Victoria Abraham defines one up and coming artist each week so you can impress your friends with your musical brilliance. This week, she tackles Austin Mahonie, a teen pop sensation from Texas.
Austin’s story is one we’ve all heard a 100 times by now. He started out making videos on YouTube, they went viral with more than 90 million views (which is amazing!), a record company noticed, (in this case Chase/Universal Republic), and now the 17 year old aspiring pop superstar is working on his debut album. It’s easy to file Austin away with the other Bieber wannabes crooning about love with dance moves to spare. But unlike the others, Austin’s voice has a husky, mature smoothness which means it doesn’t feel like you’re listening to a child. To hear the magic for yourself, watch for his upcoming debut album drop.
Origins: San Antonio, Texas
Full name: Austin Mahone
Known for: Mr. Mahone is known for his velvety smooth voice
Used in a sentence: It doesn’t take long to see why Austin was signed out of the many YouTube hopefuls
File next to: Justin Bieber, Ryan Beatty, Connor Maynard
Download now: “Say You’re Just a Friend”
Five fun facts:
1. Austin is one of the opening acts on Taylor Swift’s “Red” tour. Yup that’s right, he is touring with the endlessly heartbroken Taylor Swift.
2. He has more than 2.5 million followers on Twitter. That’s more followers than Ryan Gosling.
Austin Mahone jammed out during Taylor Swift’s concert in Detroit on Saturday. It was the 16-year-old’s first show on Swift’s Red tour. He tweeted about his first show, thanking Swift, the crowd, and get ready for Miami.
@martafdezlp Incredible!! the crowd was amazing! ????
— Austin Mahone (@AustinMahone) May 5, 2013
Leaving Detroit! Can’t wait to get back to Miami ?????????
— Austin Mahone (@AustinMahone) May 5, 2013
WHAT AN AMAZING FIRST SHOW!!!
Thank u again @taylorswift13 #REDTOUR
— Austin Mahone (@AustinMahone) May 5, 2013
So cute and humble. The only thing cuter is his instagram picture of him, Taylor, and Ed Sheeran, calling them “The A Team.”
Mahone will continue to open for Swift and Sheeran during the rest of the Red Tour.
By Evan Ross
Ugh, it’s January you guys. January is probably the biggest bummer on the Gregorian calendar. I mean, it’s frigid, the only holiday is at the very beginning, and your stomach has started to expand greatly because of all the cheese you ate over the holidays (maybe that one’s just me). Worst of all, work and school drags on even more because you’ve just had several glorious weeks where your only concerns were which TV marathon to watch (the correct answer is Top Gear) and which sweats to wear while doing it.
Sometimes the only cure for winter blues is a spontaneous, midweek dance party with your roomies. This playlist might even give you the strength to carry on after your brand new Uggs get salt stains on them.
1) Radioactive – Rita Ora
I saw Rita Ora for the first time in UK Vogue and instantly became obsessed with her. My efforts to emulate her super red lips failed (can you say The Joker?) but I discovered that her debut album Ora is BOMB. This track is a great warm-up for your day; you just can’t help but bob your head and smile when it comes, and when it ends you’ll definitely end up with your “palms to the sky”
Best for: dance-walking down the street to subway (ignore judgemental glances from passersby and just do you).
2) Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars
I really didn’t want to like this song. I successfully resisted Bruno Mars up until this point but he tricked me into liking this song by making himself sound exactly like Sting in his Police days. Bruno Mars is such a happy and pleasant little Hobbit that he just makes me feel all happy and pleasant. You’ve no doubt heard this song over one hundred million times by now, but that doesn’t negate its greatness or its ability to make me want to get my grind on. It’s also a pretty sexy jam, which is awesome…Wednesday is hump day after all *le exaggerated wink*
Best for: a) singing to yourself. Loudly. b) Convincing someone to…well Bruno does say his sex takes me to paradise.
3) Beauty and a Beat – Justin Bieber
Something about Justin Beiber’s recent scandal makes his music a lot more appealing to me. Combine his vices with the epic pool party that takes place in the video and you just feel chilled out, man. Like I said before, January is a depressing month but nobody could feel depressed having on-the-cusp-of-sexy (sorry tweens!) Justin croon to them. Sometimes we just need something light and bubbly to get us through and since it’s illegal to drink champagne in public, this song will have to do.
Best for: having a sunny disposition even though it’s grey and -30 outside.
4) Glad You Came – The Wanted
If you have semi tech savvy grandparents you’ve probably taught them a thing or two about social media. Austin Mahone sure has. He tried to teach his grandfather how to use Twitter but he couldn’t master the reply key. “My granddad, I tried to get him on Twitter and he was everyday asking me the most ridiculous questions,” he told ANDPOP‘s Jordan Bortolotti.
He also talked about getting on to the weird part of the Internet — haven’t we all been there? “You can find anything! It’s definitely cool because under the Related Videos on the side the most random videos come up. And then I click on another one and another one…” he said. “You start on something and then you’ll click on another video and it takes you to a whole other thing.”
If you’re like us, you’re probably caught in a web of Austin Mahone videos.
Watch it here
Starting your music career while you’re still in high school can be complicated. Between school, touring and making new music, Austin Mahone is a busy guy.
We asked him how he maintains his seemingly “perfect life.” It’s a demanding schedule that can be pretty repetitive — hotel room, venue, sleep. “Honestly, the music business is insane,” he said. “It’s super crazy — I never expected it to be this intense.”
Oh, and we also got some news about his upcoming album! “My album’s gonna come out around the time I’m going on tour with Taylor Swift, which is around March. And so I would say expect a lot of collaborations with huge artists,” he said. “You know, just upbeat pop songs.” Get excited.
Watch it here
Also watch Part One and Part Three here.
It’s hard to believe but Austin Mahone wasn’t always a ladies man. “I was in this little town so all the girls were into the country guys that wore boots and jeans. So I was completely different from everybody else and none of the girls found me attractive,” he said in an interview with ANDPOP.
A year ago he met Taylor Swift in a cafe and she told him to never give up on his dreams. Now he’ll be opening for her during her upcoming Red tour. “It’s gonna be crazy,” he said.
He also talked about the ups and downs of having a loyal social media following. Although it’s been harder to keep in touch with his friends, he loves connecting with his fans. Keep the tweets coming, he reads all of them!
Watch it here
“When I was Your Man” – Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars takes some tips from the likes of Adele and Taylor Swift in his new single “When I Was Your Man,” singing about a past relationship gone wrong. Over a piano, Mars’ smooth vocals carry the track as he sings earnestly about the mess he made of a relationship and the woman he let get away. Mars actually tweeted about how nervous he was before releasing the track so we can assume the song reflects on real life experiences. If you like ballads, this one will tug at your heart strings for sure. Bruno Mars’ new album Unorthodox Jukebox drops tomorrow.
“G.O.O.D. Morning” – 2 Chainz
2 Chainz is living the G.O.O.D. life in his new track “G.O.O.D. Morning,” and the man has clearly reached a high point in his career. We watch him traipse around Paris spending obscene amounts of money at designer stores like Louis Vitton and Versace, get photographed by paparazzi (‘please, no pictures!’), rap for a wild crowd, and get recognized everywhere he goes. Oh, and what better way to start his great day than a little wake and bake? In other exciting 2 Chainz news, look out for an upcoming collab with Korean rapper Psy, produced by Diplo!
