Álvaro Díaz ’s creative vision has felt almost prophetic the last couple of years. In 2021, he released Felicilandia , an album that twisted reggaeton into all kinds of left-leaning directions, playing with pop-punk energy, Eighties synths, and rock guitars. Then, this April, he dropped SAYONARA , a continuation of Felicilandia that pushed even deeper into off-kilter, futuristic beats and styles.
All along, he’s been able to find sounds that have propelled the genre forward and introduced listeners to a new alternative lane in reggaeton. Díaz got his start as a rapper in Puerto Rico’s underground. He’s stretched his influence over the music scene by writing tracks for artists like Daddy Yankee, Karol G, and his close friend Rauw Alejandro .
But SAYONARA has been a breakthrough moment, spinning off hits like “BYAK” with Alejandro, which got nominated for a Latin Grammy last month, and resulting in a massive, sold-out world tour. That tour brought Diaz to New York last week, where he played a packed show at the Palladium Times Square for thousands of fans and even brought out Alejandro as a surprise. Before hitting the stage, Díaz caught up with Rolling Stone and share what a wild ride the last few months have been.
Seeing the success of SAYONARA has been huge for Díaz, who spent years preparing the album. “I’d been saying SAYONARA is coming for a long time,” he shares. “It was so hard to get out and I was so nervous but I’m so grateful people co.
