There are artists you discover because everyone is already talking about them.

And then there are artists you remember because you were there before everyone started talking.

Gio Rabelo is one of those artists.

We first crossed paths with Gio some years ago through friends in El Paso, Texas. At the time, he was still at the beginning of the climb — putting in the work, developing his sound, finding his place and slowly beginning to break through.

There wasn't a giant spotlight around him yet.

There didn't need to be.

Because that's usually how it starts.

A few people hear something. A few rooms start paying attention. A record gets played again. Someone sends it to another DJ. Another crowd reacts. And eventually, what started as a local connection begins traveling much further than the room where it was born.

That's the part of Gio's story we're interested in.

The build.

This year, that build has started turning into something much bigger.

Gio Rabelo is pushing into larger rooms, larger opportunities and a wider audience — and from where we're standing, he's still only getting started.

COMO BAILO

If you've heard Gio lately, there's a good chance you've heard "Como Bailo."

We've experienced the record in the room ourselves, including at 1800 Lucky, where you can feel exactly what makes a track like this matter.

Because there's a difference between a record that sounds good in your headphones and a record that actually moves people.

"Como Bailo" belongs in that second category.

And the record isn't staying local.

Gio has received support from artists including Cloone, Classmatic. and more tracks supported by Joseph Capriati and Ferra Black — names that represent a pretty significant range of the contemporary house and techno world.

That's when you start to notice the trajectory.

A record that began as part of Gio's own journey is now finding its way into sets and ears far beyond where we first encountered him.

We've heard it in the room.

We've watched people react to it.

And now we're seeing established artists put their own support behind the sound.

That's momentum.

Not manufactured hype.

Not an overnight story.

Momentum.

FROM EL PASO TO WHAT'S NEXT

One of the things we love about electronic music is how quickly a local scene can become a launchpad.

A DJ can start in a small room, build a community, develop a sound and eventually find themselves playing to people they've never met before.

But the distance between those moments is filled with work.

Gio has been putting that work in.

And now we're watching the results begin to stack up.

That's why this feels like the right time to put his name in front of our readers.

Not because we're here to tell you that he's already reached the top.

Quite the opposite.

We're interested because he's on his way there.

There is something exciting about catching an artist during that part of the journey — when the foundation is already there, but the ceiling hasn't been reached.

The bigger rooms are coming.

The bigger records are coming.

The bigger collaborations are coming.

And if "Como Bailo" is any indication, Gio already understands one of the most important rules of dance music:

Make people move first. Let everything else follow.

WHY GIO?

CÜÜLtura isn't interested in waiting until an artist has become impossible to miss.

By then, everybody has already found them.

We're more interested in the moment before that happens.

The artist still grinding.

The record starting to travel.

The hometown connections that turn into opportunities.

The DJ who's beginning to get support from names they once probably looked up to.

That's where Gio is right now.

We've known him since before the bigger stages, before the wider recognition and before the story started getting easier to tell.

Now the story is changing.

And we're happy to tell this chapter while it's still being written.

CÜÜL BEFORE IT'S COOL

That's what this series is about.

Finding the names that deserve a little more attention before everybody else catches on.

We met Gio when he was still breaking ground.

Now, we're watching him break through.

Remember the name.

GIO RABELO

Because sometimes the best time to discover an artist...

is before everyone else does.

CÜÜLtura — it's all in the name.