Sophomore Val Garcia could be the next big music artist that everyone listens to and has on their Spotify playlists, with his music played every hour of the day. He started making music at the start of his freshman year and is about to release his first track, under his rap name “Tortilla Killa.” He claims he got his name from passing out burritos to homeless people and his friends around his neighborhood. His rap style is inspired by his dad, who was a DJ in LA, Ice Cube, and Eazy-E. He also writes his own music in the classic ’90s raw emotion and speaks out on the hypocrisy of any government. Val feels like there are too many singers who think they can just slap on some autotune and then automatically think that makes them a star. He also added, “Travis Scott is one of those few singers in the 20th century who can use autotune and make him better.”
Val’s main role model, besides his father, is the famous rapper Eazy-E, as his style is heavily based on that of just singing about his life and his experiences with no autotune but yet also keeping it separate from Eazy-E. He also makes his beats in-house with small samples from Ice Cube songs like “It Was a Good Day” and rock songs like “Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe. This leads to an interesting mix of rock and rap that, in turn, spirals into a deep emotional spiral of rhymes and yells. Now he does have a single demo track on YouTube, making that his first technical song release. Most of his songs are about growing up in a rough neighborhood and facing racism in that same neighborhood.
He has been on a podcast and a news story on how dedicated he is to his craft and getting his message out there to people who agree with him. There is no doubt that in a few years, he will be a huge hit among people just like him and inspiring other people to relentlessly strive to achieve their dreams, no matter how long or hard it may be. Nothing is impossible; if they really want it, they can get it. He also says, “Without music life would be dull and pointless.” Now, no matter how hard it is to grow in this field, he has shown time and time again that he was made to create music, and the music industry has reacted to his presence because with the release of his first album, he has CDs and records of that album following day one of said release; however a specific date has not been confirmed for the release.
