Pop Culture Insider » MTV PUSH Artist Of The Week: Conor Maynard

MTV PUSH Artist Of The Week: Conor Maynard
by David Greenwald | July 30, 2012 at 10:00 am

Get to know the Pharrell- and Ne-Yo-approved Conor Maynard.

Tell us if this reminds you of someone: teenaged YouTube star with millions of views, major R&B singers as mentors and awesome hair. Hmm... Justin, is that you? U.K. singer Conor Maynard may hear the British Bieber thing a lot, but the breakthrough artist definitely deserves a spotlight of his own.

The rising star made his mark with killer covers of Usher, Ne-Yo and Rihanna, with his uploads scoring more than 68 million YouTube views -- including 3.8 million for his original track "Vegas Girl," an electro-influenced banger that proved that he's not just a cover act. He's already hooked up with equally crushable U.K. export Rita Ora for the duet "Better Than You," and had Ne-Yo and Pharrell battling to sign him as he prepped for his transatlantic takeover. He wound up on EMI and spent a week in Miami with the Neptunes producer anyway. (Rough life, bro!)

"There's a track featuring Ne-Yo, there's a track featuring Pharrell, there's a track written by Frank Ocean," Maynard says of his star-powered debut album, Contrast, due Sept. 18. Swag on a hundred, thousand, 68 million -- and growing. "I actually have to move quite soon because fans found out where I live," Maynard says. If you're not already a Mayniac, then get ready to convert.

+ Download Conor Maynard's "Drowning," and watch his "Vegas Girl" video, interviews and performances after the jump.

Conor Maynard on his fans