Brandon Delgado moved from Cuba to the US with his family when he was 10 years old. His parents were seeking better opportunities for their young family, so they packed up their lives and settled in Miami, Florida when the opportunity presented itself.
After the initial excitement of moving to a new place, reality set in for Brandon. Up to that point, no one had required him to speak in English, but now he had to if he wanted to make friends. The kids in school didn’t speak his language, and he could barely speak theirs either.
Brandon’s younger brother was his only friend for the next few months. As an expressive child, Brandon turned to music. He’d cry when the musicians described their feelings of loss or anger, and he felt they were the only ones who understood him.
One day, when Brandon was 13, his mom came home and found him crying. He’d tried to talk to a girl he liked, but she’d laughed at him and said he was weird. The other kids in class had burst out laughing, and now Brandon didn’t want to go back to school.
His mom did a lot of work convincing him the kids didn’t know better and encouraged him to write down what he felt. When she left the room, Brandon took a piece of paper and started writing what would become the lyrics of his first, albeit terrible, song.
Brandon continued his musical exploration throughout high school. He would take the tunes of popular R&B songs and craft his own songs. He’d then belt out a performance for an imaginary audience of thousands.
Soon after graduating high school, he sat his parents down and told them he didn’t want to go to college. Although his mom had been his biggest supporter, she thought Brandon was wasting his life and should reconsider getting an “actual career.”
Surprisingly, it was his dad who first accepted his decision. He’d, after all, taken his young family thousands of miles from their home country in pursuit of a better life. He allowed Brandon to make music on the condition that he’d go to college later if music failed.
With his parents’ blessings, Brandon packed up his bags and moved to London to join his cousin Pedro. For the next two years, he worked on his songwriting and perfected his delivery. During the day, he’d do his shift at a coffee shop and then meet up with Pedro in the evening. They would then go to a local pub where a friend of Pedro’s worked and do a freestyle live performance until closing time.
At the end of his second year in London, Brandon felt he was ready to take his exploration into the industry further. He packed up his life again and moved to LA this time. For one year, he attended networking events and sent out his recordings to different producers.
That’s when he met DJ Nicky, an upcoming producer who worked in one of the biggest recording studios in LA. Nicky took a chance on Brandon and helped him perfect his first hit single, “The Muse.” The track is one of Brandon’s most listened-to tracks on streaming platforms.
Currently, the duo is working on Brandon’s upcoming album, “We Were Stronger,” which is set to be released in early 2022. After years of chasing a dream, Brandon is now living it and performing for thousands of fans across the world. He says, “Music healed me. I would be very honored if one kid says the same about my music.”
