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After a 15-second clip of his song blew up overnight, Curtis Waters went from working at a smoothie shop to being profiled by Rolling Stone, becoming a case study for the transformative power and groundbreaking reach of TikTok. Then, he defied all expectations and rejected multi-million dollar deals from well-established music labels, choosing to remain independent in the corporate world of music and betting on himself in the process. In the two years since his viral success, Curtis Waters—born Abhinav Bastakoti—has continued on the trajectory of his original hit, “Stunnin’,” releasing a debut album at the age of 20 and collaborating with names like Brevin Kim, Kim Petras, and TiaCorine. 

With a blunt disregard for the traditional confinements of genre and a knack for unexpected and lively hooks, Waters has established himself as a daring player in the field of rising artists. His boldness, however, emerges from a place of not just sonic choices but lyrical ones as well. The Nepali-Canadian artist has made a point of using his musical platform to shed light on topics like immigrant experiences and mental health struggles, two themes drawn from his background as a first-generation immigrant living with bipolar disorder. 

Now, Waters is gearing up for the release of a sophomore album years in the making, BAD SON, with a string of heavy-hitting singles. His latest release, “RIOT,” featuring chlothegod, sees the 22-year-old take a more caustic and combative approach to his usual genre-blending sound, pairing gritty trap and a throbbing bassline with a dynamic garage outro. The centerpiece of the single lies in brittle and unflinching verses from chlothegod—an R&B artist and childhood friend of Waters—juxtaposed against Waters’ own delivery of devil-may-care rap, producing a brazen pop anthem buzzing with voltage and sheer force.

We sat down with Waters to talk about his new single, family, and life after viral success.

Ones To Watch: It’s been two years since your song became a viral TikTok hit and your life was turned upside down. Is music something you eat, sleep, and breathe?

Curtis Waters: I go through phases. Sometimes I hate making music, sometimes I love making music, sometimes I’m so overwhelmed by this feeling of having to live up to something and I’m like “Fuck this shit, I’m gonna disappear.” But I can’t because I love making music and it’s amazing, and regardless of external validation or pressure, there’s nothing I would rather be doing. The joy I get out of making songs and expressing myself is something that whether I want to or don’t want to, I can’t really stop. 

Do you feel that there was increased pressure following your initial bout of success? 

Well, since 2020, I've had horrible imposter syndrome, I think I self-sabotaged in many ways. I just wasn’t ready, and I couldn’t handle it to be completely honest. I think I was very anxious because I have bipolar disorder, so it was like day and night. I don’t think I was ready music-wise, too, and I think I’ve taken a long time to work on the next album. My song got so popular that I was making music to be popular as opposed to express myself, so it took a while to get grounded again, but I feel really good now. 

With both these collaborations and your own music, it’s clear that you’re part of a generation of artists that are really breaking down the idea of genre. You could call it pop, punk, or alternative, but also hyperpunk, trap, and sometimes there’s some grunge or post-punk in there…

Yeah, you could call it anything. I don’t think it’s the result of a conscious decision. One day I’m working on a post-punk song, and the next day I’m making an R&B trap song, but to me, it doesn’t feel any different. I don’t just listen to one type of music, I listen to so much random stuff during the day that I just want to express what I’m into. 

How would you describe your music?

I wouldn’t. I just couldn’t do it. I can describe each song or album or era to a certain degree, but I don’t wanna describe my music. I think it’s just a human experience. This is gonna sound so fuckin’ stupid but how do you describe humanity? That’s so fuckin’ dumb but it’s everything I feel, so I don’t think anyone can really put their entire being into a box. 

Moving from a sonic perspective to a more lyrical and thematic one, in the past, you’ve talked about how you want to use your music to advocate for mental health and shed light on the immigrant perspective. Is that still something that’s constantly on your mind as you make music? 

I think I’m just a bipolar immigrant so when I get a song, I’ll just start saying bipolar immigrant shit, and then later I’m like, "Oh, I guess I’m advocating for mental health," but what I’m really doing is, I am dealing with racism and growing up poor and being bipolar and all this random shit. It’s not necessarily like, “I’m a politician, this is what I stand for.” It’s more like, ok, I’m just saying what comes naturally to me.

Has that become any harder or easier?

I’m so lucky because I have a fake name, so anytime I’m too honest and people get mad at me, I’m just like that was Curtis Waters. I’m Abhi, talk to Abhi, Curtis aired out all our family problems. I’ve become super family oriented. This album I’m working on is called BAD SON and I’ve been working on it since I was like 14, the name and the idea. It’s crazy. I made like four albums named BAD SON, and this is the final one that’s gonna be the album. It’s been a recurring theme in my brain for a long time, but I feel like I’m exiting that era. 

Tell me about this new single of yours, “RIOT." How was it born and how did it grow?

“RIOT” is so fun. I made this beat in November 2020, and when I was in New York, there was a studio and chlothegod—who’s my childhood friend—happened to be there. I’ve been sending beats to chlo since I was in high school, so we got some wine, we were getting hyper, we were jumping and running around the studio and going crazy, and the energy was so good because we hadn’t seen each other in a long time. And I pulled up this beat and I told her to do the hook like this, scream. And she hadn’t really done anything like that before, but she killed it! After that, I didn’t know what to do with it for two years. As I kept working on my album, I put it on the tracklist and I was like, wait this makes sense. 

I’m kind of pretentious, as you can tell by this conversation, but I was like, “Oh, ‘STARKILLER’ was this song about the hypocrisy of capitalism and how people will exploit others," whatever, that was the last song. And I thought it would be so sick if the next song is about how I'm so rich and blah blah blah. I thought it was funny to have that switch up, thematically, but it’s also not that deep. When we were making it, we were just like, let’s make the hardest shit ever. I was so scared to get on it for two years, because she is so fucking good in it. I got inspired to finish the song because I did my first headline show and I brought her out and everybody went crazy for that song. The main thing I do my music for now is for live shows. Because I know that when I play this shit, people are gonna go fucking crazy. 

It sounds hard but it’s really silly. She’s saying like, “I’m a pirate, start a riot.” It’s just two friends being goofy. 

This is one of your singles leading up to your second album. Is there anything you can tell me about it?

I’ve been working on it every day, it’s been a labor of love. It feels like a coming of age, like an immigrant story that I've been trying to tell since I was a kid, and I feel like I’m finally equipped to tell it. Because I moved to North America when I was 10, and left my home behind, and dealing with a lot of stuff like internal racism and all this shit, but also having amazing success at the age of 20 and then feeling like a failure because you don’t know how to live up to it, so this and that. Thematically that’s what it is, this pursuit of happiness. But it’s bangers! Even if you don’t speak English, I want you to listen to it and be like, this is the hardest shit ever.

Who are your Ones To Watch?

They’re just gonna be my friends. greek is phenomenal and he’s my roommate. Tiacorine, her new album is so fucking good. Chlothegod is amazing. Asha Imuno makes amazing music… Giddy… I’ve been really fortunate to be able to produce for all my favorite artists who happen to be my friends. I think everyone I know is a one to watch.