Rauw Alejandro

The Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and dancer Rauw Alejandro has found his strength in vulnerability. Whereas earlier reggaetóneros had built their reps on braggadocio (with amorous conquests as the ultimate status symbol), Alejandro has flipped the script, bringing out narcotic, enraptured love songs that have topped the charts and pulled in a broad range of fans. Alejandro was born Raúl Alejandro Ocasio Ruiz in 1993 in San Juan. He grew up in both the mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico, and his first love wasn’t music: it was football. But an injury in his teens put his dreams of a professional career out of reach. Alejandro turned to music—his second love—as a kind of therapy, finding an outlet for his frustration as he learned to sing and write songs. While he honed his musical skills, his innate physicality drew him to clubs, where he made friends and made a name for himself as an inventive and (unsurprisingly) athletic dancer. That gave him an inbuilt network when he dropped his 2016 debut, Punto de Equilibrio, which showcased both his deliciously lovelorn tenor and his penchant for eclectic, future-forward production. He didn’t rest on that album, following it up with a bevy of savvy collaborations with artists as varied as Wisin & Yandel, Ozuna and Camilo. His ensuing full-length, 2019’s Trap Cake, Vol. 1, drew trap in an ambient and emotional—and profoundly pleasing—direction that was almost more in line with cloud rap. Whether it’s the addictive “Enchule” or the languid “En Tu Cuerpo”, Alejandro has become an indispensable voice of seduction in modern urbano.