Please introduce yourself. What do you do? Why? What do you want people to know about you?
Hey I am Maria Labate a 15 year old singer/songwriter from Long Island New York! I have been posting music content on social media since I was 12, and have been pretty successful with that! I’ve had multiple viral videos of me singing in my bedroom, and have grown to over 85,000 instagram followers.
What qualities make you different and unique from everyone else in the industry?
I would say something that makes me unique is I definitely have more of a low range for a female haha, ever since I was little I’ve always loved singing songs from male artists, and I think that is because I have a really strong low range that not a lot of females, especially my age have.
Describe THAT moment when you realized you’re doing what you were born to do.
At 11 years old I had performed at a talent show on Long Island. I sang the “Circle Of Life” from The Lion King, dressed up as Rafiki and everything. I ended up winning 1st place and one of the prizes was the opportunity to visit a recording studio and get a free vocal lesson from one of the judges. I went to the studio, loved it, and decided I wanted to film a real video there. I recorded “Stone Cold” by Demi Lovato and posted it online, just for fun not expecting it to get anywhere. I noticed it started to get a lot of views and was put on huge repost pages, it ended up getting hundreds of thousands of views, and at that time that was HUGE for me. I’ve always loved singing and the idea of working on social media, so when that first video I posted did so well, I knew I wanted to continue with it and it was perfect for me.
What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve had to go through and how did you grow through it?
I would definitely say going to a public school while regularly posting music content on social media has been a big challenge for me. I do definitely get self conscious about people in my school seeing my music, and I think that is because I have been talked about negatively/made fun of by people behind my back. I would always get worried that people are going to think i’m conceited for putting myself out there, but I know what i’m doing and all the love i’ve received definitely outweighs it all.
Who are the TOP 3 people you’d want to meet that could elevate your career or business? Why these specific individuals?
The top 3 people in this business that I would love to meet would probably be Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande and Tate Mcrae.
I would love to meet Dua Lipa because i’ve always loved her music and her songs fit my voice so well, Ariana Grande because her voice is amazing and i’ve loved her since her nickelodeon days haha, and Tate Mcrae because she has been a huge inspiration to me for a while now. Not too long ago she was just like me singing in her bedroom and now she is huge, so she has definitely been an inspiration to me.
Drop your social media links.
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/itsmarialabate/?hl=en
tik tok- https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmarialabate?lang=en