Maynard The Sweet Animal

Released 20th January 2013

Back with a new single for 2013 Conor Maynard teams up with Wiley for his fourth release from debut album Contrast. But who is he? Total Biz World decided to find out.

Brighton born Conor Maynard is fast becoming the UK's answer to Canadian popstar Justin Bieber. But are they as similar as people expect. Both were discovered online and shot to massive success very quickly showing the World how powerful sites such as YouTube can impact someones career.

Starting his bid for a music career in 2006 Maynard at the age of 14 set up his own YouTube site to upload a cover song called Breathe by fellow British musician Lee Carr. His star began to climb from 2009 when with the help of his rapper friend they recorded and uploaded more videos singing more current songs.

It was when Ne-yo heard his cover of Beautiful Monster where his world would change forever. This later led to Ne-yo bringing him to the attention of a label and quickly became his mentor.

So with an international star on his side Maynard burst on the scene fresh from winning MTV's Brand New for 2012 with the catchy tune of Can't Say No. Reaching the dizzy heights on Number 2 with his debut single release he was the new kid on the block and being just 19 years old he was quickly being compared to other artisits.


It was not until the release of his second single Vegas Girl where his music was being played on the radio and reached number 4 in the charts. Teaming up with Ne-yo on his third single Turn Around was a mega hit with fans.

Debut album Contrast reached Number 1 in the charts selling 17,000 copies in its first week. It is a great album, it sounds very American but its on trend with the music out today. Rita Ora appears on the brilliant song Better Than You. Also Pharrell appears on the R&B inspired Lift Off.

Contrast is a cleverly titled debut album, as Maynard's music is so far removed from a Bieber album. We would have expected a pop album full of tracks aimed at the teen market.

Instead we have a R&B and dance mix with real lyrics that is sure to appeal to the teens but more to the point older music fans can enjoy too. His cover of Wiley's Don't You Worry Child on the Animal EP is fantastic and really shows his singing ability and his ease of appealing to the 'in-crowd'.

Total Biz World may be slightly biased but we think Conor is the real deal, his voice accoustically shows his true talent and he has a massive career ahead of him. He will be around longer than Bieber! What do you think?

Contrast is out now!

http://www.conor-maynard.com/