Cuco - Para Mi

With songs that examine lovesickness through the lens of a bad drug trip (“Ego Death in Thailand”), heartbreak after a harrowing accident (“Hydrocodone,” which he completed following his hospitalization after a tour van crash in 2018), and being alone in one’s room while toggling between LSD and psilocybin (“Keeping Tabs”), it’s definitely not intended to cast him into the spotlight. And so far, his style of confessional, vulnerable songwriting (and the ease with which he jumps between psych rock, lo-fi hip-hop, '70s synth-funk, '80s quiet storm, shoegaze, and jazz-inflected pop) has made him a bit of a reluctant star, particularly among Latino kids who don’t often see themselves reflected onstage, especially in the American indie-pop world. "It's kind of scary,” he says of performing to audiences who sing every word along with him. "People look at me like a teacher or some shit. But other than that, it's fun. I like seeing people that look like me in the crowd.”