At just 12 years old, YouTube star, Gavin Magnus is already an established social media sensation, racking up hundreds of thousands of views on average — in addition to rounding up almost 1 million subscribers with his channel.
But the pre-teen who has appeared in a number of projects for both Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, has also experienced a dark side to social media, opening up to PopCulture.com in an exclusive interview about his firsthand account with bullying, while dishing details on his debut album and a “big project” with rapper, Ludacris.
Videos by PopCulture.com
While the budding musician debuted the music video for his new single “Crushin” almost four months ago, with the clip now nearing 10 million views at time of this writing, he divulged who his biggest musical influence is and how it impacts his own sound.
“I love Juice WRLD. I definitely look up to him because he inspires me a lot. His music really helps me get through a lot of tough times. Whenever I’m sad I listen to him. He’s a big part of my life. I love him a lot,” Magnus told PopCulture.com.
Magnus noted that he draws influence from “a lot of other artists as well,” but that the “Lucid Dreams” rapper is “the biggest artist” who he draws inspiration from.
While he loves both acting and singing, Magnus admitted that if he was forced to pick a favorite between the two, “I prefer to sing.”
He even had the chance to go out on tour in 2018 and perform for audiences night after night.
“It was an incredible experience actually. I met a lot of cool people,” Magnus said, recalling the experience. “I did a lot of new things that I never thought I would do. It was a crazy experience. Going on stage and performing. Hanging out with supporters and all those people actually care about you. It’s incredible.”
Notably, Magnus also revealed that one of his earliest influences was Justin Bieber, whom he would dress up like and perform as around his house.
It was almost foreshadowing, as he has in recent years been called “the next Justin Bieber.” It was that same passion, however, that caused him to suffer bullying when he attended public school.
“I was bullied a lot. I would get made fun of. Kids would call me Justin Bieber and stuff. Kids would, I don’t want to exaggerate this, but it’s true. There were a few kids that would grab my backpack and throw me. Grab the back of my backpack and throw me on the ground,” Magnus shared, recounting the frightening experiences he was forced to endure.
Rather than let them crush his spirit, Magnus took those moments and turned them into something positive, by participating in the #CYBERBYTE Challenge, a social media anti-bullying campaign.
“I want to tell other people that they’re not alone. I don’t think bullying is right. I don’t know if it brings joy in other people that see other people being hurt. I don’t know if it makes people happy, but it’s definitely not okay,” he said. “I just want everyone to know that they’re not alone. Someone really cares about them. Whether they think they don’t, someone cares about them.”
With that motivation in his heart, Magnus is now setting his sights on conquering the music world, revealing to PopCulture.com that his debut album will be out in just “three months, end of summer.”
Magnus also divulged that he has a “big project with Ludacris” coming up soon that is “freaking cool.”
After all that, he plans to continue his march toward super stardom by doing “a lot more touring,” adding, “I’m a big performer. I love performing on stage. Okay, you know me. I never get nervous. You could have the whole world watching me perform, like in a stadium, I would not care. I love performing. That’s really what I love to do.”
Photo Credit: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
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