The Latin Grammy-nominated Puerto Rican MC Álvaro Díaz wasn’t always a rapper; he was a rocker too. Or, an aspiring one.
“[My interest in music] really started when I was 12 and in school, the first band I fell in love with was Blink-182,” Díaz told “The De Los Podcast” hosts Fidel Martinez and Suzy Exposito. “The first posters and CDs I had in my house… all Blink-182.”
In the latest episode of “The De Los Podcast,” Díaz dove into his early career and inside the making of his latest album, the culinary-inspired “Omakase,” which went No. 1 in 16 Latin countries.
The San Juan native happened upon his first musical opportunity as a teen, when he overheard that a student band in his high school was looking for a bass player.
“I said, ‘I think I have a bass at home,’ but I was lying… I didn’t know nothing,” Díaz said. “I showed up after Christmas with the bass and said, ‘Look what I found!’”
Although his rock career was cut short — he didn’t have the chops to play metal songs on bass — it flipped a switch for a young Díaz.
“It was the first time I thought, I want to learn how to make music,” Díaz said. “A couple of years later, I realized writing was the thing I was good at.”
Since then, Díaz’s musical career has been full of happy accidents, which have yielded an urbano-alternative fusion all his own. Iconic reggaeton producer Tainy, who worked on Díaz’s first-ever song, “Chicas de la Isla,” returned to assist with “Omakase.”
Díaz came up with the title after visiting his cousin Chef Tino’s restaurant in Isabela, Puerto Rico, where he observed his cousin create a similarly bespoke experience in his kitchen.
“You know what’s more personal than the plate and the result? The process, for me,” Díaz said. “I thought, it would be amazing if I could divide this project by the process of the kitchen.”
After losing both his grandmother and his close friend Oscar Botello, the late producer better known as Milkman, Díaz infuses the album with sentimental tributes. Before his passing, Botello sent Díaz the beat that would eventually become the album’s first single, “Pienso En Ti.”
“He was a big brother to me,” Díaz said. “It’s not a day that will pass by that I don’t think about him and what he would do in creative things.”
Díaz also partnered with newer collaborators Latin Mafia, taking the Mexican alternative trio to Mexico City restaurant Voraz to share his album. “I showed them ‘Malasnoticias’ and they said, ‘OK — turn the mic on,’” Díaz said.
“[Emilio] and Milton grabbed the mic, Mike was on the computer doing new drums, programming,” he recounted. “It was fun to create with them, not just because they’re my friends, but we did it in a restaurant. It’s a story I know we’ll be talking about in 10, 15 years.”
Díaz is currently on tour in Latin America, but will continue to the United States in the fall, with a Nov. 5 show at the Wiltern in Los Angeles.
