The music industry has evolved in both rhythms and genres thanks to the fresh crop of artists who are fearless creators of this new trend storming the music scene online and offline. Hip-Hop and R&B Artist Rico Santino is one of the curators of the new Hip-Hop era. From humble beginnings to working with A-lister artists in the industry, Rico Santino overcame numerous challenges to do what he loves the most: making music. Now he has added a new dimension to his career by launching his music record label, Serious Sounds Productions, LLC.
The story of Rico Santino starts when he was only 12 and found himself drawn to music. As a multi-racial artist who is Puerto Rican black, Italian, and northern European, Santino was exposed to diverse cultures during his childhood that shaped his unique style in music. His life experiences, which mostly include challenges he faced in childhood, helped him develop an unapologetic approach toward music that features blazing lyrics and cutting-edge sounds.
The storytelling style of Santino’s music is another distinct aspect that instantly separates him from his industry contemporaries. Santino weaves stories through rhythms narrating his real-life experiences that people can easily relate to. As a multi-racial child, Santino faced racism that continued through his days of struggle in the music industry. His humble background also created several hardships in financially supporting his career. With no connections in the industry and no one to guide him, Santino had to pave his own way through relentless hard work and unwavering self-confidence to penetrate this space.
Starting his career at a very young age, Santino earned recognition in the industry with his single, “See Me Out”, which was well-received by audiences. The popularity of the song soon brought him several opportunities to perform with famous artists like Chip Tha Ripper and DJ Flippp. Since then, Santino rolled out several hits, but his career reached a new peak after the Covid shutdown. As life returned to normal, and the music industry resumed its flow, Santino started releasing back-to-back hits. He dropped more songs after the Covid shutdown than he did before.
One of the landmark achievements in his career after the Covid shutdown was the launch of Serious Sounds Productions LLC. Santino is currently the CEO, scaling up the company to be a launchpad for aspiring talents who want to make a solid career in music. He doesn’t want budding artists to struggle like him or make the same mistakes he made during the initial phase of his career. Serious Sounds is a platform where new artists can reach their creative best and also leverage the power of valuable networking within the industry that Santino developed over the years.
Santino’s music is not just a seamless blend of Boom Bap, Trap, and R&B, it is a motivation to many struggling to chase their dreams. He wants to continue entertaining people with his music while also paving the way for fresh talents into the industry with Serious Sounds Productions. Even after achieving a million streams on Spotify, Santino feels he has much to accomplish in his career. One goal is to perform with some of his idols from the music industry.