A collaboration with two hip-hop legends, international recognition, the “most ambitious album of his career” and the signing of a contract with a multinational were some of the things that marked the “hurricane” that Mexican rapper Alemán is currently experiencing.
“In my personal relationships, in music, I was going through a hurricane in my life, I was about to sign with Sony, but it was exasperating to be locked up, I didn’t know if there would be concerts again and everything was uncertain,” says the rapper in an interview with Efe.
” Huracán ” is the name of his most recent album, composed of 21 songs that show the creative universe of the 31-year-old musician born in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, and who has earned his place as one of the most popular rappers. renown in the country.
The material was almost finished at the beginning of the year but the perfectionism of Erick Raúl Alemán, his real name, led him to “save” it for a while, fine-tuning every detail and waiting for the right moment for people to enjoy it properly.
“I was putting off the album because of the pandemic, I didn’t want it to come out with that feeling like everyone was suffering and that’s why I put it off,” says the author of “Rucón”.
Later, he wondered if 21 songs were too much, if it was convenient to release only 12 or 15, but he felt that his audience deserved it, since three years had passed since he published ” Eclipse “, another album with the same number of songs as it was also an internal journey.
“I already told my company (friends) and representative, after I delivered ‘Huracán’, they won’t call me again for two or three years to make an album like this,” he says.
CLASSIC RAP, TRIPHOP, AND GERMAN
Alemán spends all his time in the studio, “when I don’t go it’s because I have an interview, a meeting or I’m in shows,” he mentions.
“In the study I fly, with your imagination you can reach the sky, another planet, you fly,” he describes.
His inspiration comes from listening to rhythms and “beats” that lead him to think more clearly about each of his speeches.
“When I was more morro (young) I had everything to say and had not said anything to songs without a track and even with my eyes closed, now I need the rhythms,” confesses the rapper, who writes all his songs on his cell phone, after bad experiences losing notebooks.
“Huracán” takes a trip through the most classic rap, which is promoted by figures like Cypress Hill or Snoop Dogg, with whom he collaborated; in addition to trap, trip-hop, and the unique style that Alemán has infused into his rhymes that were born from what he calls “pure rap from Baja Sur.”
However, one of the components that were essential to carry out the sound that he presents today was a “sound box” that rapper Phil King Fu gave him.
“He was always characterized by being jealous with his jale (work), he never distributed his beats and always had the best sound,” he confesses.
King Fu contacted him to give him “beats” that he had kept since 2006 and from their songs such as “Relojito” emerged, where he criticizes the Mexican government and the current situation, and “Envy and betrayal.”
“The concept of ‘Huracán’ is that it is just a musical hurricane,” explains the rapper who also collaborated with Rels B and Santa Fe Klan, Adán Cruz, and Junior H, among other artists.
LOLITA AYALA
The project is still unfinished, some videos and capsules that the rapper prepared are missing, but without a doubt, the least expected collaboration for Alemán was that of the veteran journalist Lolita Ayala.
“He approached us two weeks before we already had an album deadline, with Times Square booked in New York, but we were missing a journalist for the project,” he says.
Ayala, a legend in the Mexican media, wanted a collaboration with the rappers of the Homegrown Mafia label for his clothing brand and Alemán wanted a journalist to announce a fictitious story on the album.
It was about the arrival of a category five hurricane in Baja California Sur, a story that unfolds throughout the album.
“I couldn’t believe it, I met her, we took some photos and recorded some capsules,” he says.
Finally, Alemán cannot wait to start his tour where he will show “Huracán”, which begins next year in Spain with five dates, then he will visit Mexico City and the 31 states of the country in the first semester and then he plans to arrive for the first time. time to the United States.