Photo: Chris White

Pharrell Williams said that Francesco Yates is “absolutely gonna be just a huge, huge, huge pop star.”

That’s a pretty darn big compliment for this up and coming artist from Toronto and it’s been holding true so far. One thing that has really boosted Yates’ name and recognition is a gig with Coca-Cola: producing a song to be apart of the brand’s 100th year celebration of its iconic bottle. That, in fact, is where I first heard of Yates and I’ve been a fan ever since.

Yates has been making music since he was really young but everything truly “clicked,” as his bio states, when he was 11 and saw the film School of Rock. After that, Yates realized that he could very well turn his love for music into a career. According to his bio, Yates was enrolled in a summer music camp in Toronto and began learning guitar and piano. At just 14, Yates signed a management deal and, at 16, signed a deal with Atlantic Records. Now 19, Yates is hard at work on his debut EP, working alongside top-notch producers such as Robin Hannibal (Kendrick Lamar, B.o.B) and the aforementioned Pharrell Williams.

It’s easy to realize that Yates’ music is just brilliant. It has an old soul but, yet, is marketable to today’s listener – young or old. Two tracks off the self-titled EP have been released with the full album due out September 11. One of those songs “Change The Channel” is a song that I’ve been listening to a lot lately. If this song is any indication, Francesco Yates is here to stay for a long time, folks.

Lend an ear to “Change The Channel” in the video below and be sure to pre-order the EP.