After a decade of writing music, 21-year-old rapper based out of Tucson, Arizona, Manny Sosa has come to make a wave in the underground. He started his journey at the age 11, when his mother was ill. He didn’t want to be too far away from his mother in her time of need so he rarely left the house that summer. After using a Garage Band mic to record over the Ice Cream Paint Job beat, he began to dive further into the genre and developed a passion for writing and creating music.
Pulling inspiration from the likes of Mac Miller, Tyler, the Creator, and A$AP Rocky, he admires how “they break any sort of barrier” in their music. All three rappers have demonstrated their abilities to make a variety of music, especially with their newest projects Swimming, Flower Boy, and Testing, respectively. Sosa tries to emulate musicians like that because he is always experimenting with new sounds and energies when in the booth.
Manny Sosa experienced a childhood where he was never in the same city for too long. Moving constantly and being enrolled in 6 different elementary schools between Phoenix and Tucson, “just always on the go, making new friends [but] never really chilling with one group of people until my freshman year.” When he linked with his people in high school, including Stunt, GVRI, and Petey Pablo, they formed the strong bond and became a circle of support that pushed Manny Sosa to really pursue music with a serious intent.
“Like me and Pete were in my room popping pain killers this one time recording that’s when I recorded one of my first songs that popped off my track ‘Happy’ we were going back and forth w bars and it just came to be bro it was fucking crazy”
After releasing several tracks laced with bars and euphoric beats, including a.c.i.d. feat Lil Summer, McClarens in Paris, and On My Mind, he is perfecting his own style to separate himself from his peers. “I can make any type of song that I want to make, it’s just a matter of the state of mind I’m in and the environment I’m surrounded by.” When he steps into the studio he can truly create any vibe that he wants to. “I can go from hard bar for bar rap to wavy, jazzy sounding music that makes you want to trip off some acid.”
Click the image below to listen to a.c.i.d. feat Lil Summer!
Trying to reach people that are going through the same things that he is via his music, Manny Sosa is always trying to spread positivity with is words. Connecting with is audience on a deeper level, he is overwhelmed when people genuinely show love to him and his music. After some problems with consistency after having a few tracks that blew up, he has since figured out how to stay motivated and focused. “It’s like the universe is putting everything together and I’m just stuck in drive, I can’t stop and I won’t stop.”
After listening to his musical catalogue, you begin to really peel back the layers in Sosa’s music and his words stay ringing in your head. You can feel the time and energy that he puts into his craft. “I’m putting my all into this and it’s showing… It’s more than music. It’s more than putting out a product, you have to want this. You have to wake up, shit, eat, breathe and live this music shit. There’s no other way around it.”
Releasing the Cottonwood Lane music video, under the direction of Young Mac Films, the visuals are incredible. Mirroring the vibe of the song perfectly, Sosa raps while riding on the hood of a clean red car. His wavy flow hits his audience in the face and his lyrics resonate. Gaining viewers and fans with each track, he told me that he really doesn’t like the word “fan.” He considers every person that listens and take his music to heart as family.
Carving his lane from Arizona out of the underground, Manny Sosa is putting in work to achieve his goals. Currently working on a lot of new music and new visuals, he even has a bunch of concerts lined up for himself and other artists from the AZ area. “Man like I said my family my fucking GANG Wicked Minds & that’s Stunt, Gvri, Petey Pablo…. s/o to OTS my boys backwood, Summer, Wyatt, Hurt….. s/o to Aske and 850 they became family. S/o to Cam, Jax, Tux and J that’s the Terra family.. S/O multiplexes and GMG… S/O to everyone in mine and Askes Heat wave Collective. S/O Cain and S/O Grooverelly too. Just s/o to everybody in AZ who’s finally coming together and spreading unity and love bro.“
With his team behind him, he is well on his way to having his music heard at a larger scale. With endless potential, I can’t wait to see where his career takes him because this is surely just the beginning. Stay tuned for the new music and videos coming and if you are near Arizona, go out to support and see the kid perform live.