There’s a pervasive myth around artists and their struggles that supposedly make their art more authentic. Chicocurlyhead is here to prove this myth wrong once and for all. The 21-year-old pretty much stumbled upon his destiny of becoming a musician, and songs like “Modelo,” “AHORA O NUNCA,” and “EN LA MAÑANA” have amassed millions of plays across streaming platforms. His music and live shows have connected with thousands of fans, and Chico continues to grow while keeping it real. His new single, “Many Nights,” has all the elements to take him to the next level, and this young artist has a firm enough grasp of who he is and where he wants to go that you can’t help but believe he’ll get there in no time.
Chico’s career in music happened almost by accident. On a particularly lazy Sunday, a friend texted him to drop by his house since some guys from school were recording music there. Having nothing else to do, Chico decided to join them just to hang. At some point, someone suggested he should try recording a song, and he gave it a go. ”I remember everyone helping me put this song together,” he reminisces about that fateful day. “I finished the song and I wanted to upload it the same day, on the spot.”
And so he did. He made a profile on Soundcloud and by the next day, it had a thousand streams. While at first he only shared his music with friends from school and on his personal social media channels, he soon decided to try it for real.
Although attention from strangers on the internet might have sparked some excitement, what really made him realize that music was his calling was something else. “Honestly, I just enjoyed the whole process of making music,” he shares. “I remember the first time I was at a real studio in Los Angeles, working with real producers and songwriters. That whole process defined if I wanted to make music long-term or not. Once I did, I was like, ‘This is it!’ I had a lot of fun. I didn’t know I could focus like I did.”
One thing that helped him on the path to success has been believing in who he is. “I’m Latino, yes, but I’m also mixed. My father is American and my mom is Panamanian. That’s who I am. And for me, it’s about representing who I am as a human being more than making cool music. I think I speak for a lot of other people who are also mixed,” Chicocurlyhead notes.
As an Afro-Latine, Chico has a similar stance. “I don’t really care what people say about me or about race. I don’t put any mind to the negative stuff,” he shares. “I’m super proud of who I am and what I am. I think once you’re proud of [that], it’s pretty difficult for people to knock [you] down. We live in a world [where] we have people who want to be white or whatever. I think that’s sad. We don’t pick those things. For me, it’s about being happy to be alive, to be who I am, to have curly hair. I love it.”
A signature of Chico’s sound is his Spanglish lyrics, which come naturally to him since that’s how he communicates at home. He recalls recording a song in English and one in Spanish in the same session and not feeling it. “I remember telling the producer, ‘Yeah, this is cool, but that’s not really me.’ He is a very close friend of mine, and he said, ‘Okay, I feel you.’ That’s when the idea came. I was like, ‘You know what? This is my sound. This is where I’m going.’”
I’m super proud of who I am and what I am. I think once you’re proud of [that], it’s pretty difficult for people to knock [you] down. We live in a world [where] we have people who want to be white or whatever. I think that’s sad. We don’t pick those things. For me, it’s about being happy to be alive, to be who I am, to have curly hair. I love it.
Chico has found success from his first recordings, but he thinks his best stuff is yet to come. “When I made ‘Modelo,’ I had maybe eight months making music. It’s been a whole learning process of trying new sounds and new genres and new ways of writing,” he says. “That’s the whole point of art, trying new things and exploring. You always learn something. From the good you might learn something, but from the bad you always learn.”
Chico is sharing his new single and video, “Many Nights,” a song he describes as “more experimental from my normal sound.” It’s a “funky rap pop in Spanglish” with lovelorn lyrics and a beat you can dance to. The video was shot in Medellín, Colombia.
As for the future, Chicocurlyhead dreams of charting singles, touring as a headliner, and appearing at festivals like Lollapalooza. But his biggest goal is something more profound. “I would like to unite people,” he confesses. “Also, to set a good example. You have to start early in your career, and I want to set an even better example as time goes on.”
“I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do those things, and people know that. I’m being honest,” he adds. “Playing a role that they’re not is tiring. I don’t have time for that.”
