Following in the footsteps of his older brother Moises, singer, rapper, and actor Mateo Arias entered the entertainment industry as a teen actor and went on to land an important role in the Disney series Kickin' It. After the series was over, he adopted the nickname ¿Téo? and switched his focus to music, developing a sound that reflected his multicultural upbringing, singing both in English and Spanish and blending strands of hip-hop, Latin pop, alt rock, and even bossa nova, into a style dubbed "Neo American".