El Alfa Is Celebrating Sagittarius Season By Showing the World He’s Dembow’s Fiercest Leader
The Dominican Republic's unstoppable force showcases the best of dembow on his new album, 'Sagitario'
Courtesy of El Jefe Records
Popular on Rolling Stone
El Alfa never stops. Throughout his 15-year career, the Dominican pioneer has worked relentlessly to bring dembow to the world — and it’s worked. The genre has gone massively global with him at the center, respected among his peers and the whole of the Latin music industry as dembow’s fierce leader.
Over the last year, he’s brought new innovations to his sound, particularly on this spring’s Sabiduria, a bold, wide-ranging album that included guaracha influences, experiments with Mexican traditions, and collaborations with American rappers like French Montana and Lil Pump. As mind-bending the productions were, El Alfa also wanted to remind people that the dembow throne is his. “I wanted people to see my versatility, but at the end of the day, I know fans are also looking for the essence I’m known for. So, on Sagitario, I did everything that represents me — all the sounds of dembow and my biggest hits,” he says on a call from the Dominican Republic.
He cranked out the album in three months, keeping it a secret from his fans and dropping it on the first day of Sagittarius season with 18 songs, to represent his birthday on Dec. 18. “This album is called Sagitario because I was reading all the things that represent the Sagittarius sign: people who don’t give up, people who command a room and let people know they’ve arrived,” he says. The album celebrates just how far he — and the genre — have come. “I feel incredibly happy about the global power of dembow right now. No one can imagine what I’ve had to go through to get where we are today, what we’ve had to go through,” he says. “But I think my career shows that humility and wisdom go a long way.”
Before signing off to enjoy a well-deserved vacation with his family, El Alfa broke down five of the most essential tracks on the album.
“Suenala”
I loved this one instantly — the instrumentals and the ideas in the lyrics. Also, Principe Baru, the artist I recorded with, is someone that’s been representing the culture for years now and has a lot of respect in the dembow community. I wanted to combine his essence with mine. We know each other from like eight years back.
When I asked him to be on the song, he was happy and he wasn’t expecting it, but I took that initiative because it was right for the song. He’s an artist that had been working hard but hasn’t always gotten the credit he deserves. I always liked his art and his style; he bursts onto the song shouting and being boisterous, which is his way, so I wanted the best of him and the best of me on it.
“Los Aparatos”
This is a song that has 71 million views on YouTube so far, and this is given the fact that I’m independent and I don’t have a label contract. All the platforms that understand independent artists value things like that, because this is when you see talent, not label backing or pressure. I did this song with Noriel, who I’m comfortable working with, and we have a big hit that we made together. When I started “Los Aparatos,” I had the idea and the concept. When I went to the studio, I went with Noriel because he always brings good vibes, and it just came together.
But I kept thinking, “Someone is missing here. It’s not just anyone — the person who’s missing is someone who has never sang dembow, who has an interesting fanbase, who the public isn’t expecting.” And then Trueno came to mind. That’s what I try to give fans: Something they weren’t expecting that they’ve never heard before, but without moving too far from the rhythmic patterns of dembow that have defined me. No one thought Almighty would be on Sagitario either, but there are artists fans want to hear on dembow.
“La Mama de la Mama”
You could say this is one of the biggest songs in my catalogue so far. It was a single first, from 2021, and then I decided I wanted to put the best of my dembow hits onto Sagitario, and it made sense to add this one. You end up listening to the whole album, like when Bad Bunny put “Callaita” from three years ago on his last record.
The song came together a few years ago in Miami when I was hanging out in Pitbull’s studio. El Cherry Scom is one of the most observant, instinctual artists, and he says a lot of things that come to him out of nowhere that are hits. I get along with him really great, so I wanted to add him to the song. I try to come at things with a lot of discipline, and there are so many artists in the Dominican Republic with a lot of talent who just need that push and that business savvy. I also get along great with Braulio Fogon; there’s another one called Kaly Ocho. I believe in giving young guys a shot — I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I feel grateful for the path I’ve had. I can work with new talent and give them advice.
“Selfies Con Tres Milliones”
This is a totally different rhythm from everything that’s on the album — the beat kicks in and you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s very unusual, and I recorded it with one of the biggest artists in the Dominican Republic. His name is Angel Dior. He’s new, he started getting big like two months ago.
Nearly every track is something I make with Chael, my producer, and we work together. If we do get tracks from someone else, we add touches and do a lot to make them our own. I’d say that 90 percent of what’s on the album is something we did entirely ourselves and recorded in the Dominican Republic.
“Pila de Mueck”
There are so many dances that are popular in the Dominican Republic right now with muecas [“gestures”], so I was playing with that and shortened it to mueck. I love this one a lot and it features two new talents in DR who are totally new — no one knows them. I wanted to show that this is me betting on the future and showing that the only way to grow is to give new talent an opportunity.
Leave a Comment
© 2024 PMC. All rights reserved.