Shawn Mendes kicked off his music career on the late six second video social media platform Vine, making a name for himself as a teen pop star and heartthrob. He released his debut album Handwritten in 2015 and found radio success with his single “Stitches.” He followed up with his second album Illuminate in 2016 featuring hit singles like “Treat You Better” and “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.”

This Friday, Mendes released his more personal self-titled third album which catapulted him from teen star to full fledged serious musician. I was thrilled to talk about this album, including tracks “In My Blood,” “Youth” featuring Khalid, and “Like To Be You” featuring Julia Michaels, on MTV x TRL’s Fresh Out Friday panel. In addition to discussing Shawn Mendes the album, we also spoke about other new music including NIKI’s debut EP Zephyr. You can watch our full Fresh Out Friday discussion here.

With his new album Shawn Mendes, Mendes introduces a new side of himself to his audience, proving that not only is he a genuine guy, but he also has an incredible depth and awareness to bring to his music in all aspects: lyrically, emotionally, and production-wise. Mendes tackles topics like anxiety in “In My Blood” and dealing with adversity going on in today’s world in “Youth.” He found inspiration in the music he was consuming on a daily basis and cited influences like John Mayer, Kings of Leon, and Justin Timberlake. He showed off his knack for covering various musical genres — everything from pop to funk to R&B to rock to acoustic — and brought his friends and mentors to join him on this project, including Teddy Geiger, Ryan Tedder, Julia Michaels, Khalid, John Mayer, and Ed Sheeran.

Listen to Shawn Mendes’ self-titled third album now.

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