“I just want to make music that can take you somewhere, hopefully you’ll wanna come with me,” says pop, R&B and soul songwriting sensation August. And with hits already scattered about the charts–among them teen star Justin Bieber’s platinum second release, My World 2.0, which features three August co-penned tracks, “U Smile,” “Stuck in a Moment” and “Kiss and Tell“ –he’s well on his way to doing just that.

Born Dan August Rigo, August caught the music bug early when he saw Michael Jackson’s legendary performance of “Billy Jean” on Motown’s 25th Anniversary TV show. “Even at that age, I knew I was witnessing something extraordinary,” says August. “I think my destiny was etched in stone from that very moment. 

While still in his teens, the Toronto-born August, who taught himself to play keyboards and guitar, and who names artists as disparate as Jodeci and the band Chicago as influences, traveled to New York City to meet with producers and record label heads. “Every time I had a new song or two, I’d scrape together whatever money I had and go meet with everybody. It was a hard grind, but eventually it all worked out.”

August’s phenomenal talents and formidable songwriting/production skills soon caught the ear of industry heavyweights such as Sha Money, Irv Gotti and Chaka Khan, which led to a head-spinning slew of written songs for artists such as Justin Bieber, One Direction, Sean Kingston, JLS and Iyaz just to name a few. He went on to be the vocal coach on America’s Got Talent and executive produced Musiq Soulchild’s latest “MusiqInTheMagiq”.

“It’s incredible how fast everything has happened in the last couple of years,” says August. “What I think artists and producers like about what I do is, I write with the radio in mind. I try to come up with a hooks and melodies that I can hear on the radio. But I still try to have an edge to what I do.”

August brought those hooks front and center on his own Japanese debut album “Music Of My Life”, released on Manhattan Records/Sony Japan in 2012. The album was produced in bulk by August Rig but also featured the likes of Busta Rhymes, The Runners, Stereotypes, Da Internz and Boi1da. “Everything’s been leading up to this. I think when people hear my record, they’ll get a full sense of what I’m all about.”

August has completed working on his follow-up record and international release. A singer of incomparable depth and soul, with a proven track record, no doubt music fans will soon be seeing August’s name at the top of the charts.