A.CHAL 392

Alejandro Salazar, known as A.CHAL (short for Alejandro Chal), is a Peruvian singer-songwriter and producer. His sound is described as falling somewhere “in the negative space between hip hop, R&B, chillwave, and pop music.”

A.CHAL was born in Peru, then later moved with his family to New York when he was 4 years old. In 2010, he relocated to Los Angeles and started making music, but he started rapping when he was just 12 years old. His lyrics speak about struggles, dreams and relationships, and sometimes jump from English to Spanish.

A.CHAL’s debut EP Ballroom Riots was released in 2013. However, he distances himself from this project, saying he doesn’t consider it his first “because it was something I made that was mainly production. I did not yet immerse myself as a vocalist. I was too shy at the time.”

Two years later, he deleted his songs from SoundCloud, re-invented himself through spiritual concepts, and dropped “Round Whippin,” which premiered on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 Radio show. The song was the first of a series of singles from his full-length debut, Welcome to GAZI, released June 3, 2016.

In 2017, “To The Light” and “Matrix” dropped in anticipation for A.CHAL’s sophomore album ON GAZ. The record features a “Round Whippin” remix with French Montana.

Almost a year later, A.CHAL signed a record deal with Epic Records. He made waves in the music scene following a 2 Chainz and Nicky Jam feature on a “Love N Hennessy” remix, which he said opened up new opportunities for him. In between dropping several features with other artists—like Netsky, Fuego and Darell—A.CHAL dropped the EXOTIGAZ EP in 2018.

In a December 2018 interview with Billboard, A.CHAL had a message to share with his fans hungry for new music:

I just want them to know that there are no breaks from here on out. I have an album coming […]. You can expect one of the best albums of all-time next from me. I am deadass. [Laughs] I am not even fucking around.