Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
It seemed like Charlie Puth (pronounced “Pooth”) came from nowhere to hit no.1 with his Wiz Khalifa collaboration See You Again, from the Furious 7 soundtrack, but in fact he’s been hanging around the edges of the music industry for years. He began posting covers on YouTube in 2009, and signed to Ellen Degeneres’ label eleventeen in 2011. No official singles were released under that deal, and he focused on producing and writing for other artists and YouTube stars. When he wrote the hook to See You Again, he was signed by Atlantic to release that track and his own solo material. Charlie is hoping to capitalise on the success of See You Again with his debut single, though he’s brought in another collaborator to improve his chances, Meghan Trainor. Their duet, Marvin Gaye, is a schmaltzy 60s-inspired love song with cringey lyrics (and let’s not even acknowledge the eyebrows), but that may not hold it back. It’s currently no.5 in the UK Shazam chart, and has already been a top five hit in Australia and no.1 in New Zealand.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igNVdlXhKcI]