In Cole Carillo’s parents’ home in Southern California, the walls are colorful; Hispanic paintings hang on the walls, a skeleton grandpa sits in the corner of the living room and pottery is scattered around the place he calls home. 

Carillo, a Mexican-American singer-songwriter, goes by the name Yung Guero in the music industry. He writes and produces his own music at home, but also uses a friend’s studio occasionally to post online. 

“I had a Spanish assignment in high school that was to answer five questions, and instead of doing a slideshow, I created a song called Gucci Chanclas, which is when I came up with the name Yung Guero,” Carillo said.

What started as a class assignment in high school quickly became part of who he is today. The name “Yung Guero” adds a touch of his Mexican culture to his music, which he carries throughout each performance.

Carillo, 21, transferred to San Diego State University from MiraCosta College in the spring of 2025 and is majoring in graphic design. Outside of being an artist with a passion for performing, he is a surfer and retail worker.

“What really got me to pursue and make music was probably when COVID hit,” Carillo said. “When COVID hit, I didn’t have anything to do, and I was having fun making songs, so I kept with it.”

Carillo started writing and posting his music in 2019, but began creating albums and performing live in 2021.

“A lot of the time, I come up with the chorus by freestyling it, coming up with the flow and then writing it down. Some songs have taken 30 minutes and others a few months to complete,” Carillo said.

In the second half of his senior year, Carillo introduced his rap name. By the end of high school, the whole class would know who Yung Guero is.

“His music has been created by the culture around him, which means you must have toured Oceanside to understand it. His style hasn’t changed, but has only improved over time,” said Leo Noble, a friend of Carillo’s.

Carillo recently joined Barz-on-Wheels, a YouTube channel that invites music artists to freestyle lyrics to the beat given while being driven around San Diego. His video gained 106,000 views and 3,000 likes on Instagram.

One of his biggest songs, “North Jetty,” is about a wave at the Oceanside Harbor, where he surfs all the time.

“A lot of what I make is references to my city, where I’m from. Something I definitely learned through surfing is that you have to work hard and just keep doing your own thing because everyone is chill and does their own thing here,” Carillo said.

The song gained over 100,000 views within a week and was even recognized by amateur and professional surfers around the country, including La Jolla’s own Jacob Szekely.

“It feels pretty rewarding to see people amped, because of course I make music for myself, but seeing how it affects other people makes me feel rewarded,” Carillo said.

What comes with a ton of positive comments is a ton of negative comments, and that is something Carillo is still learning how to deal with.

“Dealing with the criticism and setbacks is different than how other people would probably do it,” Noble said. “He makes a freestyle about the negative comment and posts it online, and it honestly works pretty well.”

Posting music can be more difficult than it seems, as once it is posted, it’s out for the public to give their feedback on it.

“The hardest part is putting a song out that you really like and think is really good, but you get negative feedback on,” Carillo said. “You just have to deal with the hate, but not let it affect you because people on the internet are all talk.”

Dealing with haters can be a significant risk, but trying to build a rap career in San Diego, where the music scene is complex, presents its own set of challenges.

San Diego is one of the hardest cities to make it big in, as its music business per capita density is 0.21, according to Hypebot. That puts San Diego in 32nd place out of the top 50 cities listed for musicians in the music business per density. 

“The Oceanside scene is pretty underground, so it’s not the most heard, but there are a lot of dope West Coast artists,” Carillo said. “The only thing about San Diego is people usually leave to go to Los Angeles to get big, but the guys that stay down here are the ones really about representing San Diego.”

“I’m super supportive,” he said. “I always put local artists on my stories, comment on posts and share because I want to see everyone grow. But there’s also a competitive aspect to hip hop and rap music, because we all want to make it, and we all think we’re the best,”  Carillo said.

Carillo mentioned his newest song, “Hype Othesis,” is more of a motivational song, telling himself you’re good enough and to keep going, which is his hypothesis on life.

“You don’t need to follow someone’s advice; just keep going and don’t get discouraged when your music isn’t getting heard,” Carillo said. “You’re still growing, and you never peak. I just want to keep going up, and never be like ‘Oh, I’m at the very top’ because then what would I do?”