Austin Mahone

"A few days before the talent show, I went to a pep rally at school that also included a talent show. I really wanted to sing in that talent show, too. I knew I could nail it. Then I thought about how some of the kids always teased me, and I wondered if they would make fun of me more. Maybe they would, but then I thought: Who cares? It felt amazing to realize that."

"One day when I was twelve or thirteen, I was hanging out with some friends, and I heard T-Pain for the first time. Immediately, I was like, Oh, man, whats this? This is different from what Im used to listening to, and I love it. By this time, I wanted something new, so I started listening to more R&B and hip-hop. From there, I started listening to Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Drake, and all those guys. At the time, I thought country and R&B were totally different worlds, but now that I actually spend most of my life singing and writing and thinking about music, I can see theyre kind of similar. Before you say Im crazy, think about this: In country music, the singers are really soulful, and you can just hear all the emotion on their voices. They mean everything they say. And R&B is the same way. Its like every note, every word, is telling you exactly how the singers feel about what theyre singing about. Its just that in country music, all that feeling is usually about a truck, and in R&B, its more often about a girl. And for me, girls are a lot more fun to sing about than a truck. All joking aside, I feel like all music is the same, when you get down to it. Its about communicating emotion. And thats what I love about it so much. I wouldnt want to spend my life any other way."

"Granddad smiled at me before he said anything. It was a smile he gave when he was worried about disappointing me. "Its going to be hard," he said. "Its expensive. You might not come back for a long, long time." I nodded and took that in. I knew my mom had always worked hard for everything we had, and that Granddad and Mema helped us out, too. And I knew soon Id be working at something. But I was determined Id get back there before long. And, man, when I finally did, it was even better than I could have ever dreamed. But that was the amazing thing about my family: Even when something seemed kind of far-off, and maybe impossible, they always let me know it might be hard to get there, it might take work, but I should always dare to dream. And so now that its paying off, I feel like all of this is for them as much as it is for me. It makes everything thats happened even better."

"When I was growing up, I never thought much about living in San Antonio, or whether or not I liked it there. It was just where I lived, and I liked where I lived. It was where my family, my friends, and the music store I loved were, and that was all I needed."

"There were some dark days in school. Some people still made fun of me for my videos. I tried to hold on to the positive feedback, but sometimes it was impossible not to let the negative stuff get to me. Maybe theyre right, I thought, when I heard some dudes talking about me. Maybe I am stupid for putting myself on YouTube. But luckily, there was something inside of me that wouldnt let me believe that. People are going to give their opinions about you, I thought. Some people are going to make fun of you, no matter what. So you might as well do whatever you want and enjoy it. So thats what I did."

"There was one place I really wanted to go, more than any other: New York City. Maybe it was from watching the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV for all those years, or because I knew so much amazing music and culture and food came out of there, but that was always it for me, and I just had to see it for myself someday. Finally, in the summer of 2010, my granddad took me on a trip to NYC, just me and him. We had a great time. We walked around, checking out everything, got some classic New York City hot dogs from a street vendor, and saw the Statue of Liberty. Best of all, we spent time with my moms first cousin Mac Demy. Hes a real musician with a small studio in his apartment and an album available on iTunes. I was immediately into learning everything about his musical career. It was like this whole new world opened up for me, and I wanted to find a way to join it. He even said I should write a few songs and come back and record them the next summer. The whole time I was there, I had so much energy. It was like the best place in the world, and I wanted more and more. "I love New York," I told Granddad. "I want to come back again."

"So even though everything wasnt perfect for me in La Vernia, I put all my focus into the things that were going well in my life- my singing, my YouTube channel, my family, AC and my other friends. Luckily, thats the great thing about singing: It makes me forget everything else while Im doing it."

"It might be a weird thing to say, but I dont really feel like I have a home. Theres no place that feels like where I live all the time. Sometimes, I feel like my home is a hotel room. Thats pretty much where I am on most days, and I literally live out of a suitcase (actually more like three or four). I live on the road. But for me, right now, thats okay. I think a huge part of feeling at home on the road has to do with the fact that Im traveling with my team. My extended family. So, wherever I am, it feels like Ive got a solid home base, even if Im moving around on a tour bus. I really think being around good people is the secret to a quality life, especially in this industry. I am so fortunate to have this core group of family and friends to be there with me and support me. I know they keep me grounded."

"I guess I was always looking beyond what was right in front of me. I wanted to listen and play music that wasnt the normal Texas thing. More than that, I wanted to see the world beyond my hometown."

"I hit play, the music started, and thats when my nerves got the worst, because it was like, Theres no going back now. So I just went for it."

"Now, the funny thing about growing up in Texas is that people who arent from there just assume we ride horses to school and do all this weird stuff, like were living in a rodeo every day of our lives, when of course thats not true. Or at least thats what I always thought. And then I moved to La Vernia, which is like a scene out of a country song. All you can see on the road are trucks, and everyone wears Wranglers and a can of dip in their back pocket and cowboy boots and hats- not just on special occasions, but every single day."

"I was really starting to think of myself as a singer. People who watched my videos treated me like one. They werent just telling me they liked my singing. They were also giving me tips about what I should sing and how I should use my voice, you know, trying to help me out. It was cool. I realized something was happening. Maybe I can take this further, I thought. So I really dialed in, knowing if I kept working hard at it, and practiced and trained, that I would keep getting better and better."