Olivia Rodrigo has a gift for making one person feel very seen, and not in a good way. On 'Expectations', the standout track from her new album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl so in Love, she announces she's done settling for 'a guy with a fake job'. Within hours of release, fans had named their suspect: American DJ Zack Bia, the same man widely believed to have inspired her 2023 smash 'Vampire'.
Rodrigo's fanbase has been here before, and the detective work started almost immediately. This time, the evidence feels harder to dismiss.
So, Who is Zack Bia?
Born in New York City in 1996, Zack Bia attended Beverly Hills High School before dropping out of the University of Southern California to pursue an entertainment career. His break came through a chance encounter with rapper Fetty Wap, which led to work as a nightclub promoter in Los Angeles.
He cultivated a friendship with Drake, co-founded the independent record label Field Trip Recordings, which is home to breakout rapper Yeat and producer BNYX, and later served as the opening DJ for some of the biggest hip-hop tours. On paper, it is a legitimate career. Whether it sounds that way when someone asks what you do at a party is, apparently, a different matter entirely.
What Olivia Actually Meant by Her Lyrics
When music critic Anthony Fantano asked Rodrigo directly what she meant by the lyric, she did not hold back. 'I think it has to do more with how hard you work at your job and how much you're contributing to a company', she explained. 'When I said fake job, I was picturing the guys that I've met in LA or New York who have really rich parents, who are like "producers" or "DJs" or "creative directors", and I think maybe you work one day a week.'
Fantano pushed back, noting that there are real producers and DJs out there. Rodrigo agreed but stood her ground. 'That's true. There are real producers and DJs, and there are some fake ones too.'
She added that the lyric had resonated far beyond her own experience, pointing to a viral edit of the song featuring Hinge profile screenshots of men listing vague creative job titles. 'That's a thing that affects girls who are not in LA or New York as well.'
Why Fans Are Pointing at Zack Bia
On 'Expectations', Rodrigo describes a former flame she met at a party, charming on the surface and propped up by a parent-funded lifestyle. She sings she will not settle for 'a guy with a fake job / They seem so desperate for loving / But baby I'm not'.
This is not the first time Bia has reportedly made it into Rodrigo's songbook. In 2023, 'Vampire' arrived with lyrics about someone who 'only comes out at night', widely read as a nod to a man whose entire career depends on nightlife.
The profile is hard to overlook. Bia's entire career was built inside the LA nightlife scene: celebrity access, luxury brand collaborations, and after-dark appearances. Their six-year age difference raised some eyebrows at the time, as Rodrigo was 19 and he was 25.
Fans moved fast on social media. 'A guy with a fake job. She said what she said', wrote one user, while another posted: 'Olivia Rodrigo has now called Zack Bia a vampire AND given him a fake job. Iconic behaviour.' While Rodrigo has not explicitly confirmed who the songs are about, fans are not letting him off the hook.
