 21, 2022, writing, "i love you, everything is going to be okay. you've come so far. you over came so much. i love you. you didn't give up. you kept going. you kept trusting in "love." thank you for loving yourself. i am you, and you are me. we are one. i love you."

Judah's inactivity on Twitter started when an intimate tape, allegedly of him with another man, leaked on the internet. And like 'Die Very Rough,' this, too, became viral quickly.

Even though none of their faces were visible, the red hair of the person in the clip made everyone think it was Judah.

The leak generated a lot of memes and funny tweets, with fans saying they were "traumatized" after watching the video. However, it wasn't Judah in the video. 

In addition, his inactivity made many questions if he was still alive.

Many added spam comments on his Instagram posts and tweets, hoping to elicit a response from the viral hit-maker.

However, the confirmation of Judah being alive and well came not from him but from another artist — Trippie Redd.

On July 20, 2022, Triple Redd uploaded a story on his Instagram showing Judah. In the clip, the singer was in his natural habitat — a place where music is made — doing what he does best, screaming into the microphone over a catchy beat.

His return from hiding sparked rumors about yet another collaboration with Redd. Previously, his original hook had been removed from Redd's 'Miss The Rage,' which disappointed many fans.

In totality, the year 2022 wasn't the rapper's best year. Whether he went off social media to protect himself from the trolling or to focus on his music, it is evident that his contract with Atlantic Records hasn't been as successful as expected.