Curtis Waters Is This Month's 'One To Watch' Artist!

20-year old producer and songwriter, Curtis Waters, is August’s ‘One To Watch’ artist!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDSumSpMbEV/

Originally born in Nepal, Curtis, who is a producer and songwriter, moved to Canada (Calgary) at the age of 10.  At 17, Curtis relocated to Cary, North Carolina and for the last six years, has been making music, and was motivated by video game soundtracks and Off Future.  Curtis says, “I’ve put out so many horrible beat tapes.  I was just in a bad mood, trying to make some stupid s**t and cheer up.” 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDVBTEvMZL9/

According to Rolling Stone, “Waters studied the path of recent viral hits like the BoyBoy West Coast’s ‘U Was at the Club,’ and Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road,’ which benefited from a relentless meme campaign. Both songs had been well received on TikTok, so Waters decided to get on the app for the first time. He made a series of videos for “Stunnin,’” and a laid-back, appealingly shabby dance routine with his brother suddenly picked up hundreds of thousands of views overnight.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B–wG9VJtqk/?utm_source=ig_embed

Curtis began making music in his bedroom as soon as lockdown began.  All thanks to a 15-second clip posted on TikTok and within three months, multiple outlets now refer to Curtis as a ‘fully-fledged pop star.  Prior to the lockdown, Curtis was a student, working a part-time job making smoothies and now, he has one of the biggest records around, ‘Stunnin.’

In the past, Curtis has described himself as DIY.  When it comes to making music, Curtis shared, “It’s just about being self-sufficient.  If you don’t have a resource, you have YouTube.  Just pick it up and learn it.  There’s really no excuse.  From the beginning it’s been like, I make a beat, I sing, rap, I write the lyrics, I make the artwork the day I release it.  It’s nothing too complicated.  And I’m not opposed to working with people.  I like working with people when we’re friends, but I just don’t like the idea that, ‘oh man, I need like a Metro Boomin beat,’ or, ‘oh man, I need blah blah blah.’  You don’t need anything; you just need yourself.  You need internet connection, maybe? And that’s it.  That’s all you really need.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCPnutXsU8x/

And when asked about long-term success, Curtis explains, “I can make all these goals and dreams.  But all I can really do is make music that’s authentic to myself and not chase after that.  Numbers are cool, but I just gotta be happy with what I’m making.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-gQnH9pb_w/

A fun fact about Curtis – he’s choosing not to sign with a major label, “I didn’t agree with the deals [I was being offered].  I came so far independently. I’m not sure the major labels are giving artists what they really need.”  All of this led to his newest single, ‘System,’ “I started writing it when all these labels were reaching out to me — I felt like I was being treated like a commodity, like I was just a product.  ‘System’ is a brittle, declamatory punk missile with a blunt message: “I’m boutta f**k the system up,” Curtis shares.

And check out Curtis in his new video for ‘The Feelings Tend to Stay the Same.’

Follow Curtis Waters on social media: 

INSTAGRAM

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

YOUTUBE

SPOTIFY

SOUNDCLOUD

APPLE MUSIC