Vedo burst through to American audiences after his stellar performances during season four of NBC’s hit singing competition show “The Voice,” and the 21-year-old Michigan native hasn’t looked back. While his music career is clearly on the upswing — he released the sizzling single “All I Wanna Do” in January and his album is being prepped for release later this year — the burgeoning star has traveled a long road to get to where he is today. Speaking with rolling out, Vedo explained how his parents’ decision to move him from his hometown of Benton Harbor, Michigan, to Atlanta put him on the right path — as an artist and as a man. But it was an entirely new experience for the then-teenager.
“The schools were different, the music scene was different and the types of people I was influenced by were different,” Vedo says. “My father wasn’t too strict or too stern but when he said something, he meant it. For me, everything changed — I wasn’t hanging with the same people I hung with in Michigan that got me in a lot of trouble all the time. There were boundaries. The whole setting was different. When I started getting out and doing more, I saw the perks it had over Michigan. Nothing was really popping as far as music for me in Michigan. But when I got to Atlanta, that’s when I got my first studio, I started getting online and creating Myspace and Facebook [accounts] and from there it took off.”
Vedo is honest about how he was behaving back in his hometown and how his associates contributed to his self-destructive tendencies. “I moved originally simply because it was a bad influence on me in my life, period. I used to hang around guys who were stealing, breaking into cars and stuff like that. I was a singer—I was the guy everybody came to for singing a hook or to do this or that,” he says, before adding, “These guys were taking care of me but at the same time they were influencing me to do bad things. My mom said ‘You need to go with your father.’ At 14 years old, that’s the time you need a man in your life. Your mother can only teach you so much, but when it comes time for you to be a man, it’s imperative that you have a father figure in [your life]. When I got to Atlanta, my father sat me down and let me know ‘Hey if you don’t get it together, there will be no more music.’ From that point, I knew I had to focus because if my dad said ‘there will be no more music,’ he meant there would be no more music. Music had always been my escape. From there, I was straightening up and getting As and Bs and honor roll. I knew I needed to focus.”
Vedo’s relationship with his mother is a cornerstone of who he has become. She passed away from lung cancer just before he appeared on “The Voice,” and losing her at such a crucial moment in his life had a profound effect on the singer.
“My mom has always been a huge supporter of my career and my music,” he explains. “As I started gaining some fame and some notoriety, she was there throughout everything. She was there to help me ease my mind. After she passed, that was the moment I actually stepped into another lifestyle, and I was honestly scared because I didn’t have here there to tell me everything was going to be OK. For me to step into that lifestyle without her was kind of like, ‘Man, is this what I want?’ I remember what she told me before she passed: ‘No matter what you’re going through, focus on your music. I know this is what you love and I saw it when you were young. This is what you were born to do.’ It was difficult, but the love and the passion that I have to the music and the dedication that I had to making my mother happy is really what drove me and kept me going.”
Without his mom, Vedo has had to rely on his own instincts more. And he’s learned to not allow naysayers and negativity to sway him — something that got to him often when he was beginning his career.
“The hardest lesson I’ve had to learn is not everybody is going to like you or support you. When I first started, I would put up a cover and it would get 10 likes and four dislikes in three months or something like that. As artists, we’re creators — and for someone to not like something you do, it’s very discouraging. As a youngster, I would get discouraged; but as an artist, I had to accept that not everybody is going to like it. You can’t get caught up in what other people say. I had to realize that there’s nothing I’m going to be able to do to make these people happy. That’s when I realized you do it because you love to do it. And people will see that you love it, and they’ll love you for it. It took me time to get over that.”
One big reason for Vedo’s confidence and commitment is his musical mentor. Pop superstar Usher has been a guiding force in Vedo’s career, and the elder singer has helped provide both insider knowledge and a blueprint for how hard one has to work to realize their ambitions.
“Usher has been a major asset. And not just in exposure and in shouting me out to millions of people; it’s the knowledge that he has to offer,” he says. “Usher’s one of those guys who’s passionate about it but he’s not going to move unless you move. If he doesn’t see you doing anything for your career or he sees that you’re stagnant and sitting still, he’s not going to jump to it. At the end of the day, this is your career. It’s not going it happen unless you want it to happen.
“It’s been a dream working with him. He’s an idol and I look up to him as somebody that I dreamed of working with. Getting on the show was a beginning, but we still talk daily and he takes the time to listen to my songs and give me feedback on them. I’m thankful for him. It’s a blessing.”
