A Los Angeles kindergarten teacher is proving you can shape young minds by day and shape the sound of hip-hop by night.
Alex Ochoa, who produces music under the name Otxoa, has gone viral after revealing he produced four tracks on TiaCorine’s new album Corinian while still working as a teacher.
Ocho shared a TikTok on Friday, casually vibing to TiaCorine’s song “Booty," which he produced, in a classroom. The setting and caption caught viewers' attention as he wrote, “TFW u produced 4 songs on the new TiaCorine album but you still gotta teach kindergarten lol.”
The clip blew up online, and Ochoa later reacted on Twitter, writing, “Haha yessir! That’s me! Teachin the kids and making bangers! I’d still be teaching even if I did get a big bag from making beats! Thank y’all for the love! Keep streaming Corinian!”
On Instagram, Ochoa celebrated the album release, revealing the four tracks he produced: “Booty," “LA LA LA," “Damn Right” featuring Pouya and “Impossible Girl.” He also engineered multiple tracks on the project.
“CORINIAN OUT NOW!!! So grateful to have been able to produce 4 songs and engineer 11! Shout out @tiacorine for not only being an incredible artist but a truly incredible friend!” he wrote.
TiaCorine dropped into the comments to show love, saying, “Love you so much literal best friend fr [...] You really all over this album.”
In another tweet, Ochoa answered a listener's question about how he got on. In the process, he revealed the origin of his relationship with TiaCorine.
“Consistency, speaking up about what I do, hella research into finding new artists, and being professional," he said. "I met Tia cause I DM’d her waaay back in the day and spammed her with beat packs. Just keep going g,” he wrote.
According to music data platform Songstats, Ochoa has collaborated with other artists including Doja Cat, Casey Veggies, Theophilus London, MoneyMarr, Kill Nigel, and Holland Izz. He was raised on pop punk bands like Finch, Fall Out Boy, and The Starting Line, and eventually merged those influences with experimental hip-hop and electronic production.
He formed a band in high school with his childhood friend, performing alongside acts such as Metro Station and 3OH!3, before transitioning to full-time songwriting and production.
If you're curious about Ochoa's other output, he helpfully put together a 3.5 hour "Produced by Otxoa" playlist on Spotify, which you can listen to here.