If you've been living under a rock for the last year or so, let me educate you real quick about something very important going on in the world of music. First of all, let me preface this by admitting that I know about all of the filth and degenerate waste that tends to come out of the Vine community. There are teenage boys making videos that are offending millions, scandals are making headlines every other day, and teenage girls are paying hundreds of dollars to meet these untalented teens at conventions. However, among all the scandal and offensive language is the part of Vine that is helping kids with real talent reach their full potential and live out their dreams. One of the lucky few to be discovered on Vine is the incredibly talented Shawn Mendes.
The 17- year-old Canadian teen attracted a devoted fan following when he joined Vine in 2013 and started posting six-second videos of himself singing popular songs. In 2014, he caught the attention of Island Records' A&R Ziggy Chareton and signed with the record label. His debut single "Life Of The Party" was a hit in Canada and around the world. He is currently the youngest artist to debut with a debut song on the Billboard Hot 100 and also had the privilege of touring worldwide, opening for Austin Mahone. Mendes eventually released his own EP in July of 2014 and on Sunday, August 16, he accepted his second Teen Choice award for Choice Web Star: Music and celebrated his nomination for a Streamy Award for Best Breakthrough Artist. It's safe to say that the last few years have been good ones for the young singer who is currently on tour with Taylor Swift opening for her 1989 tour series.
On August 12, 2015, Shawn uploaded a video of him covering One Direction's new song "Drag Me Down" to his "Shawn Mendes" YouTube channel that has over 1.2 million subscribers. The video has only been up for four days and has already accumulated well over 1 million views and counting. This is just one of his many successful music videos that he's published to YouTube. His music video to his single "Stitches" that was posted to the "ShawnMendesVevo" channel on June 24, 2015, has over 14 million views and the music video for "Something Big" that was posted on November 11, 2014, has over 24 million views.
Shawn's talent and success is a true testament to the power of the Internet. Musicians are being discovered everyday through their YouTube channels and videos. One of the biggest success stories of a YouTube discovered artist is that of another Canadian pop star, Justin Bieber. Although Vine gets a lot of heat for the way it's biggest successes are famous for merely being good-looking in the eyes of 13-year-olds, it's talent like Mendes' that gives hope and courage to other artists who are looking for a way to share their music and hopefully live out their dreams.
Over the last several months, I have become a huge fan of Mendes and his music. I'm not going to lie: his EP, "The Shawn Mendes EP," is never not blasting in my car, and I've added a select few songs to almost every Spotify playlist I have. Among all of the idiocy and, quite frankly, embarrassment that comes out of the Internet community, it's refreshing to see someone so genuinely talented have success. It takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there for the whole world to judge, especially when it comes to something so subjective as music. Mendes' talent just goes to show that all it really takes it six seconds to have a chance at your dream.
