Octavio Cuadras wanted to learn to play music, but his family did not have the means to send him to school. He then took several buckets and used them as percussion instruments. That’s how he learned to play the snare drums.
“My grandfather played the guitar, but I never learned,” he said. “Percussions always caught my attention and I learned on my own; Now I play several instruments and I defend myself, but I have never gone to school [de música]”.
This happened in his native Navolato, a ranch near Culiacán, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. At the age of 12, with the fixed idea that he wanted to dedicate himself to music, Octavio began working as an employee in bands in the region, until someone gave him the opportunity to play percussion.
To this story we must add that from a very young age he sang, above all, the northern songs that his grandfather listened to, which were the classics of artists such as Miguel y Miguel, the Llaneros de Guamúchil, Los Canelos de Culiacán and others.
One day, when he was 17 years old, and after having spent hours playing video games, Octavio and his friends took a break; one of them, “compa Sebas,” took out a guitar and began to sing. At that same time, in a matter of 15 minutes and without planning, they composed “Bling bling” and uploaded it to social networks.
Then everything changed in Octavio’s life.
The song became so popular that later there was a version in which Marca Registrada participated. And later a remix was recorded in which the reggaeton singer Maluma performs.
All this contributed to Octavio’s fame growing like foam from one day to the next. He currently has more than five million monthly listeners on the music platform Spotify and thousands more people follow him on his social networks.
He is also the creator of what he called happy corridos, which is a genre with a tone that contrasts with that of the tumbados or war corridos.
“The lyrics are a little softer, more ‘family friendly,’” the 24-year-old singer explained. “They make you feel happy; I don’t know how to describe it, but you feel it.”
Octavio is preparing a new album whose name he has not yet decided, but which will be released in May. “Belicontento”, the single that he recorded with Padrinito Toys and that he recently released, will be part of his album.
The album will include happy, lying corridos, with friendly lyrics and others not so friendly, because the artist believes that his audience likes variety.
“I like to include everything,” he said. “The other day we recorded an electrocumbia.”