Aaron Fredrick "AJ" Mitchell Jr., is an American singer-songwriter and musician who is currently signed to Epic Records. He gained a following in 2017 after posting clips of himself singing and performing covers on YouTube and Instagram. His first independent single, "Used To Be", was written by Mitchell at age 13 and has over 60 million streams. Mitchell has three songs which have reached the top 40 on the US radio charts, the July 2018 release "Girls", which reached No. 39, the March 2019 release "All My Friends", which reached No. 24, and "Slow Dance", which broke into the Top 40 charts in October 2019.
Early life
AJ Mitchell was born in Belleville, Illinois on May 17, 2001. His mother, Allison Mitchell, is a small business owner and his father, Aaron Fredrick Mitchell Sr, is a traveling nurse. AJ is the couple's only son and youngest child, after their daughters Andrea and Addison. Mitchell began piano lessons at 4, inspired by his father who was also learning to play piano and write songs. Mitchell attended Belleville West High School, where he played on the football team and sang in the school choir.
Career
2015–2016: Career beginnings
By 13, Mitchell began performing at local open-mic nights in his hometown and posting covers on YouTube and Instagram, which helped him gain a significant following. Mitchell's social media fan base helped him capture the attention of the LA-based artist manager that Mitchell has worked with since 2015. Mitchell's videos on social media granted him an opportunity to relocate to Los Angeles in 2015 to collaborate with internet marketing agency Team 10. After a brief period together, Mitchell left the group to focus his energy entirely on music.
2017–2018: ''Hopeful''
In 2017, Mitchell released his first independent single "Used to Be", a song he wrote at age 13. The song was produced by hip-hop producer and engineer Mike Dean. "Used to Be" has now gained over 60 million streams. After departing the social media group, Mitchell received interest from many different record labels but eventually decided to sign with Epic Records. He inked his first major deal with the label in February 2018. Mitchell's first studio EP with Epic, Hopeful, was released in July 2018. Its lead single "Girls", co-written by Mitchell and Romans, reached No. 39 on the US Mediabase pop radio chart. In November 2018, Billboard and Vevo named AJ one of the top 19 artists to watch in 2019. AJ is headlining his first US tour in spring 2019. Epic Records CEO Sylvia Rhone referred to Mitchell's music as "exciting things to come", when discussing the growing talent roster at the record label. In 2018, Mitchell collaborated with Bay Area R&B singer-songwriter Marteen for the song "No Plans". Marteen later joined Mitchell in a support slot on the following year's 2019 Hopeful Tour.
2019–present: ''Slow Dance'' and ''Skyview''
In May 2019, Mitchell collaborated with songwriting duo Teamwork and Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt on the song "After Hours". Later that month, in an interview with Billboard, Mitchell announced that his forthcoming debut full-length album with Epic Records was nearly finished and would be released "very, very soon". The mid-tempo single "All My Friends", which debuted on the radio charts in April 2019, was confirmed as the first single from the album, titled Skyview. On August 23, 2019, Mitchell released his second EP Slow Dance, which includes his singles "Talk So Much", "Move On", and the title track featuring American singer Ava Max.
Artistry
Musician
Mitchell cites a wide variety of music as influential to his songwriting style, regularly noting his admiration of artists like Bruno Mars and Lil Wayne.
