Alvaro Diaz

Álvaro Díaz is a rapper from Puerto Rico whose music offers a unique combination of intricate Spanish-language raps over wildly imaginative beats, drawing influence from vintage hip-hop and global EDM as well as vanguard club music. His debut long-player, 2015′s Hato Rey, was a shout-out to his San Juan neighborhood; its array of musical genres crisscrossed soul and funk with reggaeton, plena, and bomba. 2016′s nine-track San Juan Grand Prix was grittier, harder, and more combative. In 2019, he issued the charting collaborative single “Videos” with Rauw Alejandro. 2020′s star-studded Diaz Antes was preceded by nearly a dozen singles and the five-track EP Diaz Antes: La Ciudad de los Niños Tristes. Among his featured guests were Yandel, Miky Woodz, Cazzu, and Lyanno. 2021′s full-length Felicilandia featured Alejandro, Feid, Tainy, and Sebastián Yatra (who appeared on the breezy hit “Online”).
Díaz first fell in love with hip-hop when he heard Eminem as a kid in the Hato Rey area of San Juan. He’d later gravitate toward Kanye West, then Kid Cudi — influences that separated him from the rest of Puerto Rico’s hip-hop scene. He decided to emphasize these differences by forming LV CIUDVD with a few of his friends, a collective that combined indie music and fashion. Díaz began posting music on SoundCloud, and his first single to gain attention was “Chicas de la Isla” in 2015. He continued to release singles at a steady pace between 2015 and 2016, but a planned full-length 2016 debut prematurely titled Diaz Buenos, Diaz Malos never materialized. Dispirited, he took matters into his own hands, recording and releasing the gritty San Juan Grand Prix EP on his own that year.
Beginning with 2017′s “Polo Ralph” (featuring Yensanjuan), he issued half a dozen singles across the year and into 2018 including the club hits “West Side,” “OK,” and the symphonic “Asiento de Atrás.” In 2019, Díaz upped the ante further. He released the club banger “Videos” with Rauw Alejandro and the track “Uwi” featuring Sousa, he issued the three-track Diaz Antes: Wavy pa las Bbys, and he appeared on Tainy’s electro-cumbia smash “Mera.”
In 2020, Díaz released Diaz Antes: La Ciudad de los Niños Tristes, and followed it with a handful of singles including “Deportivo” and “Lo Que Te Duele,” and appeared as a top-billed collaborator on singles by Eladio Carrión (“Mala”), Caleb Calloway (“GT Sport”), and Yatra (“A Dónde Van”). He closed the year with the streetwise, 17-track Diaz Antes that included Yandel, Fuego, and C. Tangana among its many collaborators. Diaz collaborated on four club hits in early 2021, including Marconi Impara’s “Ouche,” Sousa’s “Exxxtasy,” Llane’s “Presente y Futuro” (also featuring Zion), and Kobi Cantillo’s “Tarantino” with Big Soto. His own pre-release singles included the breezy, soulful “Gatillera,” the sultry “Brillotio,” the spacey “Llori Pari” (featuring Tainy and Feid), and “Problemón” (featuring Alejandro). In October, Diaz issued the 16-track long-player Felicilandia featuring a host of collaborators including Bratty, Yensanjuan, Yatra, and Jesse Baez. ~ Thom Jurek