Macario Martínez, the former CDMX street sweeper, lights up NPR’s celebrated ‘Tiny Desk Concert’

A Mexico City thoroughfare sweeper whose sweet, elemental euphony turned him into a viral sensation 8 months ago reached different plateau past week with an quality connected NPR’s celebrated “Tiny Desk Concert” series.

Macario Martínez was an aspiring 23-year-old instrumentalist erstwhile his euphony video — recorded successful his enactment azygous aft his displacement with Mexico City’s sanitation department — went viral successful February.

Mexico City sanitation idiosyncratic blows up connected TikTok with viral song

Less than 24 hours later, the yearning lyrics and elemental guitar of “Sueña Lindo, Corazón” (“Sweet dreams, sweetheart”) had captivated thousands connected societal media.

“Life demands a lot, and I’m conscionable a thoroughfare sweeper who wants you to perceive his music,” helium posted, drafting empathy nationwide.

Flash guardant to past Friday, erstwhile Martínez followed successful the footsteps of an eye-popping database of large stars who had made “Tiny Desk” appearances implicit the past 17 years — including Sting, Dua Lipa, Alicia Keys, Ed Sheeran, Jackson Browne, Adele, John Legend, Bad Bunny, Dave Matthews and Justin Bieber.

The database besides includes galore Mexican standouts, specified arsenic Carín León and Grupo Frontera successful a brace of caller appearances highlighting determination Mexican music, arsenic good arsenic the soul-stirring Natalie Lafourcade successful 2017 (the 13th most-watched of all-time) and the poetic Silvana Estrada successful 2021.

Like his predecessors, Martínez played successful NPR’s celebrated cramped space, down a enactment table surrounded by shelves cluttered with books, memorabilia and bureau supplies — an improbable venue that’s nevertheless coveted by top-of-the-line musicians.

He appeared during Hispanic Heritage Month successful the U.S., which runs from Sept. 15 done Oct. 15. During that timespan, NPR Music has “rebranded” the bid “El Tiny” and has been celebrating with appearances by Cuban-American superstar Gloria Estefan, Colombian popular prima Carlos Vives, Argentine stone icon Fito Páez and others.

Martínez played with 4 musicians and a distinctive array of accepted instruments — including the “mosquito” jarana jarocha (the smallest mentation of a guitar-shaped instrumentality from Veracruz) and a quijada de burro (a “jawbone of a donkey” that makes a distinctive rattling dependable erstwhile struck).

He debuted songs from his upcoming album, “Si mañana ya nary estoy” (“If I’m Not Here Tomorrow”), owed for merchandise aboriginal this month, with a acceptable database of “Sueña Lindo, Corazón,” “Estrellas,” “Enhierbado” and “Azul.”

“Sueña Lindo, Corazón” was Martínez’s archetypal viral hit, which has mostly been scrubbed from online. In the months since then, an “official” video of the song — which includes lyrics that construe to  “How travel the not-knowing hurts truthful much?” — has been released.

It was recorded successful Veracruz, his location authorities earlier helium moved to the northbound broadside of Mexico City and became a thoroughfare sweeper, a occupation helium has since near to absorption connected euphony afloat time.

Going into the last opus of his set, Martínez spoke astir himself and his bandmates.

“We each travel from beauteous distant places successful Mexico,” helium said successful Spanish. “Each of us, we’ve been done a batch successful our lives. And today, life’s way brought america here. This opus is called ‘Azul’, and agelong unrecorded Mexico.”

Martinez’s 14-minute “Tiny Desk Concert” tin beryllium viewed connected YouTube with English subtitles. As of Monday morning, it was closing successful connected 500,000 views.

With reports from Infobae, N+ and NPR