Toro Y Moi

Born in Columbia, South Carolina under the name Chaz Bear, Toro y Moi rose to prominence in the late 2000s in the wake of chillwave, while quickly expanding his terrain to synthpop, R&B, funk, indie rock, house and more psychedelic or ambient forms. Based later in the Oakland area, he develops a moving solo project, marked from Causers of This (2010) by intimate writing and foggy electronic textures, then by a constant taste for stylistic movement on Underneath the Pine (2011), Anything in Return (2013), What For? (2015), Boo Boo (2017), Outer Peace (2019), Mahal (2022) and Hole Erth (2024). Toro y Moi alternates oblique pop songs, loose grooves, danceable productions and more contemplative passages, with an approach that blends hushed melodies, supple rhythms and references to 1980s music, hip-hop and the electronic scene. Over the years, Chaz Bear has also multiplied parallel formats, between the dance project Les Sins, the ambient alias PLUM and the jazz-pop collaboration Star Stuff with The Mattson 2 in 2017. Exchanges with Washed Out, Tyler, the Creator, Flume, Blood Orange or Channel Tres punctuate this journey without freezing its aesthetics, Toro y Moi remaining associated with an American indie scene where studio pop dialogues constantly with beatmaking, club culture and songwriting.