Alejandro Salazar, on the music charts as A.CHAL, is topping lists of music videos and singles gone viral, all the while producing hits for other artists. He received this year’s Artist Discovery Award, at the Latin Alternative Music Conference, and quickly followed that up with a tour for his new mixtape, ON GAZ. The North American portion of his travels bring him to Chicago on Thursday, August 31. Did we mention we have tickets to the show and a chance to meet A.CHAL? Obvio…
A.CHAL currently resides on the West Coast but grew up in New York. During the last radio broadcast of The Ponderers show on 105.5FM Lumpen Radio, we heard “Love N Hennessy.” Our guests were digging the sexy beat, which I say will appeal to those who like global bass, trap, reggaeton rebajado and electropi-pop. At some point during the track we discussed that A.CHAL was born in Peru, leaving the country when he was a preschooler, and how he eventually ended producing tracks for other artists into now creating his own hit singles.
For your chance to win a pair of tickets, and a chance to meet A.CHAL at Reggie’s Rock Club, leave a comment on our Gozamos Facebook Page telling us, or sharing a video, of your favorite A.CHAL song.
He’s into all styles of sound and doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed into one genre, so, up until now each mixtape offers a unique musical reflection. In 2015, Pigeons and Planes lauded “Round Whippin,” one of the first singles off Welcome to GAZI. “There are sweet spots between hip-hop and R&B, between feel-good party jams and sedated chill-out music, and between accessible and interesting.” (Read their full review here.)
This new bilingual mixtape, On GAZ, features 12 tracks and includes appearances from GAZI GHOST, French Montana and A$AP Nast. He mentions it’s inspired by his time in Malibu. You can stream his current single, “Love N Hennessy,” on Spotify:
There is an interesting duality reflected in the artist’s presentation of music and his explanation of what that music means to him. While honesty and modesty bear forth in conversations, glamour and glitz shine bright in the music’s lyrics.
Decide for yourself and if you’re diggin’ what A.CHAL is bringing to the masses, you can check him out live at his performance at Reggie’s Rock Club on Thursday, August 31. Find tickets here: http://www.reggieslive.com/show/a-chal/ This is an early (6:30 Doors), all-ages show.
