CUCO: Making Music on His Own Terms

Recognized as “one of L.A.’s most exciting young stars” (Los Angeles Times) and hailed as the “king of Gen Z R&B” (NPR), Cuco is a 21-year-old indie pop producer, singer, songwriter and musician. Since exploding on the scene in 2016, Cuco, née Omar Banos, has been on a meteoric rise.

As the undeniable breakout artist of 2018, Cuco leads a new class of self-taught, self-produced artists reaching worldwide acclaim. Reared in Hawthorne, a primarily Latino suburb in south Los Angeles, Banos grew up on a diverse diet of Latin music by way of his Mexico-born parents. His father schooled him in rock en español, while his mom introduced him to bolero music. As a teen, he developed an appetite for gansta and Chicano rap, care of his uncles, and psychedelic rock, via his high school friends.

Banos began playing music at the age of eight, first teaching himself guitar via internet tutorials, then picking up bass, keys, drums, trumpet, French horn, and mellophone before age 15.

A DIY artist to the core, Banos has written, produced, recorded, and mixed all of his solo music, in addition to writing his own lyrics and playing every instrument on each of his songs as Cuco.

“There are sounds in my head that only I could hear, so I like to create my music in every step, because only I can do it the way I wanna hear it,” he says.

The artist’s skyrocketing trajectory is one made for the modern-day internet era. After unveiling his Cuco project in 2015, uploading rock covers and psychedelic-leaning, electronic-tinged originals to his SoundCloud page, Banos went viral in June 2016 when he posted a video clip of himself on Twitter playing a cover of the 1959 surf rock classic “Sleep Walk” from Santo & Johnny.

In 2016, Cuco self-released his debut mixtape, Wannabewithu, which has had more than 72 million streams collectively on Spotify. In 2017, he released mixtape Songs4u (53MM+/Spotify). Cuco’s online fan base grew and he connected with followers as far as Asia, who sang his songs in Spanish at his international live shows. By cultivating an organic online and real-life following, Cuco bypassed music industry norms and sidestepped the major label system, gaining millions of streams and followers.

In May 2017, Cuco released “ Lo Que Siento ,” his first bilingual track and his ultimate breakthrough single. This oldies-inspired love song has garnered over 44 million Spotify streams, with an additional 9+ million streams on SoundCloud.

Cuco’s discography also includes Chiquito, his first proper EP, released May 2018. Led by the self-deprecating “CRww-V,” “a wry rap song with wholesomeenergy” (The FADER), Chiquito also includes the dreamy single “Sunnyside,” recognized as one of the best songs of 2018 by The New Yorker.

Cuco has collaborated with fellow breakout star Clairo on “Drown,” voted one of the best songs of 2018 by The New York Times; EDM giant Dillon Francis on “Fix Me” ; and Chicano rap legends MC Magic and Lil Rob on “Search.”

Cuco now enters his next chapter. Para Mi, his debut solo album and his first undertaking since signing with a major label earlier this year, was released on July 26 via Interscope Records. The album continues the artist’s DIY spirit—Cuco produced, wrote, and recorded the album inside his garage—yet reflects his evolved approach to production. Across 13 originals, Cuco experiments with new sounds. Lead single “Hydrocodone” was recorded during his post-surgery recovery following a car accident he and his band suffered while on tour in 2018.

To date, Cuco has performed at major music festivals, including Coachella and Lollapalooza, and international shows in North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond. In 2019, he launched his first West Coast soldout tour of the year and a North American summer tour, prior to embarking on a festival circuit run in South America.

“Being able to represent [the Latino community] in a more positive light [is a big deal], especially in this political climate, which is super fucked,” Cuco told Red Bulletin/Red Bull in his March 2019 cover story.

Sharing viewpoints

Unassuming and always true to himself, Cuco is often surrounded by his team, which is sort of a familia, a true tribe. He arrived at the Downtown Los Angeles studio where his ALEGRIA photoshoot and interview took place.

He was offered food from a Mexican restaurant and politely requested huevos rancheros. He kept to himself as the ALEGRIA staff sorted through a personal collection of cool sneakers he had brought along.

Cuco breathes authenticity. He is a man of few words, at least to the outer world. His adoring fans can’t get enough of him. He is an enigma, a local hero, an everyman’s dream from Hawthorne, California, and the proud son of Mexican immigrants.

During our interview, I ask him if he prefers our conversation to be in English or Spanish. He replied: “cualquiera de los dos; either one is fine,” but we ended up speaking Spanish mostly. This is what he said about specific topics.

Hard work: I’m under pressure because I am always touring, so my work is hard, but it is what I love and I am very grateful for it. Es una bendición.

When you want to unplug: I sleep a lot.

Challenges: It’s easy to get depressed when you are touring because you are away from your family, so sometimes I buy them plane tickets. After my accident, I don’t want to take my parents on the bus with me.

Lessons learned: La vida es muy frágil (life is very fragile), uno aprende a valorar (one learns to appreciate), yo valoro todo ahora (I appreciate everything now).

His ALEGRIA: Estar en casa con mis perros. La música y ¡estar vivo! (To be home with my dogs. Music, and to be alive!)

Sadness or happiness?: Every state of mind is good for creativity.

Collaborations: I just like to work with people I like, artists que me caen bien.

Following one’s dream: You got to love what you do. Even if you don’t have much, you can still create with that. Everything counts.