The first thing that enters the Media Lab recording booth is the sound of heavy boots against the tiled floor. Then comes Tino Rosario himself, dressed in all black, turning the small studio into something closer to backstage at a fashion house. An ankle-length distressed skirt moves as he steps inside, necklaces shifting and rings bumping with soft clinks. He settles into the space quickly, like someone accustomed not just to being around an abundance of creative equipment, but to being at its center.
It becomes immediately clear why Rosario is one of SLU-Madrid’s unofficial “SLU-lebrities.” Rosario is widely recognized on campus for his music, fashion, and visual projects. His latest musical track, “Inihibtions,” explores themes of “collective consciousness.”
“I had a vision of a ray of light in darkness, almost like a bullet-hole of light,” Rosario said during an interview in December.
Rosario first started experimenting with producing music before college. “I dabbled in music before,” he said, “but quarantine was when I finally started treating it as something real.”
His sound has evolved since then. While early tracks leaned toward hip-hop and rap, Rosario said he now moves fluidly between rap and shoegaze, depending on the project.
“The style shifts with what I’m trying to communicate,” he said.
Beyond music, Rosario is also known for his clothing brand, Socio Division, which he started in Puerto Rico with his brother, who has a degree in fashion design. The brand focuses on repurposed clothing, and small releases are now available in Madrid.
Rosario said the name reflects the tensions with consumer culture and the environmental impact of fast fashion.
Classmate Ernesto Lange is not surprised by his involvement in the creation of Socio Division. “He’s so cool, I see how he dresses and it doesn’t surprise me that he has his own brand.”
Rosario’s work also extends to video production. His underwater music video “NACiMiENTO” was selected for the annual short film festival, En Breve, and is now available on YouTube.
The song examines beginnings and endings, which Rosario said made water an appropriate visual motif.
The video was originally planned with a $3,000 camera, but a technical failure forced him to shoot the project with an iPhone in a Ziploc bag.
“It gave an even better feel than we would’ve got with the camera,” he said. “The light was reflecting off the Ziploc and it worked out super well.”
Leticia Mondada, a senior who works in the SLU-Madrid Media Lab, said she has collaborated with Rosario on a documentary project this semester. “It’s such a great experience working together, our creativeness melded together in such a good way and I’m excited for the end result.”
Rosario’s long-term goals center around environmental advocacy. “Musicians nowadays are extremely influential. People listen to musicians. and that leaves a lot of power to them,” he said. “If I ever get to a point where I have an established fanbase, I would move it away from music and to something bigger… like helping the earth.”
