YouTube MusicAfter its intimate New York City premiere last night, Shawn Mendes‘ YouTube Artist Spotlight Story is now live.
Directed by Casey Neistat, the mini-documentary gives you a sense of the craziness of Shawn’s life, as the camera crew follows him to Europe, to the Billboard Music Awards and to rehearsals, as he prepares for the launch of his current album. You’ll also see his fans from all over the world reveal what his music means to them.
Most entertaining, though, is footage of Shawn’s early YouTube cover videos. You then see footage of Shawn performing at a meet-up in Dundas Square in Toronto, after he emerged from the subway and is recognized by 1,500 fans simply from those YouTube cover videos. That was the moment, he said, that he knew he had an audience.
“When I came home, my dad goes, ‘Well, do you wanna do this for a living?'” Shawn recalls. “And I was like, ‘I guess so. I dunno. This is pretty cool.’ That night, I wrote my first song.”
One of the doc’s funnier moments comes when Shawn is accosted by three guys on a street in London, who ask him for a selfie because they’re on a scavenger hunt and need to get a picture of themselves with a famous person. “Are you famous?” they ask him, not recognizing him. “Yeah,” he replies.
When he reveals he’s Shawn Mendes, one of the guys freaks out, but another says, “What are you famous for, again?” “I’m a singer,” Shawn explains.
Perhaps the most Shawn-like moment in the film comes when he’s asked on-camera before a performance, “Are you nervous?” “Always man,” he replies. “Nerves mean you care!”
You can watch the whole thing now on YouTube.
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