With over 27 million YouTube views, the Argentine stars say they ‘hijacked’ the system when it comes to their success.
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What happens after a Tiny Desk performance goes viral?
If you’re the edgy Argentine duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, you simply build on the momentum.
A few dates into their “Baño María” world tour, and a month away from their Coachella debut, the eccentric pair have released a new nine-track EP, “Papota.”
While composed mostly of audio from their acoustic NPR Tiny Desk concert, the album also features four new songs that explore their emotions following the performance — creeping impostor syndrome, fears of all-consuming fame and the pressure to keep up the buzz on social media.
“There was this idea of, ‘What happens after Tiny Desk?’ Like the fear of success. How do we follow this?” says Amoroso in a Zoom interview, while on tour in Mexico. (In stereotypical Argentine male fashion, he can barely peel his eyes away from an ongoing soccer match on TV.)
The Tiny Desk series, which has been around since 2008, presents established artists with the opportunity to flex their raw vocals live. It is also an incubator for up-and-comers edging toward their big break — an opportunity that childhood friends Ca7riel and Amoroso did not take for granted when they were invited to do an “El Tiny Desk” takeover during Latinx heritage month.
The 17-minute show, uploaded Oct. 4, 2024, marked the Buenos Aires singers’ fast track to fame. With more than 27 million YouTube views to date, it became the No. 1 Tiny Desk video released in 2024.
“What you see there is something authentic. It’s not watered down, it’s not thought through,” says Amoroso. “We simply are who we are with our friends, playing music and having a good time.”
Backed by a jazz ensemble, the two trap MCs-turned-rock stars wooed audiences with their spitfire lyrics and catchy tunes from their first joint album, “Baño María,” released last year.
“ I told them right when they finished playing: ‘That’s one of the best ones, if not the best one I’ve ever seen, and I’ve never said that before,’ says Anamaria Sayre, NPR Alt.Latino host and Tiny Desk producer.
One of the reasons why Sayre believes the video went viral has a lot to do with Tiny Desk’s viewership. Outside the U.S., Argentina has the second-highest viewership of Tiny Desk performances.
“Their energy is so dynamic and so specific that it automatically made them magnetic to me,” says Sayre. “ Anyone’s gonna be drawn to [them], no matter who they are, Argentine or otherwise.”
Now with the EP “Papota,” which is a colloquial Argentinian term for anabolic steroids, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso look to humorize the external hullabaloo that has surrounded their rapid ascent to stardom.
Tracks like the jazz number “Impostor” emphasize the high expectations that followed their Tiny Desk performance, with the lyrics satirically condemning it as a curse: “Ahora que vamos hacer / El Tiny Desk me jodio” (“Now what are we going to do?/Tiny Desk f— me”).
“Tiny [Desk] did not f— us,” admits Ca7riel.
“But within every joke there’s a bit of truth,” he adds, noting that the pair have experienced few tranquil moments in the last couple of months, as they are often spotted in public.
“If I were to say I was happy all the time because of the Tiny Desk, it would be like a film without conflicts,” says Amoroso. “We always have to share the conflicts.”
The album’s lead bubblegum pop single, “#Tetas,” pokes fun at trendy buzz words in English: crypto, glow up, vibe check, dab, chad and hashtag. The line “Si quieres sеr alguien, no puedes ser tú / Tienes que ser alguien que no seas tú” — “If you want to be somebody, you can’t be you / You have to be someone that isn’t you” — takes aim at the heavily curated nature of users’ social media personalities. This fate seems to befall the singers in the accompanying music video, as they take on polished boy-band personas.
“We have our cellphones with us all the time,” says Ca7riel. “We are receiving so much information, like we have to be fit, we have to eat well, we have to speak in English. Those are things that our cellphones are telling us.”
Other new songs include “Re Forro,” an upbeat tune that describes becoming a monster despite having everything. There’s also a feel-good pop jingle, “El Día del Amigo,” that nods to the pair’s long-standing friendship that began in elementary school. The two were often confused as brothers for their similar last names, which are off by one letter: Catriel “Ca7riel” Guerreiro and Ulises “Paco Amoroso” Guerriero.
“We’ve been friends our whole lives and have shared a lot of hours. I think that’s what helps make all of this feel so real,” says Paco Amoroso.
The release of their “Papota” EP also follows the pair’s eclectic short film of the same name, directed by Argentine actor-director Martín Piroyansky.
As the film’s story goes, Ca7riel & Amoroso enter a cafe still sporting their distinct Tiny Desk attire — a blue fur hat and puffy mini heart vest. In comes “Gymbaland” (played by YouTuber Martín Bossi), a leechlike Latin music producer who promises the budding stars a “Latin Chaddy” award — a nod to the esteemed Latin Grammy.
“We played around with the idea of Tiny Desk going against the Miami Latin music industry and the Latino producer that promises you success [and] awards,” says Amoroso.
The short film previews Ca7riel & Amoroso’s career as they buy into the sham promise of fame, a change demonstrated by their enlarged pecs and chiseled chins, details evoking the album’s steroid title. Their partnership nearly falls apart as they vie for the Latin Chaddy — although true friendship prevails with a makeshift Tiny Desk session, paying homage to the pivotal moment on the concert series.
“With Tiny Desk, we feel that we hacked the system and we were able to do music that we enjoyed without having to go through that,” says Amoroso.
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