In 2020, it’s uncommon to hear of an artist who didn’t make themselves known on social media first. From artists like Shawn Mendes to Billie Eilish, some of our favorite artists grew up creating content online, attracting millions of fans before even landing a record deal.
For Tate McRae, that’s exactly the case. The 16-year-old first started creating videos on YouTube, amassing more than 2 million subscribers in just two years. Originally from Calgary, Ontario, McRae grew up in Oman, traveled to Egypt, Vietnam, London, France and Germany, all before she could walk. At six years old, she moved back to Canada along with her parents.
Emerged in music, McRae’s mother, a dance educator, taught her to dance and immersed the singer into music, teaching her how to feel music through movement to create emotional connections.
We sat down with McRae earlier this year to ask how she got her start in music, what it’s like meeting her fans and what’s next for her in the rest of the year.
“I started my YouTube channel and it was originally a dance YouTube channel. So I posted dance videos. One day, I didn’t have anything to post so I said I might as well write a song. Then, this song kind of blew up overnight. Two weeks later we flew out to New York and met with 11 labels and just started getting into the music industry and learning as much as we could about it. I’ve been posting original songs on my YouTube channel ever since,” she said.
Now signed to RCA Records, the singer and online content creator has fully pushed herself into music, releasing an EP in January that’s built her a monthly listenership of more than 8 million. Titled “all the things I never said,” the EP is the first body of work that McRae has shared, but it’s been a long time coming. Inspired by Post Malone, Khalid, Jeremy Zucker and Jessie Reyez, the EP’s alternative-pop tracks clearly resonate with her fans, who follow her across every social platform. With more than a million followers on Instagram, the singer shows her raw talent on the platform, where she shares videos of herself dancing, performing and being her true, authentic self.
Read the rest of our feature with Tate McRae here.
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