SOOS Blends Chicano Oldies, West Coast Soul and Alt-R&B on Debut EP Silly Songs 4 U

The 19-year-old Mexican-American rising star brings playful honesty, lowrider nostalgia and bedroom-pop energy to a 10-track introduction that refuses to take itself too seriously.

Meet SOOS, the NorCal newcomer turning awkward romance, messy feelings and Chicano nostalgia into something entirely his own. The Monterey-born, Antioch-based artist has officially arrived with his debut EP, Silly Songs 4 U — a 10-track collection blending alternative R&B, indie-pop and laid-back West Coast production with the warmth of old-school Latino sounds.

At just 19, SOOS is already carving out a distinctive space in the next generation of alternative R&B, pairing silky melodies with unfiltered lyrics that embrace the funny, uncomfortable and occasionally chaotic sides of being young and in love. Drawing on the music he grew up around, from cumbias, reggaeton and Spanish oldies to Selena, Michael Jackson and Lauryn Hill, he brings a distinctly Californian flavour to a sound influenced by Steve Lacy, Cuco, Malcolm Todd and Childish Gambino.

“I want people to remember me as the Latino Alternative R&B artist who made ‘being yourself and not giving a fuck about what other people think’ a trend,” SOOS shares. “I want people to see me as the silly guy who pours all his feelings into a song, hoping listeners love it and relate to it.”

That ethos runs through Silly Songs 4 U, where tongue-in-cheek humour meets genuine emotional vulnerability. Lead track ‘Embarrassed’ tackles the awkwardness of intimacy and the insecurities that come with wanting to connect, accompanied by a self-directed music video filmed with friends in his hometown. It’s unfiltered, relatable and refreshingly unconcerned with playing it cool.

Elsewhere, ‘Hollywood’ featuring BOKO taps into the intersection of lowrider soul and contemporary alternative R&B, exploring broken trust, miscommunication and hidden insecurities. Its accompanying video, filmed at the iconic Santa Monica Pier, adds another dose of West Coast nostalgia to the project.

The EP keeps things moving across a range of moods. ‘No, No, I Just Can’t’ leans into flirtatious funk and playful falsetto, while ‘Bite Back’, also featuring BOKO, takes a darker, more seductive turn, blending experimental pop textures with airy vocals and the complications of toxic attraction.

Across its 10 tracks, Silly Songs 4 U captures an artist comfortable with contradiction: romantic but self-aware, unserious but emotionally switched on, nostalgic yet firmly looking forward. SOOS isn't interested in presenting a perfectly polished version of young adulthood — he's making music for the moments when everything feels a little embarrassing, a little confusing and completely real.

And listeners are already paying attention. Since beginning his musical journey in summer 2024, SOOS has built a growing online audience, with breakout single ‘Dejavoo’ surpassing 1.4 million Spotify streams and his profile reaching more than 100,000 monthly Spotify listeners. His TikTok presence has also amassed 1.4 million likes.

With Silly Songs 4 U, SOOS delivers a promising introduction to an artist bringing Mexican-American identity, oldies-inspired warmth and alternative R&B experimentation into the same world. Silly by name, perhaps — but there's plenty of substance beneath the surface.

Stream Silly Songs 4 U now, and watch the videos for ‘Hollywood’ and ‘Embarrassed’.