Mexican-American singer and songwriter, Omar Apollo Dishes out a new project called "Ivory" Album. Omar Apollo seems all but destined for global stardom—a stylish, self-assured heartthrob with a soul-stirring voice and clear artistic vision. But his music is far from the standard, nondescript pop fare; it’s acutely personal and specific, a love letter to his Mexican American heritage and small-town roots. Growing up in Hobart, Indiana, as the child of Mexican immigrants (his parents came to the US from Guadalajara), Apollo took ballet folklórico classes, sang in Spanish mass at church, and listened to folk songs by Mexican musicians like Vicente Fernández and Juan Gabriel. (The latter’s influence can be heard on tracks like “En El Olvido,” which Apollo wrote after watching videos of Gabriel’s performances.) The album’s striking cover art—an aesthetic he developed with Alberto Bustamante, a queer architect and DJ based in Mexico City, where Apollo fine-tuned many of these songs—is a tribute to telenovela actors from the 1950s.