People all over the world have dreams of making it big in the music industry. Thousands of aspiring musicians flock to tryouts each year for shows such as American Idol and America’s Got Talent hoping to walk away with a record label and huge following. Jake Bateman, a Frisco High School graduate, took this dream and made it a reality, not by means of a reality show but by displaying his talents on YouTube, the most popular video sharing platform and the second largest search engine behind Google.
As a YouTube personality and vlogger, 22-year-old Jake is widely known for his ybnotv channel’s content. In 2017, he and friend Johnnie Guilbert formed the band called Til Death Do We Part. Later that same year, he became a part of the Our World Away collaborative YouTube channel. He has amassed more than 150,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel and has also earned more than 120,000 followers to his ybnomusic Instagram account.
While the current trend has Californians moving to Texas, after graduating high school in 2015, Jake Bateman decided to buck the trend and head west to pursue his dream by relocating to downtown Los Angeles with fellow musician and YouTube personality Johnnie Guilbert. After moving to California, Jake continued to build on the success he started early on while still living in west Frisco, writing and recording his own music as well as collaborating with Guilbert in their side band, Til Death Do We Part.
In 2019, Jake’s dreams took flight as he was signed by an Australian record label with his first single “Better Off.” Since its release, the single has gained almost 200,000 views on YouTube and his recent single, “Attention,” is off to a strong start on both YouTube and Spotify.
It’s no surprise Jake followed a musical path – he comes from a strong stock of musical talent, from his father to grandfather, cousins, to great uncles – one of whom was the first director of the U.S. Navy jazz band, The Commodores. At the young age of 14, Jake began experimenting with music and instrumentals as well as vocals. He knew he had found his calling, and also knew relocating to California would provide him with more access to resources and connections to help him pursue his dream of a career in the music and entertainment industry.
Coinciding with his music career, Jake has also built a strong presence on social media with his base continuing to grow daily. Always one to set goals for himself, Jake reflects on the days when he set a personal goal to gain YouTube subscribers. “I remember thinking a thousand subscribers was a stretch and I’d never achieve it,” said Jake. Since that time, Jake has amassed more than 153,000 YouTube subscribers, 124,000 Instagram subscribers, as well as his following on Twitter and TikTok, with a combined total of more than seven million total video views. He’s come a long way since posting that goal in his bedroom in Frisco.
Jake credits a few things for paving the road to success – the strong family support atmosphere the Frisco community fostered, as well as the self-discipline he learned while working high school jobs at both Tom Thumb and the UPS Store. Today, Jake resides in beautiful Orange County, California, where he continues to write music for his upcoming solo EP as well as his band. He has also branched out and now produces songs for other artists.
“Jake loved music from a very young age and figured out he wanted to be a musician in his early teens,” said his father Brian Bateman. “Jake has spent countless hours learning about writing and recording music, and he is a gifted painter as well. When Jake sets his mind to something, he will do whatever it takes to reach his goal. We are so proud of how far Jake has come and cannot wait to see what the future holds.”
Jake gets the opportunity to come home to Frisco quite frequently to visit family, and is thankful for such opportunities. “It’s great to be able to come back to my roots – where it all began,” says Jake. There’s no doubt Jake’s tenacity will continue to propel his success in the music industry.
If you’d like to check out the Jake Bateman “buzz,” you can find him at Facebook.com/JakexBateman, Youtube.com/JakeBateman, as well as Spotify, Amazon Music, and Google Play music. As of April 2020, his Facebook account announced, “Going forward, everything I release will NO LONGER be released under [the title] Your Brand New Obsession. This is a total rebrand to my real name, Jake Bateman.”
Frisco is home to some amazing talent who are putting Frisco, Texas on the map. Jake Bateman is an amazing example of how far hard work, creativity, and determination can take you.
Andrea Hampe is a mom, a stepmom, and a lover of all things caffeinated. She is also the interim editor of Frisco STYLE Magazine.