Slow down and meditate before you take in this news: Fast & Furious dude Vin Diesel is a pop star.
No typos here. Diesel premiered his new song “Feel Like I Do,” featuring EDM DJ Kygo, last week. The song is… well, it’s produced by Kygo. Think 5:00 p.m. drunken stupor in Mykonos, or seedy basement University of Florida frat party. That’s Kygo music.
“Feel Like I Do” would also fit perfectly in the overly saccharine end scene of the next Fast & Furious movie, which reportedly takes place in space.
Diesel’s foray into pop music may seem like a sharp left turn for the 53-year-old action star. The guy is synonymous with speed racers and canned dialogue. His stage name is literally fuel (Diesel’s real name is Mark Sinclair).
But music may be the lane he’s wanted to be in all along. “I am blessed that on a year that I would normally be on a movie set — and as you know, that’s not possible — I’ve had another creative outlet. Another way to show you, or share with you, my heart,” Diesel said on The Kelly Clarkson Show while wearing sunglasses indoors and a deeply on-the-nose bomber jacket.
He’s got a knack for, shall we say, odd music videos. In 2013, he posted to Facebook a video of himself singing Rihanna’s ballad “Stay.” Diesel said at the time he was inspired by Rih’s performance at the Grammy Awards and recorded his cover as a Valentine’s Day gift to his girlfriend Paloma Jiménez. Odd, but okay, Vin! You do you.
When you’re as rich as he is, your recreational pastimes become side hustles. This isn’t even the first time he’s done so. Did you know he also released a Dungeons & Dragons retrospective book in 2004? Probably not, because unlike his new music career, he doesn’t really talk about it.
That is, unless you’re in the D&D community. As MEL reported this year, nothing makes Vinny happier than talking about the role-playing game. “There is something universal about Diesel’s appeal that can’t be defined, least of all by his nerdiness. It’s made him one of the biggest stars in the world. It’s made his wildly geekiest dreams come true,” Rob Bricken writes.
“Feel Like I Do” is the epitome of Diesel’s career. His projects may seem offbeat and randomly timed, but they always find their audience. Diesel managed to turn Fast & Furious into a mega-franchise and a multi-decade bald-head influencer for men. Who is to say music won’t become his next big hit?
Joseph Longo
Joseph Longo is a culture and entertainment journalist whose work has appeared in The Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly and more. He's still trying to understand what it means to be a Gemini Rising.
