AJ Rafael and Tori Kelly reveal an amazing cover of Justin Bieber’s song “Mistletoe”. The song sounds great and they both sound amazing singing the song together.

AJ Rafael and Noah Bartfield get together to release a new cover on YouTube.

ISA LA is going to awesome this year. All of Wong Fu Productions and of course Far East Movement will be present at this concert.

Singers AJ Rafael and Alyssa Bernal collaborate and reveal a cover of Lady Gaga’s “You and I”.

Singers AJ Rafael and Kina Grannis reveal their song cover of “You Can Close Your Eyes” which is originally by James Taylor.

JAYESSLEE (Janice and Sonia) is a musical duo from Sydney, Australia and they collaborated with AJ Rafael in this new Classic R&B Medley. They did a great job so be sure spread it around. 

AJ Rafael reveals a cover of “Marry You” by Bruno Mars. This time, singer AJ collaborates with Colleen Ballinger to cover the song.

Before the introduction of YouTube into the mainstream consciousness, singer-songwriter AJ Rafael did things, well, what we now think of as “the old-fashioned way.” He and former American Idol contestant Andrew Garcia played local shows all over Riverside trying to spread their music and make a name for themselves.

“Before YouTube, I was literally passing out CDs everywhere – at every show that I could go to. So we really know the work ethic that it takes,” says Rafael.

This same grassroots, organic approach characterizes nearly every aspect of Rafael’s career and has helped him carve out his own hard-earned territory in the pop music landscape.

“A lot of the YouTube artists, they came at a lucky time. I came at a lucky time as well,” says Rafael, whose channel has garnered nearly 8 million views and subscriber base has reached over 300,000 since he began posting videos in 2006.

One of the first videos to really take off, he says, was his collaboration with fellow YouTuber Cathy Nguyen, singing a cover of Colbie Caillat’s hit song, “Lucky.” Rafael’s version of Iyaz’s “Replay,” performed alongside JR Aquino and Andrew Garcia, also skyrocketed, especially when they got a personalized shout out from Iyaz himself.

“I love doing collaborations; I love doing co-writes,” says Rafael. “One of my favorite parts about music is being able to jam. I think on my channel, there are a lot of collaborations. I feel like, at least every other video, there’s someone else in it doing something.”

“Even my best friend RB shows up in a lot of these videos. And he has a lot of followers on Twitter, and he does … nothing,” Rafael jokes, before quickly adding, “Of course, he supports me, and he’s my best friend.”

“[Collaborations are] a lot more fun. I’d like to see it more with everybody. It shows more of a bond, and people really relate to it. They love seeing that,” he says.

Rafael’s growing popularity with viewers online resulted in a special edition design with LA t-shirt company RadisRad and the release of his first EP, “Juicebox,” which landed on the iTunes singles charts early last year.

“When I released ‘Juicebox,’ it was pretty crazy right after that. A couple of labels started hitting me up. It had to do a lot with the music video as well – with the Wong Fu video – so I thank them a lot for that. I’m really grateful,” says Rafael. But he wasn’t content to stop there.

“Last year I decided that I needed an album. I feel like a lot of the YouTube scene and stuff, they don’t have a product that they can give to the fans. So I decided that’s the next step,” explains Rafael.

“We could make videos forever, but to have something that we can actually sell with our creations on there – our music – to have something to sell, to legitimize [us] as artists is awesome.”

With that goal in mind, Rafael signed with manager Christina Luna of Luna Co. and teamed up with 37 Entertainment to produce and distribute Rafael’s debut album. Rafael worked closely with another YouTube artist and producer, Jesse Barrera, to write and record the entire album at Barrera’s home studio in San Diego.

“So now we’re here 11 songs later,” says Rafael.

The album, titled “Red Roses,” is slated for national distribution – with the help of 37 Entertainment – through select Target, Best Buy, FYE and Barnes and Nobles stores. With tens of thousands of artists trying to get onto the shelves of these large chains, Rafael hopes that the success of “Red Roses” will open new doors for future Internet artists.

“We only hope that this brings more hope to everybody,” he says. “Like, ‘Yo, it’s possible.’ We didn’t need a major label to get into Target.”

And, he adds, “I feel like this is really important for all of us, especially as Asian Americans, because then they’ll trust us, and they’ll trust our market. Even if I get less money from the CDs in stores, I’d rather people buy it there because then we can really show we are a market, and we are a force to be reckoned with.”

At the same time, Rafael wanted to stay true to his own creative vision. Taking cues from other indie artists like Kina Grannis or David Choi, Rafael decided to take a do-it-yourself approach.

“I really admire Kina’s career and her purity as an artist, which we want to kind of emulate,” says Rafael. “We don’t want to be like Justin Bieber; we’re a different kind of artist. Obviously, the whole top ten iTunes formula works. But for me, it’s not satisfying. It doesn’t fill my heart.”

In addition, Rafael realizes that he is on the cusp of a new generation of musicians and artists who – with the help of more affordable, improved technologies and the vast marketing capabilities of the Internet – can create and distribute tangible, viable products without the direction or funding of a major record label.

“We didn’t really need somebody to tell us what to do. I’ve been getting to know these fans these past six years. I’ve gotten to know them pretty well. I feel like a lot of us on YouTube, we know our fans well. The job of an A&R – we don’t really need that,” says Rafael.

“You don’t have spend thousands and thousands of dollars a day on the studio. We did it with Jesse at his house, and of course, we paid him. But you don’t have to spend ten grand a day just to get into the nicest studio.”

“It’s about the cook, not the kitchen,” he quips.

Now that the album has been released, Rafael is cooking up even bigger plans for this year. Rafael just released a new music video for his single, “Without You,” produced by Ross Ching and wants to do a music video for every song on the album.

“I want to have an actual DVD by next year at the same time. That would be really cool, and hopefully Wong Fu will be up on there. They’re in demand right now; they’re doing big things,” he says.

Along with promoting “Red Roses” for radio play, Rafael and his band are also working on a nationwide tour for this Fall. And if all goes well, they may even take the show overseas to “Internet artist hungry” places like Australia, Singapore and the Philippines.

“We just want to play,” he says. “We’re hoping to get more shows after this and … to be as busy as possible doing what we love – actually getting paid for it and being allowed to live. There’s a lot of musicians who have to do a full-time job on the side because they can’t support it with their own music.”

Rafael is out to prove that that’s no longer the case, especially with the support of the friends and fans who have been there for him along the way.

“It’s cool. My fans are really loyal,” he says.

“There’s a difference between celebrities now and celebrities five years ago – you only saw what was on TV. [Now] fans can see how they are through Twitter, and it makes them more connected with the celebrity. Now they can feel like they know you more because they can share,” he explains.

This close connectivity, says Rafael, is part of what makes his relationship with his fans special.

“I think me sharing my story with them, about my family and how I grew up, and the music and how I got onto YouTube,” he says. “I show them who I am. I’m pretty real. They really appreciate that and they stand behind me, one hundred percent. They want to see me succeed. That’s the awesome thing about my fans – they support me as a human. They support me no matter what.”

“There’s this little group of girls who tweet me all the time, and I wanted to thank them on my album. They’re from all over – Portugal, Philippines and Texas – and they chose the name Showstoppers (after one of my songs). They’re really awesome. I love my fans,” he says.

These fans have played an integral part in another of Rafael’s passions: Music Speaks, the benefit concert he created to raise funds for the charity Autism Speaks. Inspired by his nephew Nathan, who has autism, Rafael hopes to get Music Speaks officially recognized as a non-profit organization.

The next step would be to create events like conferences and celebrity basketball tournaments to increase awareness and provide additional resources for programs designed to help students with autism. And of course, Rafael plans to organize another Music Speaks concert in November.

“We want to raise a lot more money for charity. Last year we didn’t quite reach our goal, so we want to raise more money. My nephew has autism and the school just had a lot of budget cuts to their programs, so we want to make sure that it goes straight to the schools,” he says.

Whether it’s creating music or raising money for charity, Rafael is a person with a clear vision who does things his own way. We suspect that he’ll continue paving the way for future artists to come.

ABOUT THE BAND:

Rafael decided he needed a band while he was attending Berkelee College of Music in Boston.

“I decided I needed a band because I needed my music to be more alive than just piano and a guitar, or vocals and a ukelele,” he says.

The first to join the band was San Francisco native Andrew, one of Rafael’s friends from a camp they had attended together. The two reunited at Berkelee, where Andrew is finishing up his last semester, when Rafael asked him to be part of his band.

“He’s a great guitarist; he’s been playing since he was twelve. And he’s really, really funny guy. He’s ridiculous sometimes,” says Rafael. “If we didn’t hang out with a lot of Asians, he’d be the token Asian.”

Next was tall British bassist Noah, who had four classes with Rafael and moved from New York to Los Angeles to join Rafael.

“If there was a band leader besides me,” says Rafael, “it would be Noah. He’s been in a band before, and he’s really straightforward and things like that.”

Rafael spent two years playing with Noah and Andrew, but the departure of their third member, drummer Shiori, was a big blow to the band, he says.

“I really wanted to market myself as someone who has a band, as opposed to AJ Rafael, the acoustic guitar player guy. So we found Danny. I met him before I left Berklee. I called him up when Shiori quit, and he was down. And it was like a spark of light when he came into the band,” says Rafael before Andrew jumps in:

“Feels like we cheated,” he says, since the band was formed after Rafael had already built a steady fan base.  But with the group facing the extra challenge of being spread all over the country, Rafael is counting his blessings.

“These three guys are some of the nicest people. We do have our ups and downs as any band does – more than I thought – but it’s because we care about each other so much, and we care about the music. Sometimes we butt heads, but I wouldn’t give it up just because of that. We fight through it,” he adds.

“It’s pretty intense because we don’t really get to practice. It’s really hard. We like to spend as much time as we can when we are together,” says Rafael. “Us four have been traveling everywhere in North America. My band is really awesome and they’ve gotten to know all the artists I have met; they’ve become part of the family.”

The quartet officially makes up Rafael’s band, “AJ Rafael Band,” but they have on more addition to their family: producer Jesse Barrera.

“Jesse has been a big part of my music because of the record. He’s our honorary band member for Battle of the Bands because Andrew wasn’t 21 – he wasn’t allowed to do the battle. [Jesse] knows all our songs.

ABOUT THE ALBUM:

“The process of the album was pretty intense,” says Rafael. “There was one point, I was at Jesse’s house – we did it at his house in San Diego – there was one point I was there for like two weeks straight. Every morning, Jesse and I would work out and then start recording. Stay up until four, sleep in until 12, and then do it again. Everyday. It was pretty crazy.”

“This is as much Jesse’s record as much as it is ours. He worked super hard on this,” he says.

The distance between band members also posed a problem, with Andrew still in Boston for school (“We flew him out for one day just to get him to do all his guitar parts.”) and Danny having to record drums within the span of one short week.

It wasn’t until after they began recording that they thought about having a theme.

“Tori Kelly actually noticed the storyline of the album before any of us did,” says Rafael.

Kelly helped co-write “Mess You’ve Made,” for Rafael’s debut album “Red Roses.” Besides “She Was Mine,” co-written with Jesse Barrera, the rest of the album was penned entirely by Rafael.

“The order that we placed the songs, which we based on the energy of the tracks, there’s a story line,” he explains. According to Rafael, it’s about being introduced to a girl, trying to get the girl, breaking up with said girl, dealing with the heartbreak, and meeting a new girl.

“The CD is kind of like a whole relationship. But I’m not going to pretend that I wrote it all about one girl. It’s about different situations that happened,” says Rafael.

“My music was mostly influenced by stories of being with a girl, and not being with a girl. Love and stuff. Right now, that’s what is most relatable to me. I’m in those years where I’m kind of driven by relationships. Most of us are,” he adds.

The title song, “Red Roses,” was written by Rafael for Valentine’s Day, expressing his regret about not asking a girl he met on the set of the a short film at UCLA to be his Valentine.

“I was on the way home, and I just started writing it in my head. I took out my iPhone, and I was recording notes on it. And honestly, I was done with the song when I got home,” he says. With the help of a few friends, Rafael jumped onto the piano and recorded the song that night.

“There’s a line in the song that goes, ‘I’m crushed because I got these roses, red roses, and God knows, I would have given them to you,’” says Rafael. “I love Alice in Wonderland and the scene where the cards, they’re painting the roses red for the Queen, because the Queen just wants red roses. I love the fact that they have to do that for the Queen just to make her happy.”

What unexpectedly became the title of the song would become the album title. It even inspired the album cover.

“We actually painted those fake roses from Michael’s and dipped the roses red. It was fun shooting that cover,” says Rafael.

“For me, it’s about, ‘I’m not exactly what you need, but I’ll do my best to be. To be what you want.’ Because those roses are really white on the inside. We’re not all perfect red roses, so we’ll paint as much as we can and do our best to be that red rose.”

Interviewed By: Michelle Nikaji

Visit AJ Rafael’s YouTubechannel, be sure to like his FaceBook page and also follow the musician on Twitter.

Singer AJ Rafael reveals an amazing music video for his single “Without You”.

AJ Rafael reveals new music video teaser for “Without You”.

Singer AJ Rafael and his youngest sister Justine Rafael reveal a new cover of Nicki Minaj’s song “Moment 4 Life”.

AJ Rafael has released a lyric video for his song “Without You” with amazing looking photos.

AJ Rafael’s new album “Red Roses” was released on the East Coast already.

Singer AJ Rafael, who has reached over 300,000 subscribers on YouTube will finally release his full length album “Red Roses” on June 7, 2011. That’s tomorrow! He will also be having an album release party tomorrow in San Diego, California.

AJ Rafael reveals a new cover with TJ Brown on his YouTube channel.

On 6.7.2011 marks an important day for AJ Rafael. The release of his first full length album on iTunes and also in stores like Target and Best Buy.

AJ Rafael releases a preview for his first full-length album “Red Roses”.

Victor Kim of Quest Crew has taken time to upload a new cover onto his YouTube Channel.

Singer AJ Rafael has been busy with his album recording and album cover making.

AJ Rafael will be releasing his full album soon and has been releasing many teasers of songs featured on the upcoming album.

55 YouTubers come together to release a Japan relief video.

Two talented singers come together to cover a Disney Channel original “I See The Light” from the movie Tangled.

Two talented singers come together for the first time to cover the Beatles song “Let It Be”.

YouTube star AJ Rafael and singer Priscilla Chan come together for a video cover on YouTube.

The two talented singers sound amazing singing a cover together. This new video is a cover of Colbie Caillat & Jason Reeves song titled “Droplets”. The two sound amazing singing this song and also sound great singing together. This video also features Noah who is the bassist in the AJ RAFAEL BAND.

A really great cover of AJ Rafael’s newest song “We Could Happen”.

AJ Rafael is back with another cover on youtube, this time featuring Gardiner Sisters and TJ Brown.

AJ Rafael has released a new original song for Valentines day titled “Red Roses”.

It’s that day, the day AJ Rafael releases his new music video everyone has been waiting for.

AJ Rafael and Jenny Suk cover none other then a song off Korea’s top drama OST Secret Garden.

AJ Rafael covered an amazing song by none other then Billy Joel.

What do you get when you combine cartoons, popular YouTube artists and “random artistic designs”?

AJ Rafael, Asian American artist with over 260,000 subscribers is preparing to release another music video.

CATHY NGUYEN IS BACK! AJ Rafael and Cathy have taken the time to upload two new videos and they are both covers of Christmas songs.

AJ Rafael uploaded a new video with a new original.

That’s right! More amazing Christmas songs by the amazing youtube stars that everybody loves.

AJ Rafael and Tori Kelly cover “Last Christmas” by Wham.

AJ Rafael and Chris Cendana sing a Christmas song with many amazing artists.

Everyone’s favorite YouTube star AJ Rafael and Andrew Garcia cover “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”. This is a must watch cover because I’m sure none of you heard the song like this before. The two singers sound amazing and both showing off their awesome guitar skills.

Arden Cho covers “My Grown Up Christmas List” with AJ Rafael on the piano! An amazing singer, actress and MC.

AJ Rafael is sounding great in this new cover of “Just A Boy” by Angus & Julia Stone.

AJ Rafael is sounding great in his new song that he released through Youtube titled “Without You”.

AJ Rafael and Cherry Lee also known as The Bathroom Girl do a mash up of Katy Perry and The Little Mermaid! They called this song “Part Of Your Teenage Dream”. This is a really great cover and mashup of both songs and they also sound great together.

Far East Movements hit song “Rocketeer” featuring Ryan Tedder has become the song where Asian American artists like to cover on youtube.

AJ Rafael Band has been working hard on a new album which is being produced by none other then Jesse Barrera. This video features Andrew Rhim, Jesse Barrera and AJ Rafael’s voice. Are you excited for this new upcoming album? I know I am!

AJ Rafael is doing another Music Speaks concert on November 6, 2010.

AJ Rafael and Andrew Garcia cover “Dynamite” By Taio Cruz featuring Danny Morledge. Of course both AJ Rafael and Andrew Garcia sounded amazing and it’s great seeing them both together for another cover.

AJ Rafael, Jenny Suk and Reynard Silva cover “Unthinkable” by Alicia Keys and they also covered “Airplanes” by BOB and Hayley Williams. The three sound really good together and all showing off their powerful vocals. Also, AJ Rafael showing his talent on the guitar once again.

AJ Rafael remixes “Beautiful Soul + Dynamite” by Jesse McCartney & Taio Cruz! AJ Rafael mashed up both songs making is sound absolutely amazing together.

JR Aquino uploaded a new video on his youtube channel today.This time he covered Usher’s “DJ Got Me Falling In Love Again’. He also sings a snippet of AJ Rafael’s ‘Showstopper’ and Jesse Barrera’s ‘Tangled Up’.  JR showed his parents and the support they have given him in the beginning of his video.

“The International Secret Agents Concerts are back for the biggest year yet in 2010. ISA presented by JCPenney and teaming up with MTV Iggy and 4C The Power are bringing this groundbreaking concert series with a line up of industry buzzing accomplished talent to Los Angeles and New York.”

Don’t miss your chance to be our next JCPenney Breakout Performer — visit www.jcpvote.com for more info, deadline to submit is this Thursday — and win a chance to perform with our amazing lineup listed below! TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW — please CLICK HERE to purchase.