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Rising Stars: Meet Cilo of East LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cilo

Hi Cilo, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started when I was really really young, around 9 or 10, just being a kid who loved music. Me and a friend decided to log on to myspace at the time and record over some beats and post it to our page. That was probably the most exciting thing I could’ve done at the time. After that, I spent all my time writing songs for years. Fast forward and as my writing grew it turned into me learning how to produce to make my songs feel more complete. When the pandemic hit, I moved into a small studio space for like $200 a month, and spent allllll of my time focused on music. In 2022, I dropped a full length project, LOS, which took off for me. Since then I’ve had a few million streams, shows, cool co-signs, etc.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been rocky! I’ve felt like I’ve hit walls and struggles at every stage of my career. Moments where I came up short in execution, having issues with funding my music, feeling counted out or not taken seriously, and a huge learning curve on how to bring ideas to their highest potential. But I always look back at these struggles with nothing but appreciation. They’ve always brought the best out of me in the long run.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an artist, rapper, & producer. I think I’m my best producing soul filled songs with hard hitting drums and inspiring lyrics. A lot of people know me for that, especially for my break out song, “Gotdamn.”

I think I’m most proud of always following my creative intuition. I’ve been able to create for years without sacrificing my love for music.

What sets me apart is my Indigenous heritage. Native perspective is just not prevalent in music today, and I feel its so important for us to have voices in popular culture.

What matters most to you?
People! Everything I do is about people, community, connection. None of this matters unless we’re connecting with each other in meaningful ways. I care! Truly.

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