Everybody's talking about the many memorable performances from this weekend's latest Lollapalooza installment in Chicago, from Kacey Musgraves "golden hour" set to J Balvin's surprise guests to Ariana Grande premiering her new single. But the best of the fest might belong to the newcomers, artists who made the most of their chance to shine in front of fresh audiences.

In case you couldn't be everywhere at once this weekend, here are nearly a dozen stellar sets you might have missed at Lollapalooza 2019.

Alexander 23 

For fans of: Alec Benjamin, Cautious Clay, Jacob Whitesides

Alexander 23 had an impressive crowd turn up for his set on the BMI stage, kicking off the first day of the festival. The Chicago native showed off his instrumentality on stage, performing on several instruments while keeping the crowd engaged and belting out his songs. Alexander performed “Another Summer Night Without You,” his latest single which will be on the upcoming season of Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why.

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Picture This 

For fans of: Keywest, Vance Joy, The 1975

The four-piece rock band from Ireland performed their music off their latest album, MDRN LV. Picture This filled the giant stage space effortlessly and put on an energetic performance that fans won’t soon forget. The main stage’s jumbotron showed a group of fans that came from Ireland for the occasion, hoisting up their native country’s flag. Though their set was early, fans showed up and Picture This had them jumping up and down. 

Against The Current

For fans of: Misterwives, PVRIS, Paramore

The trio took the shaded BMI stage to perform their debut Lollapalooza set on Sunday. Against The Current had the audience dancing throughout their entire set and even went into the crowd at a point. The band seamlessly blend pop, rock and hints of other genres to create a unique sound. During the show, lead singer Chrissy Costanza did her signature back-breaking bend where she still managed to belt out her vocal part without missing a beat. 

The New Respects

For fans of: Alabama Shakes, Andra Day, Sufjan Stevens

The New Respects kicked off day two of the festival on Friday with a standout performance on BMI’s stage. Hailing from Nashville, the band have performed at a number of high profile festivals including Bonnaroo. Even casual passers by at Lollapalooza seemed to walk away converted to fandom after seeing their electrifying performance. 

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Whipped Cream

For fans of: Zeds Dead, Rezz, Bauer

Whipped Cream (Caroline Cecil)  is a force to be reckoned with in electronic music, and her Lollapalooza set proved this. Performing on the legendary Perry’s Stage, she brought the production and high energy to make the crowd move. Playing at 2:10 PM, she drew the largest crowd at an earlier slot for the festival, extending well past the soundboards and pulsing with the music.

Scarypoolparty

For fans of: Lukas Graham, John Mayer

You may remember Alejandro Aranda from "American Idol" as the runner up on Season 2 this year. Arnada became known for performing his own original music on the television show which normally uses cover songs. Now he has created his own stage name, Scarypoolparty, and has one sold-out headlining tour under his belt and a fall tour coming up next. Even though he has yet to release a full-length debut album, fans knew every word to his songs at Lollapalooza. 

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Ruston Kelly

For fans of: Brent Cobb, Jason Isbell, Brandy Clark 

Lollapalooza has a space for every genre of music, including country. Ruston Kelly is one of three country artists on the festival’s lineup which includes his wife, Kacey Musgraves, and up and coming artist, Jade Bird. It’s easy to be serenaded by Kelly’s vocals, and a number of festival-goers just walking by his stage ended up being pulled in by his performance to stay for his entire set. 

The Band Camino

For fans of: Chase Atlantic, Bad Suns, Nightly

Nashville-based rock outfit The Band Camino kicked off day three of the festival on Saturday afternoon, proving just why pop-rock is making a comeback into music's mainstream. The quartet was humble yet had a confidence in performing that seemed to consistently coax the crowd into every song. 

Tayla Parx

For fans of: Solange, Janelle Monae, Ariana Grande

You may not know Tayla Parx's new solo music, but you know her music and lyrics from songs recorded by artists such as Ariana Grande, Tori Kelly, Christina Aguilera, BTS, among other acts. Parx walked onto the stage, which was filled with giant inflatable cactuses, with infectious energy. Her live performance sounds every bit as on-point as her debut album recordings, which speaks to the performer and vocalist Parx is. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’ll be giving away 2 tickets for some TaylaTots to come turn up with me at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LOLLAPALOOZACHICAGO?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LOLLAPALOOZACHICAGO</a> on Sunday! Details coming soon :) <a href="https://t.co/1jCBnUTP9D">pic.twitter.com/1jCBnUTP9D</a></p>&mdash; TAYLA PARX (@TAYLAPARX) <a href="https://twitter.com/TAYLAPARX/status/1156220613343764480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Omar Apollo 

For fans of: Leon Bridges, Cuco, Boy Pablo 

Omar Apollo seemed like he was living the dream on stage at Lollapalooza. After watching Apollo perform, there’s no denying that he has a true passion for musicianship with a sharp focus on connecting with the crowd. Apollo doesn’t need a giant production or stage gimmicks to win an audience over, his inspired delivery of his own brand of psychedelic soul songs is unmistakable.. 

Sam Fender 

For fans of: Hozier, Blossoms, George Ezra 

The UK's Sam Fender may only have released four singles, but his festival performance proved why he is on his way to becoming a future headliner. His fusion of retro pop, indie and rock create his own lane, and his set consisted of his released material along with songs from his forthcoming debut album, Hypersonic Missles.

Meet Us Behind The Scenes At Lollapalooza 2019

Danna Paola feels comfortable coexisting with her shadows. 

The Mexican singer, model and actress first appeared on television at age five, and has spent recent years dwelling on memories of her youth. Now 28, Danna is dismantling the myths and taboos around her artistic persona.

This process resulted in CHILDSTAR, which arrives April 11. Danna's seventh LP is her most authentic production and one where she makes peace with her childhood.

Accomplishing this freedom took her two years of therapy, the singer confesses to GRAMMY.com. "I deconstructed myself and my beliefs and unlearned many things to learn new ones. The pandemic also opened Pandora's box. That's where everything came out."

Through that self-discovery process, Danna knew she had to break with a constant that had accompanied her for two decades: acting. The last character she portrayed was Lucrecia in the Netflix series "Elite," a popular role that led her to reignite her music career after an eight-year hiatus. Beginning to live authentically, without the vices that fictional characters can leave behind, was the crucial step that led the Latin GRAMMY-nominated singer to CHILDSTAR.

CHILDSTAR follows a lengthy depression and a break from her management team, which Danna has described as controlling. On the new album, she embraces indulgence — singing about female pleasure for the first time in her career — and draws inspiration from her after-hour encounters. CHILDSTAR's darkly powerful electronic rhythms and synth-pop, tell a tale about a weekend of partying, alcohol, and sex to create the perfect escape from "your demons, your life, and your reality." 

Ahead of her album release, Danna Paola discussed the processes that led her to break with her past, how her boyfriend was instrumental to her return to the studio, the synthesizer that inspired the album's sound, and the gift that Omar Apollo left for her. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about the process that led you to co-produce for the first time.

This album is made with a lot of love, many hours, but above all, a lot of freedom. It's a very energetic and aggressive album, liberating.

It was a journey of introspection, empowerment, and self-confidence. Beyond being a sad story, the complete meaning of the album is not to talk and throw shade at my childhood. [It's about what] I have discovered since that first therapy session to find and make peace with my past, and that instead of being a place of embarrassment for me, it empowered me.

CHILDSTAR is the first album in my entire career where every inch, detail, and decision are curated and made by me. That's something that I am very proud of. I made an album for myself and that little Danna who has always wanted to do this. 

It is energetic, super intense, and sexual. Electronic music, funk, dance, synth-pop, and R&B lead me to drain all these emotions. The choice of each song, and the details and creating them from start to finish, [has] been very cathartic.

In "The Fall," you sing, "You don't know me, you don't know s–– about me. I'm not a shooting star." Was it painful to relive the memories of being a child star?

Yes. I grew up in 2000s television. Back then, creating a child's image came from a lot of machismo: being the perfect girl, the girl who doesn't speak badly, the girl who smiles for everything, and whose characters are all good. She can't do bed scenes, can't talk about sex. 

With this project, I embrace that [version of] Danna. I told that girl that everything would be fine. It's OK if you make mistakes, and it is OK to fall in love. Falling in love terrified me because I've been on different projects… every six or eight months; the longest a project lasted for me was a year. I made relationships with people and friends, [but] people always left my life. I built a pretty lonely life; I almost did not spend time with my family. I poured my life into work.

I had this distortion of reality where Danna Paola was the superheroine, and I forgot who Danna was. That's why I stopped acting; creating characters and being in someone else's skin was moving me further and further away from discovering myself as a human being in the ordinary course of life, of creating myself based on situations, emotions, and relationships. 

In therapy, of course, I understood that. I made peace, and today, I am discovering many beautiful things about myself as a child that were precious, happy, and full of love. Of course, I don't blame my parents because they did their best. Nobody teaches you how to be a child star from age five.

The album led you to shine a light on your darkest sides. What did you discover about yourself and Danna as a person and artist?

I was terrified to take risks, to speak, or to create. [To me] creating a project takes a long time, at least with music. I discovered that, for me, [making music] is a spiritual act. It is an everyday practice. It is to continue to discover and continue to learn. It's falling in love again with my profession and giving the industry another chance.

I also learned that our capacity for reinvention is infinite so we can start over. Today, I also begin to be a little more human. However, I don't aspire to be an example for anyone. I want to share my experiences and the lessons I have learned so I can move forward, continue to love what I do, and not lose myself. I used to say that I wouldn't make it to 27. That was in my head.

I'm making a wonderful balance between my personal life and my work. I'm also building my family at home with my boyfriend [artist Alex Hoyer], my two little dogs, my friends, and my chosen family. It's making peace and creating the life of my dreams.

Do you like who you are now?

I love it. I continue to polish many things about my personality. I work hard to be a better human being. Life is about learning and transforming yourself. I can release another album in a couple of years; I may release another this year. I don’t want to stop making music. [I want to] continue transforming myself through my art. 

In the first two tracks, "The Fall" and "Blackout," you repeat that people don't know you. How would you describe the Danna of this record? 

She's a woman who is very sure of who she is, and nobody has given anything to me. I'm in love with my project, my music, and my life, and I'm enjoying it a lot.

I struggle a lot with fame, but today, I present myself as a liberated woman in a good headspace. I don't pretend to be perfect or an example for anyone. Quite the opposite; all I do is share experiences, lessons, and music.

I'm an artist in every sense of the word. I'm a creative, honest person and have a lot of love to give, and I love receiving it, too. That should be mutual. It's an energetic practice that when one really does things with love, the universe always rewards it.

In songs like "Atari" and "Platonik," you openly sing about female sexual pleasure. Is it the first time in your career that you sing about your sexuality? 

Yes. This album is very sexual. There's a taboo when it comes to women talking about sex. In reggaeton, there are thousands of ways in which we can talk about sexuality. In my case, I had always considered it forbidden. 

It's what I told you about the kid [actress] who doesn't [about sex], who's a virgin until marriage. There is no richer pleasure than sex and the sexual pleasure you can have as a woman. There's liberation, to feel good about yourself, with your body, and also the sexual education that I can also share with generations.

This liberation with my femininity is something that I also discovered: The pleasure of being a woman and having many experiences in my life that have led me today to enjoy who I am, to have a happy sex life, and to share it through my music.

In "Platonik," you discuss sexualizing a platonic relationship with a woman and sing "I can't help what I think in my bed." Why was exploring that relationship important to you?

I had a platonic love with a girl at a stage of my life. I kept this to myself; it was a personal experience that opened the conversation to a beautiful story.

I wrote this song with [producer and songwriter] Manu Lara. We made it in half an hour. This song has something unique because, besides talking about a personal experience that is also super sexual, it talks about universal love.

That's why I say that CHILDSTAR is an album of many stories that have marked my life and beyond, talking about only the childhood stage, which is what everyone speculates, but that's not the case.

You’re flirting more with synth-pop in this album. What caught your attention about this genre?

It comes from this aggressive part of saying, here I am. For me, electronic music connects and drains emotions. Every time I've been out partying, electronic music has been liberating for me, and when I put it together with pop and these lyrics, it has become a new way to enjoy the genre.

While creating CHILDSTAR in Los Angeles, I fell in love with a Jupiter [synth] we found at Guitar Center. That synthesizer is in every song. The inspiration [to use the instrument] comes from John Carpenter's synth album [Lost Themes III: Alive After Death]. In it, I discovered synthesizers had a way of incorporating sound design and darkness into the album. 

[Synth-pop is] the expression of that need to bring out the energy I had stuck through music. It’s an emotional purpose, the connection I have with electronic music.

Your boyfriend, Alex, was instrumental in making "XT4S1S" when you didn’t want to enter a recording studio. How was reconnecting with music with help from your romantic partner?

"XT4S1S" is the song that, to both of us, as a couple and as producers, connected us on a hefty level.

I was super blocked. It took me several years to get out of my depression hole. We returned one day from [La Marquesa park] here in Mexico, and started chatting. Alex opened his laptop and started pulling out a beat.

I started throwing melodies, and [shortly] we had the chorus. It brought me back to life. I started crying with excitement because I finally felt again these desires and this emotion that you feel when you create a song, and you can’t stop moving forward and keep creating.

I remember we recorded my vocals on a voice note and sent it to [the production software] Logic. Then, it took us four months to produce this song because it was a lot of discovery, in this case, for me as a producer.

Alex is a great musician, artist, a genius — and I don’t say that because he’s my boyfriend. Artistically, there’s a fascinating world inside his head that I have learned a lot from. 

The track "Amanecer," which features Omar Apollo, breaks dramatically with the story you tell in the album. Why did you end that party cycle with a more folksy, chill song?

"Amanecer" is a track that has us all in love. It was the last song I recorded for the album. 

I wrote it to my ex. On my birthday, he called me — I was already with Alex — and it was super weird. I always feared running into him on the street, seeing him with someone else, and feeling something. And it was the exact opposite. I had already healed internally, and that wound had stopped hurting. I stopped feeling all the emotions I had gone through in K.O., [the album nominated for Best Vocal Pop Album at the 2021 Latin GRAMMYs].

This song talks about knowing how to make peace and understanding how to let go. It’s the dawn of the album. It’s perfect to release all the drama, and all the intensity, and aggressiveness that is the entire album itself.

[The song invites you] to hug yourself and say everything will be fine. There is always an opportunity to start over. 

It also has a beautiful story. Manu [Lara] taught Omar Apollo the instrumental parts of the song, and he made some melodies. At the moment of receiving them, [Omar] agreed we would make a song together, [but] it was almost impossible to record together.

[Instead, Omar] told me "You can use the melodies I made" and left me the last part of "Amanecer." He left us with that magical essence.

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For decades, Japanese music has been one of the hardest to access as a foreigner. Even with the popularization of cultural exports like anime and the emergence of streaming platforms, it is still considered a niche, and fans often have to dig deep in order to find albums, translations, or any kind of content at all.

"There weren’t many opportunities for Japanese music to go out into the world until now," says YOASOBI’s producer and songwriter, Ayase, over a Sunday morning Zoom from Tokyo. "If we were to break into the mainstream, I think there’s a lot more work to do. Being a part of Coachella is one of them."

The duo, composed of Ayase, 30, and vocalist Ikura, 23, is gearing up for their first performance at the mighty Californian festival next weekend, plus two sold out headline shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In August, they are set to play at Lollapalooza in Chicago, IL. 

"Performing at festivals like Coachella was one of our goals when we put our live team together, so I believe that it will be a place for us to grow further,” says Ikura, who lived in Chicago as a kid and considers these opportunities a "full circle" moment.

Read more: 10 Must-See Artists At Coachella 2024: Skepta, The Last Dinner Party, Mdou Moctar, Cimafunk & More

Formed in 2019, YOASOBI found overnight success with their debut single "Yoru ni Kakeru," a bright-sounding but harrowing tale that topped Billboard’s Japan Hot 100 chart for six non-consecutive weeks. They continued to rise further, recording five EPs (three in Japanese, two in English), the opening theme to Netflix’s anime series "Beastars," 2021’s "Kaibutsu," and their magnum opus so far: "Idol."

Released in 2023, "Idol" became a massive hit, placing No.1 at Billboard's Japan Hot 100 chart for 22 weeks and counting — an all-time record break. It was also the nineteenth best-selling song of 2023 worldwide, according to the IFPI. With these accolades, it’s easy to understand why the duo is fully booked, but what makes their music so enticing to global audiences? 

Listening to YOASOBI is like entering a rabbit hole. First, you get hypnotized by the glistening synths, bursting like fireworks, and the rock riffs taking melodies to full-speed. Then, you discover their adage is "novel into music," and all songs are based on fictional stories written by various authors. There’s also the animated music videos, each with a different style, giving their sounds another layer for interpretation. And finally, there are Ayase’s and Ikura’s (under the name Lilas Ikuta) own solo careers — treasure troves ready to be unearthed.

"I don't know, to be honest," says Ayase when asked about their growing popularity. "I guess the fact that a lot of Japanese [exports] have been prevalent around the world had to do with it. But also, maybe it's because people are experiencing this combination of music with storytelling that is interesting to them." Ikura agrees, adding that YOASOBI allows fans to "enjoy this bigger world that we are part of in a more three-dimensional way."

The experience is similar to how they create their music: mining, collecting, mixing, and transforming different threads into a new fabric. From fictional stories, Ayase transmutes his feelings into beats on his laptop with Logic Pro, then inputs melodies and lyrics through Vocaloid softwares like Hatsune Miku. Ikura listens to the Vocaloid demos, and then adds her own feelings and flair into the interpretations. For English-language tracks, they work with translator Konnie Aoki, who is "very mindful of phonetic sounds," and Ikura listens to the Japanese versions up until it’s time to record, so that she can have "the right emotions set."

It’s such a natural process for them that Ayase is surprised to know that there are still people who don’t consider Vocaloid as "real" music. “Those people probably don’t know what music is,” he says with a laugh. “Do they think that instrumental music, where there's no human singing, isn’t real music? There’s really great Vocaloid music out there, and it’s basically [voices] created through synthesizing softwares. It's very different from AI, which is auto-generated music. Vocaloid is humans creating music using these softwares. That's the only difference from a human singing a song.”

To Ikura, who maintains her burgeoning solo career in tandem with YOASOBI’s busy schedule, Vocaloid allowed her to broaden her talents. "It is my first time singing songs that somebody else wrote, so it was an opportunity to challenge myself with things that I wouldn't necessarily write, or sing in a tone or voice that I wouldn't come up with myself." She says that these experiences influence her solo works all the time, in a "synergy" that allows her to "have more colors to work with in my palette."

"I started producing music through Vocaloids,” adds Ayase. “And it truly broadened my ideas and imagination when it comes to creating music. It allows creators to come up with melodies that a human singer may not come up with. It's a fascinating culture. The possibility I feel is infinite, and it really makes the impossible possible, in a way.”

Read more: It Goes To 11: How One Piece Of Technology Makes YOASOBI's Musical Vision Come To Life

Endless possibilities are also a big allure in AI technologies, but Ayase doesn’t see this as a threat. With the right boundaries, it’s just a tool — like Vocaloid, Logic Pro, and the internet — that can be used positively. "However, as a creator myself, I really hope that creative works come out of the imagination and ideas of the human mind. In that sense, [AI] may not be 100% a positive thing for us," he shares.

But that’s something for the future. Now, YOASOBI is focusing on their very real, very tangible events ahead. "Finally, we have this opportunity where people around the world are discovering our music. So, performing at festivals like Coachella, Lollapalooza, or doing our solo shows, I think it's important that we communicate with the audiences and maximize this opportunity as much as possible," says Ikura.

And it’s not just YOASOBI getting all the attention: according to data and research company Luminate, J-pop in general is on the rise. "I’m very proud, as a Japanese person, for that situation. For us, it’s really about taking it one step at a time," says Ayase. “Our ultimate wish is to have our music or reach as many people around the world as possible, and so we will continue to work hard every day."

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Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly. Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system. 

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

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He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly.

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube. This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg, Doggystyle. This is for Illmatic, this is for Nas. We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal, Anna Wise and Thundercat). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood." 

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes. 

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In the ever-evolving landscape of music, where artists strive to carve their niche and leave their mark, Omar Apollo has emerged as a formidable force. In six short years (with a pandemic in the middle), the Chicano star has risen from humble beginnings to GRAMMY nominee, captivating listeners around the world with his distinctive blend of genres, unforgettable voice, and lyrics that tug at the heartstrings.

His new EP, Live For Me, out Oct. 6, is the perfect amalgamation of the above. With just four tracks — "Ice Slippin," "Live For Me," "Angel" and "Pilot" — the project is a small but sturdy bridge into Apollo’s next chapter. "These four songs are about letting go of the old in order to become my new self and salvage whatever purity I had left," Apollo tells GRAMMY.com. "[It’s my] coming to terms and addressing parts of me that I had compartmentalized."

While some might have been expecting a longer-form project following the success of his 2022 debut album Ivory and Best New Artist nomination at the 2022 GRAMMYs, the succinct nature of an EP made sense to Apollo. "I know it's only four songs," he tells GRAMMY.com, "but they hold a lot of the weight I've been carrying throughout my life. I feel lighter now and ready for the next phase of whatever life has to offer."

Apollo has been carrying a heavy musical history throughout much of his young life. The 26-year-old grew up in Hobart, Indiana, listening to everything from Vicente Fernández and Juan Gabriel to Lauryn Hill and Prince. He began his own musical journey as tween, when he traded an electric guitar his parents had gifted him for an acoustic one and learned to play through YouTube covers and guidance from one of his tíos.

When he was 17, Apollo experienced a serendipitous moment at a music store. "There was a little microphone there that said, 'Make music.' And I was like, 'Damn, I want to make music,'" he recounted to NPR. The realization made him get a job at McDonald's, where he miraculously saved up enough to get a tiny studio setup. 

Apollo's early tracks reflected his eclectic tastes and influences, featuring a unique blend of R&B, soul, pop, and indie rock that would later become his signature sound. From those early days, Apollo began weaving his life stories into every song he created — no matter how poignant or negligible. On "Brakelights," Apollo turns an ode to his beaten-up car into a poem about unrequited love — one of the singer's trademarks.

Apollo's breakthrough came in 2017 after he borrowed $30 from a friend to upload "Ugotme" onto Spotify. The song was immediately added to the streamer's Fresh Finds playlist and, within a day, garnered tens of thousands of streams. As royalties from "Ugotme" and other tracks slowly trickled in, Apollo realized music could be a viable career, to the dismay of his parents. 

"It was tough for them at first to understand," Apollo told GRAMMY.com earlier this year. "If I was living in Mexico and crossed the border illegally so my kids could have a better life, and then my kid wakes up one day and is like, ‘Oh, I wanna be a singer,’ I would be stressed out too. I never blamed them for it."

While it might not have seemed like much of a career, people were taking notice of Omar Apollo. Months after "Ugotme" blew up, Apollo linked up with soon-to-be-manager Dylan Shanks on Twitter. Shanks bridged the gap between the Los Angeles industry and the Indiana attic full of "asbestos and black mold" where Apollo lived with four other people and had set up his home studio.

Apollo's attic sessions saw the light of day in his 2018 debut EP, Stereo, which featured guitar-heavy tracks like the hazy "Erase" and the funky "Hijo de Su Madre." Aside from giving us a taste of his genre-hopping, the EP also showcased Apollo's ability to seamlessly switch between Spanish and English, which resonated with a diverse audience. 

He continued this vein with the release of Friends in 2019. Bass-heavy tracks like "Kickback" and disco-tinged "So Good" incorporated even more elements of funk and neo-soul into his repertoire, with an acoustic core ("Friends," "There for Me," "Hearing Your Voice") showcasing his versatility.

Later that year, Apollo collaborated with in-demand producer Kenny Beats on singles "Frío," an all-Spanish track with reggaeton sensibilities, and the groovy rap-adjacent "Hit Me Up" featuring "Euphoria"'s Dominic Fike. These collaborations expanded his musical horizons and contributed to his rising success.

In 2020, Apollo released his debut mixtape, Apolonio. Featuring standouts like the R&B-infused track "Stayback" and indie gem "Kamikaze," Apolonio marked an inflection point: Not only did the album receive critical acclaim and catapult him into the mainstream, but it also demonstrated his artistic growth. Thematically, Apollo's lyrics were more painfully self-aware and personal. Sonically, mixing became even more eclectic, combining his tried-and-true soul and funk tendencies with poppier inflections and bleeding over to trap and Mexican corrido. 

Much like his hair — which changed color at least four times during this period — Apollo was finding comfort in the transitory and experimental.

With more steam and eyes on him than ever before, Apollo joined forces with Spanish crooner C. Tangana on "Te Olvidaste," off his sophomore studio album El Madrileño. The song received two nominations at the 22nd Latin GRAMMYs, including Record Of The Year. The collaboration streak continued with the first hints of what would become Ivory. The soulful heartbreak ballad "Bad Life," Apollo's second song with Kali Uchis, ushered in 2022 for the budding star. The next month, he released "Invincible" featuring Daniel Caesar, a minimalist track carried by guitar strums and plucks, suave drum and bass, and, above all, the singers' tender harmonies.

Apollo's debut studio album, Ivory, which he dubbed as his magnum opus to Rolling Stone, finally arrived in April 2022. Mainly produced with the help of Carter Lang (who is best known for his work on SZA’s Ctrl and SOS), the project showcased Apollo’s genre-blending prowess and songwriting skills. However, the Ivory that we first listened to was not the Ivory that Apollo first created.

"I scrapped the first album because I hated it," he told GRAMMY.com earlier this year. "I wasn't excited to perform it. Everything was post-rationalized; it didn't have any theme. It was just me linking up with a bunch of producers and then putting whatever happened in those two months all together. It didn't feel like me by any means." 

Speaking to Complex shortly after the album's release, Apollo confirmed that the only songs "from the vault" that made it to Ivory's final form were "Bad Life," "Waiting On You," and "Mr. Neighbor." 

To complete the record, he embarked on a journey of self-discovery, isolating himself in houses he rented in California and New York with his sound engineer and childhood best friend, Manuel Barajas. While largely hunkering down on alt-R&B and psych-soul, Ivory best demonstrates Apollo's willingness to explore new sonic territories with the goal of crafting truly representative songs. 

The album includes Apollo's best corrido to date, the emotional "En El Olvido," as well as the Spanglish trap anthem "Tamagotchi." On the latter, Pharrell Williams' unmistakable four-count start makes it obvious that this is a Neptunes production.

Upon its release, Ivory entered the Billboard 200 chart — a first for Apollo. Almost half a year after the album's release, deep-cut "Evergreen" went viral on TikTok. Apollo made the song in a day during his retreat. "It was so simple. Being far away from everybody, not having access to do things, things become clear," he told Billboard.

The song earned Apollo his first-ever entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In November 2022, Apollo would receive a GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist. 

"In the beginning … I didn't even think I was a person who could win a GRAMMY. It was just kind of survival mode," Apollo said to Insider. "[But] I really went for it with this last album. So I definitely was hoping for sure, in the back of my head, like, 'That would be crazy if I got nominated.' And it happened, and it was just insane."

Although Apollo did not win Best New Artist (that honor went to singer Samara Joy), he continued to move forward in his personal and professional growth. Live For Me is proof of his unapologetic nature and growing vulnerability, which, among other things, manifests in openly addressing his sexuality.

"Making music is very vulnerable, and I always used to feel kind of embarrassed when I played things for people," he told Complex "I used to get so annoyed when somebody would ask me to explain what a song is about. But now, I'm willing to explain and willing to talk about it. I'm not embarrassed."

Apollo's recent releases take his authenticity a step further. "When I first started writing songs, I would often write about unrequited love. Eventually, I wrote songs about the complexities that come with a relationship," the artist said in a statement announcing his new single "3 Boys." The slow doo-wop jam marked Apollo's"first time writing about something non-monogamous" and signaled a pitstop into his new "new era," as he himself put it on Instagram.

The Live For Me track "Ice Slippin" is Apollo at his rawest. Heavy on autotune and drum pads, the piano-led vibey track is inspired by the experience of coming out to his family. "This song is a reflection and reaction of all the emotions I had to face before and after I decided to leave the icy streets of Indiana," the artist shared in a press release.

If Ivory was Apollo "trying to access [the] broken, traumatized parts of me to sell it to the masses," then Live For Me is focused on inner healing. Amid pen, paper, arpeggios and distorted adlibs, Apollo finds solace and, of course, life. 

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