All things for him were a business - to be hammered away at until something stuck. Verdes began treating everything as if it were an investment with zero return. From stand-up comedy, to podcasting, acting and modelling (“I literally tasted everything”). For four years, while slumming it on a couch in a friend's living room, he invested his time and winnings into all corners of the entertainment industry. His plan was simple: Move to LA and use the money to try everything. “I look back on it and the entire time I was there I was like ‘I'm here for the money and I'm going to be bigger than every single motherfucking person on this show’,” he told VICE.Īt the end of his time on the show, Verdes ended up with $50,000. But unlike some who were trying to find love, Tai was there with one intention: To win the money. When Verdes was 21, he auditioned for Are You The One?, a multi-national dating show where contestants can win thousands of dollars if ten pairs figure out their perfect match. Artistry mightn’t sit on the backburner, but there are some things more important: consistency, practice, the right songs and the right marketing. It’s the kind of thing this new generation of songwriters and artists have had impressed into them. Everything is meticulously laid-out in front of him with a formulaic mentality, with the idea that he is a “business” at the core. He’s the type of guy that has his future mapped for 10 years. His songs have millions of streams on Spotify and his single, “Stuck in the Middle”, has made its rounds on TikTok – an artist’s ultimate tool in going viral. Through the release of "Stuck in the Middle," he is one step closer to the top.It’s a mindset that to this point has pushed him far into the music lexicon. Though viral success is often mysterious, Tai Verdes' encounter with it seems quite clear. His pursuit of music reflects the dream of landing on an endless highway where that feeling is eternal. When asked why he makes music, Verdes referenced The Rocker, a film that made him realize the best feeling in the world is being able to blast your own song in the car and genuinely enjoy jamming to it down the highway. In the past, Verdes has been a part of multiple singing shows, such as American Idol and The Voice however, now with over 150k followers on TikTok, and active fans, Verdes is carving his own path to the stage. Verdes continued vlogging his journey via TikTok, explaining cover art concepts, making a fan-contributed lyric video, and even revealing plans for an upcoming music video. Playfully narrating the experience of being in the in between stage and pairing his narration with an undeniably catchy melody, Verdes created a song with which people can both bob their heads and resonate. Verdes then begins to tell a story of being stuck somewhere between lovers and friends, verbatim recounting "things girls have said to me," as he told Rolling Stone. The song starts with an infectious bass hook as the four on the floor drums queue the entrance of the verse. Verdes discovered the instrumental for "Stuck in the Middle" scouring through YouTube in the late hours of the night. As he told Must See T.V., success to him means "being able to press play on my Tai Verdes page and enjoying every single song." Verdes says this is part of how he defines success. It exploded because people enjoy the song. "Stuck in the Middle" did not explode because it was linked to a popular dance or trend. Verdes did not strike the tipping point the way you might think. this gets 1000 likes I'll put this song out. Cue just over two months later and the song now has over 2.7 million streams on Spotify alone. Four weeks later, the song hit #1 on the Spotify U.S. On June 1, he dropped it, and it went viral. On June 24, Verdes teased his indie pop tune, "Stuck in the Middle" on TikTok, announcing that he would release the full song if his post reached a thousand likes. Verdes works at Verizon, but now, instead of helping pick up dropped calls, he's also dropping catchy tunes and picking up calls from record labels. And it seems Tai Verdes has cracked the code. As of late, it has taken form in the shape of wildly popular micro video sharing platform TikTok.
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