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Ariel Martin, known to most of her millions of online fans as Baby Ariel, first rose to fame recording lip-sync videos on the popular app Musical.ly. From there she’s managed to conquer every social media platform from Instagram to Twitter, and now she’s hitting the recording studio to make music of her own.
We got a chance to chat with Baby Ariel about her new music, her best social media tips and tricks, and what it was like to hang with Nicki Minaj.
You have 20 million Musical.ly followers, over 7 million Instagram followers ― you’re the ultimate social media star. What advice do you have for someone who wants to start building their own social media presence?
Honestly, what I’ve learned through all of this is just to be yourself, create content that you like, don’t listen to what anybody else tells you. You follow what you want to do, you be yourself and just run with it and work hard.
You were named one of the most influential people on the Internet by Time. The list also included President Donald Trump, Chrissy Teigen and J.K. Rowling. How does that make you feel?
Honestly, I feel very honored and humbled. It’s all thanks to my supporters, and if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have been on that list. It’s crazy. It’s insane. I didn’t even think that would happen. I feel so thankful.
What first got you involved with Musical.ly? How did you hear about the app?
I actually found it randomly. I was living at my grandparents’ house for the summer because my house had a flood. My brother and I were home all the time and on social media all the time and we came across Musical.ly. We tried it out one day and from there we spent our summer making videos. My videos started getting featured on the app and I started gaining a following.
You rose to fame with lip-sync videos and now you’re working on your own original music and singing. What’s that transition like? Have you always been a singer?
It’s been crazy. I’ve been working with amazing people and it’s something that I didn’t know I was going to like at first, to be honest. I had never sung professionally. It’s been something that I always loved to do at home, but I was scared to get into a studio and start recording. But the process has been wonderful. I’ve been writing and recording. I’m really excited for it.
If you could describe your music’s style in three words, what would they be?
Three words? Edgy pop. That’s two, but it’s like edgy pop.
Name one singer who inspires your music career?
Julia Michaels. She’s definitely inspired a lot of my music. I love that she writes all of her songs. She’s unique, her style is different, but it’s super cool.
If you could collaborate on a song with any artist, who would it be?
Shawn Mendes. I love Shawn. He’s awesome.
We love that Nicki Minaj was game to appear in one of your videos. Have you ever met a celebrity and felt totally starstruck?
Oh my god, yes, I died. I love her. That was everything. She’s one of my biggest inspirations. I met her and I freaked out. I didn’t know what to say. She’s one of the people I look up to the most.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I still want to be on social media, but I do want to expand. I’m working on music now. I’m working on my acting at the moment. Hopefully I can get more involved in the acting side and music side.
Tell us about the summer camp you’re helping with in August! You’re going to be a counselor?
It’s called Camp17 and it’s a summer camp where I’m going to be teaching kids how to do social media. There are going to be different classes and I’m super excited.
What’s one thing you want to teach your campers?
Just what to do on each platform because it’s kind of tricky and people sometimes don’t know, but just how to differentiate the content from each platform. And just to find your voice and what you want to talk about and be on social media.
What do your friends make of your social media fame? How do you balance it with being a normal teenager?
It’s been a rocky ride with friends and everything, because I’m traveling so much and I’m never home. So I have friends all across the world. They’ve been super supportive and we’ve learned how to communicate from anywhere through FaceTime and text message. It gets crazy, but I love it.
Your beauty videos are hilarious, and you also had the chance to get your makeup done by Patrick Starr. What’s one beauty tip you learned that you swear by?
Honestly, I’m so bad at makeup. I’m still trying to figure out the whole thing. Probably just blending more, because I’m NOT good at it.
What’s one thing your fans would be surprised to know about you?
I am the same person on social media as I am off social media. Some people think that when I go on anything that I’m changing who I am, but I’m honestly the same person.
