OMAR: Growing up Mexican-American in the Midwest... That definitely wasn't that many Mexicans at my high school, but I was around a lot of Mexican people and a lot of people of color, um, because of church.

That's where I started music, started playing and singing in church.

I started making music going on 17.

Just, like, I would release these songs.

They just got playlisted and my friends are like, "Oh, you should do show, play here, play here, or play here."

For as long as somebody gave us a platform or a stage or like had a microphone or set up like it was going to be fun.

Like, we were down.

But when I got signed, I didn't, I didn't understand why, it was so strange.

I was like, "Why would you want to sign me?

Or like, why would you want to?

You know?

And I felt like I had to impress, like the people that have already signed to me.

So when I was making the first version of "Ivory", I was making it, it was very much so that version of myself.

So I started working with a bunch of people, like 20 different producers.

Prior to that, I've only ever worked with myself.

I do all these songs and they were about to shoot the first video and I had a close friend of mine at the time, tell me, "You hate this music.

You don't like this.

Make new music."

Then I was like, "Oh man, okay, like what should I do?"

Like, I remember she was like, "Set a date."

Like, "Set a date for yourself.

You have to finish.

Like, set a date.

Make that date three months from now."

I remember calling my manager.

Like I was, "Hey, you're going to be really mad.

I know we're shooting the video tomorrow, but can we cancel everything?"

I remember during that call, everyone freaks out.

Everyone's like, "Omar, what's wrong?"

I was like, "Everything's wrong.

Everything is wrong.

I need to go into a cabin in Idlewild and make an entire new album and I'll play it for you November 5th."

I was just working and working and working and working.

I didn't have the luxury of convenience when it came to making music, like it was like, this is all or nothing.

Like if I go back to Indiana after this, you know what I mean?

So I finished the album.

I'm getting ready to play it for the people.

I promise that I would have it ready for.

But they didn't know that I was gonna have like a fully sequenced, fully written, done, almost mixed album.

Like, I really went for, like, I had every song.

Like, everything was, you know, lined up.

Like, I said, "This is it.

This is what I want to be, to come out.

This is it", you know.

I made "Evergreen" over there.

I mean, like, all, you know, "Petrified", these songs that changed my life.

For the Grammys, when I got nominated, I was in Atlanta.

I was going to play a show.

I don't want to like, wake up in the morning and like, wait for it.

But obviously, my team had totally different plans.

They came into my, bust into my hotel room with a camera crew.

They pull it up.

My manager was like recording on his phone.

Soon as they said my name he tackles me meanwhile I'm screaming.

And so then I called my dad.

I was like, "Dad, I just got nominated for a Grammy."

And my dad thinks that every award is a Grammy.

Like, it doesn't he doesn't know the difference.

And he sent me a video of them receiving like the platinum pack, plaque.

And my mom is like recording my dad and saying like, "We don't know what a platinum plaque is, but we're so proud of you."

Like, obviously every song I wrote is super gay and it's like, you know, just very obvious.

But that's just the, that's just who I am.

That's just the truth.

Like, that's just, what else am I going to write about, you know?

When I first started doing shows, it was all queer Latino kids and it felt like community.

It felt like home, like, these kids would come up to me with the same exact story, like, 'my parents are from here, they're immigrants,' you know, 'I'm also queer.'

I never had anyone like that growing up.

You know, where we feel, you know, you see them yourselves and in, you know, reflections of their lives or whatever it is, you know, like pieces of it.

Even my dad called me the other day, said the most beautiful thing.

Because he's really religious, but he's like super open and he was just like saying how happy he was that I was singing to a generation of kids who can see themselves through me or like be able to find comfort in knowing that, like, queer people can be inspired.

I don't know.

That's, that's the goal is to just inspire.