2015: Heavy Trip

After graduating, Banos uploaded a slide guitar cover of Sleep Walk by Santo & Johnny to YouTube, which gained thousands of views.^[15] He began producing and releasing songs from his parents' home and releasing them onto Bandcamp and SoundCloud.^[16] In January 2015, Banos released his first EP on Bandcamp, titled Heavy Trip.^[17] In the same year, Banos had released his first song, "Yeah" on SoundCloud under the moniker of Heavy Trip.^[13][18] He then switched to Cuco, which was a nickname given to him by his mother as a child.^[19]

2016–2017: Wannabewithu and Songs4u

By the age of 18, Banos had self-produced his first EP Wannabewithu in 2016, after teaching himself how to use Ableton Live.^[10][20] Cuco released his second EP, Songs4u in 2017 when he started playing at clubs in Southern California, selling out his first two venues.^[21] Cuco released his first single "Lo Que Siento" in 2017, which has reached over 128 million streams on Spotify alone.^[22] Following the success of "Lo Que Siento," Cuco dropped out after a year of attending Santa Monica City College to pursue a career in music.^[8]

2018–2019: Para Mi

Cuco collaborated with American singer Clairo for the single "Drown", which was released in August 2018.^[23] He then collaborated with Polyphia on a track called "So Strange" off their album New Levels New Devils, which was released in October 2018.^[24] Cuco played alongside saxophonist Kenny G at Coachella in April 2018,^[25][26] as well as at Lollapalooza in October 2018.^[27] In February 2019, he collaborated with his childhood Chicano rap idols MC Magic and Lil Rob on a track called "Search".^[28] After a bidding war that lasted two years, Banos signed under Interscope Records in March 2019.^[29] On April 2, 2019, Cuco released "Hydrocodone," the lead single for Para Mi, before releasing "Bossa No Sé" with Jean Carter on May 22, 2019.^[30][31] Cuco later released his debut studio album, Para Mi, on July 26.^[22] The album touches on recent problems that Cuco has experienced first-hand, including a tour bus accident that sent him and his band to hospital.^[15] It debuted at 94 on the US Billboard 200.^[32]

2022-present: Fantasy Gateway and Hitchhiker

On April 29, 2022, Cuco released "Caution" as the lead single from his sophomore studio album, Fantasy Gateway. On July 22, 2022, Fantasy Gateway was released via Interscope Records. The 12-track LP includes appearances from Kacey Musgraves, Adriel Favela, Bratty, and DannyLux.^[33] On March 10, 2023, he collaborated with indie pop band the Marías on the song "Si Me Voy", later performing at the Camp Flog Gnaw music festival in November of that year.^[34] He released his third EP, Hitchhiker, on November 10, 2023, which included 6 tracks.

Musical style and songwriting

Banos' musical style blends elements of bossa nova and indie pop.^[35] Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone described his music as "psychedelia-soaked love ballads".^[8] Brett Calwood told LA Weekly that Banos's music has "smooth Latin influences with a nostalgic lean".^[36] Banos blends English and Spanish lyrics over what he describes as "alternative dream pop" melodies that have "a lot of synthesizers" and "a lot of 808's".^[37][38]

Influences

Banos grew up listening to Chicano rap from names such as Lil Rob, Baby Bash and MC Magic,^[20] as well as Spanish rock, boleros and other old ballads that his parents would play around the house.^[14][39] He listens to jazz, classical music and trap music, and has cited Kevin Parker of Tame Impala and Ariel Pink as some of his major musical influences.^[19] In an interview with Jesse Thorn from Bullseye, Banos described how the song, "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" by Tame Impala helped him with visualizing his career in music and navigating his life in high school.^[40]

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Bandcamp releases

Music videos