In the unpredictable world of music, many artists experience the highs of fleeting success and the lows of rejection — but few come back stronger with a renewed purpose. One young Arizona musician, Alex Montano, is doing just that. His story is one of grit, growth, and the kind of passion that can reignite a career from the ashes.
His latest single, “How It Could’ve Gone” — featuring platinum-certified rapper Kap G and Grammy-nominated lyricist Oswin Benjamin — dropped on Saturday, May 17, 2025, and marks a defining moment in his musical journey.
The song was born out of a period of deep reflection. “What inspired me to write this song was actually reflecting on the rock bottom of being an artist,” Montano shares. After generating buzz with several tracks alongside Swift McVay (a member of the multi-platinum group D12), the young artist began reaching out to major labels — hoping that his momentum would lead to a breakthrough.
Some labels expressed interest. Both Deutsche Grammophon, a Universal Music Group label, and the A&R department at Naxos asked to hear more. But when Montano submitted what he hoped would be his next big track, the responses were underwhelming. “They weren’t satisfied with the final product,” he recalls. “After that, I quit.”
He finished his senior year of high school, unsure if music still had a place in his future.
Then came a turning point in December 2024, when Montano teamed up with up-and-coming audio engineer Jaden White. The two began working together in the studio every week, but for Montano, it wasn’t easy to step back into the vocal booth. “I wondered if I still had it. If I still had my passion for writing,” he admits.
That passion returned when he rediscovered an old, unfinished beat from high school — one labeled simply #356. “I listened to it over and over… the bells, the piano, the strings. I started to feel it again,” Montano says. He decided to remake the track and pour everything he’d experienced into the lyrics — the grind, the fall, and the fire to come back.
The resulting single, “How It Could’ve Gone”, is more than a song — it’s a statement. It captures the pain of rejection, the resilience it takes to keep going, and the beauty of rediscovering your own voice. Musically, Montano has evolved, incorporating his love for orchestral arrangements into his hip-hop foundation. The collaboration with Oswin Benjamin came naturally, and Kap G’s addition elevated the project even further.
Now, with renewed energy and a vision for the future, Alex Montano plans to re-release his earlier songs with Swift McVay, infusing them with fresh meaning and purpose.
And the industry is taking notice again.
Thanks to the buzz around “How It Could’ve Gone,” Montano will be performing live with Billboard-charting artist Mark Battles on July 30th, a major milestone in a comeback story that’s just getting started.
You can follow Alex Montano’s journey and hear his music at:
🎧 https://open.spotify.com/artist/2VdkhMap102m8OqtoRHEzx?si=aLyaSIICQWajnKA6lPGFWA
From high school beats to high-profile collaborations, Montano’s path hasn’t been easy — but it’s real. And now, he’s proving exactly how it could’ve gone… and how it’s still going.
