From a fairly early stage, Cuco’s songs seemed to connect with audiences online, his earnest bedroom pop aesthetic and evident talent resonating for obvious reasons. Home-recorded and shared via serviceslike Bandcamp and SoundCloud, self-released projects like 2016’s Wannabewithu and 2018’s Chiquito EP mixed relatable and catchy works in English and Spanish, endearing Cuco to other first-generation Latin Americans and young fans of indie singer-songwriters. Untethered to genre constraints, he experimented with styles and sounds, incorporating mariachi and R&B, psychedelia and rap, as well as other forms into his diverse palette as he sought fit.

Much to his delight, the play counts on his tracks went from the thousands into the hundreds of thousands, prompting him to bring his music into the live setting more and more often, playing to growing crowds on tour and in festival settings. “It’ll always be surreal to me,” he says. “I never take it for granted if I see so many people at one show, you know, I don’t know the next day that I’m gonna see that again; it’s always appreciated.”

Following the release of 2019’s formidable and unique Para Mí, his full-length debut since signing with Interscope, Cuco’s exponential growth and development as an artist became undeniable. With his latest album, Fantasy Gateway, Cuco pushes the envelope of his sound, presenting a new chapter of his career in which his growth and ability to take risks to great results are on full display.