Catch up with singer Bazzi
Star hits the road, but he chats with us first.
Snapchat might be over, but Bazzi’s career is just getting started.
Earlier this year, the pop/R&B newcomer scored a viral hit on the headlinemaking app with breakthrough single Mine, a slinky, love-struck confessional that rocketed to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has amassed more than 225,000 streams on Spotify. It’s featured on his debut album, Cosmic, which he released Thursday afternoon.
In between playing shows and games of NBA 2K on his Xbox, the 20-year-old (full name: Andrew Bazzi) called USA TODAY to tell us 10 things you should know about him.
1. Mine came to him at a pool party.
He thought of the melody while hanging out with some friends, and went to the studio two days later with producing duo Rice N Peas to record it. The song’s memorable first line, “You so (expletive) precious when you smile,” was something he “just kind of spit out in freestyle,” Bazzi says. “I loved the simplicity of it, while at the same time, it held so much detail and feeling.”
2. He’s a social media sensation.
After Mine was released as a single last fall, it took off in January thanks to a viral meme, in which Snapchat users filmed themselves using the “Be Mine” lens and played the song’s first verse in the background. Bazzi learned of the meme when friends started tweeting it to him and “thought it was super-funny and cool to see how people interpreted it.”
3. He’s opening for Camila Cabello on her North American tour.
Before the trek, which launched on Monday, “she gave me cupcakes and wrote me the sweetest letter.” His favorite song from the Havana hitmaker: her current single, Never Be the Same. “It’s just so good. It’s a very nostalgic song and feels like a classic.”
4. Taylor Swift is a fan.
The pop star included Mine at the top of her “Songs Taylor Loves” playlist on Spotify in February. “That was really cool. Taylor’s an artist I respect a lot — she’s an amazing songwriter and businesswoman.”
His first live performance, meanwhile, was at a sixth-grade talent show, singing Bruno Mars’ Talking to the Moon. “Then I got an encore, so I came out and performed I’m Yours by Jason Mraz.”
6. He’s obsessed with space.
Hence the album title, Cosmic. “I think space and music go hand in hand, in the sense that they give a little more mystery and magic to life.” Writing the album, he was inspired by pop/R&B heavyweights Prince and Michael Jackson, who “had mainstream success but never compromised their artistry.”
7. He’s Lebanese-American.
Bazzi’s hometown, Dearborn, Mich., has a large Middle Eastern population, so “I’m very heavy into that culture.” He says it’s important to embrace his heritage, given President Trump’s stance on immigration: “It’s so incorrect what’s going on (politically), and I think it’s good for Lebanese-Americans to have someone they can look at and let them know that someone’s supporting them.”
8. His list of talents don’t end at singing.
“I’ve been playing guitar since I was 6, and then drums, bass and piano since I was 10 years old.” He plays instruments on all of Cosmic’s 16 tracks.
9. Exes have called him out for writing about them.
“They’ll never be super-direct about it, but they’ll make some smart remarks about it, like, ‘Ha ha, I like the song.’ ” Bazzi says famous girls will frequently slide into his DMs on Twitter and Instagram, but he’d rather meet face to face. Plus, he’s not exactly on the market right now: “There’s someone I’m kind of hanging out with, for sure.”
10. Fangirl encounters are becoming a regular thing.
With nearly 500,000 followers across social media platforms, the heartthrob is bound to attract at least a few diehards. He remembers a recent trip to New York when 20 fans waited outside the apartment he was staying in: “I don’t know how they found me, but they had a giant bottle of Hennessy for me, which was so cool. My fans know me too well.”