Austin Mahone

R&B-tinged pop vocalist Austin Mahone first attracted notice in the early 2010s after his internet uploads caught fire, paving the way for commercial traction via gold-certified tracks “Say Somethin’,” “Say You’re Just a Friend,” and “What About Love.” Following a series of EPs and mixtapes, he delivered his proper debut album Dirty Work solely in Japan during 2017.

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Mahone began performing as a child and, in 2010, launched YouTube footage of himself interpreting songs by Justin Bieber, Jason Mraz, and additional artists. His clips had built a substantial digital audience by 2011, prompting him to leave traditional high school in favor of home-schooling so he could devote full attention to his emerging career. Mahone inked a deal with Chase/Universal Republic Records in 2012 and issued multiple singles, among them “11:11” and the Flo Rida collaboration “Say You’re Just a Friend.” That summer the self-titled EP collecting these cuts appeared, followed roughly twelve months later by the second EP The Secret. The latter reached number 5 on the Billboard 200 and supplied his initial Hot 100 placement, the *NSYNC-reminiscent “What About Love.” While readying his first full-length project, Mahone dropped the Cash Money/Republic mixtape This Is Not the Album, which included appearances from Sage the Gemini, Becky G, Chris Brown, and T-Pain. The 2016 EP For Me+You arrived next, spotlighting guest spots by Juicy J, Pitbull, and 2 Chainz. In 2017 Mahone at last unveiled Dirty Work, a Japan-only set that combined material from For Me+You with new recordings such as the chart-topping club track “Creatures of the Night” alongside Hardwell and “Perfect Beauty” with Bobby Biscayne. A second Japan-exclusive release, the Oxygen EP, surfaced in 2018. Early the following year he offered the Charlie Puth-written single “Why Don’t We,” one of several tracks that carried Mahone forward into the 2020s.