There’s a certain kind of light that comes from the soul of someone who’s lived many lives before their time. That light radiates from TONATIUH, the long-awaited new album from artist and activist Xiuhtezcatl. Named after the Nahuatl word for the sun, and also his own middle name, TONATIUH is more than an album. It is a ceremony of return, a spiritual coming-of-age told in three tongues: English, Spanish, and the ancestral Nahuatl. Through sonic storytelling and ancestral memory, Xiuhtezcatl reclaims his narrative, illuminating the cycles of pain and healing passed down through generations.
This project unfolds like the journey of the sun itself, with each track illuminating another piece of the artist’s inner and outer world. Created visually and energetically in his homelands of Xochimilco, Mexico, TONATIUH reflects Xiuhtezcatl’s evolution from celebrated youth activist to a genre-bending, multidimensional artist. The album’s heartbeat lies in its duality, where contemporary hip-hop production intertwines with Indigenous flutes and rhythms, and where the weight of intergenerational trauma meets the radiance of cultural pride. It’s a dance between worlds, masterfully produced with collaborators like Trooko, Adrian Quesada, Renata Flores, and Nathan Willet.
At its core, TONATIUH is a celebration of identity in all its complexity: tender, unrelenting, and necessary. Xiuhtezcatl doesn’t shy away from shadows. Instead, he holds them up to the sun, revealing a rawness that many artists of his generation are only beginning to touch. From the haunting beauty of traditional instrumentation to verses that cut deep into personal and political reckoning, every song feels like a prayer for connection in a world that so often seeks to divide us.
This isn’t just music, it’s medicine. Xiuhtezcatl’s journey, which began on global stages as a teen speaking truth to power, has now blossomed into something even more timeless: a sonic offering to future generations. With co-signs from Willow Smith, Kehlani, and Shawn Mendes, and performances on stages from TED to Bernie Sanders’ Defeat Oligarchy Tour, his voice continues to ripple outward. But TONATIUH doesn’t just echo outward, it invites us inward, back to our own roots and our own fire.
For those of us walking between cultures, heartbreak and healing, and resistance and rebirth, this is an album that sees us. And as Xiuhtezcatl reminds us, el sol siempre vuelve a salir.
