Trinidad Cardona

In early 2017, a teenaged Trinidad Cardona scored a viral hit overnight with his ’90s R&B-inspired song “Jennifer.” The Phoenix, Arizona singer uploaded a clip of him singing during a class break. When he woke up the next day, the video had over seven million views. While he had been making music for years (including a collaboration with Dorian Colter titled “Lights Out”), this sudden success expanded his audience, reaching fans as far away as Brazil. He recorded a full version of “Jennifer” — adding a few rapped verses and lyrics in Spanish — and released it as an EP with other tracks “Ready” and “You Are Mine.” Months after “Jennifer” took off, Cardona graduated high school and decided to pursue music full-time. ~ Neil Z. Yeung