Emanuel Herrera Batista (born 18 December 1990), known by his stage name El Alfa or El Alfa El Jefe, is a Dominican rapper, known as the King of Dembow.[2][3] Batista was born in Bajos de Haina, San Cristobal. He is known for his initial afro hairstyle which led him to popularity in the early 2010s through songs like "Tarzan", "Coche Bomba" and "Muevete Jevi". He went on to form relationships with many artists from Puerto Rico, such as Bad Bunny, Nicky Jam, Farruko, and Myke Towers among others. This resulted in one of the biggest collaborations in dembow history, led by El Alfa, when he released "Suave (Remix)" in December 2018 alongside Chencho Corleone, Bryant Myers, Miky Woodz, Jon Z and Noriel.
With more than 21,000,000 monthly listeners to his music on Spotify and ranked #261 in the world,[5] El Alfa is considered the leader of the Dominican dembow genre.[6]
Batista became independent from his family at the age of 17. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a barber.[7] His musical career began in 2008, when he formed a duo with Eddy Wilson, another Dominican dembow artist. In their short stint together, they released street-style dembow songs such as "El Fogon"[8] and "Conmigo No".[9] The duo broke up in 2009 and continued their careers as solo artists.[10]
Batista's first release as a solo artist was "Coche Bomba"[11] in 2009. He followed with "Coco Mordan" in 2010. In 2011, he found relative success with two songs, "No Wiri Wiri" and "Agarrate Que Te Solté". In 2012 he released "Cacao", "Con To' Lo' Cascabeles", and "Muevete Jevi". In 2013, he released his first full-length album, Dembow Exitos. The album also featured production and contributions from Nico Clinico, Bubloy, El Kable, and fellow Dominican artist Chimbala.[citation needed]
El Alfa's popularity continued to rise when he released "Fuin Fuan" in April 2013, continuing his style of high-paced dembow with DJ Patio's productions. That year, he performed "Humo Excúsame (Remix)" with Musicologo the Libro and "Tú Me Gusta Pila" with Farruko. The latter collaboration would be an important one for years to come in the career of El Alfa El Jefe.[citation needed]
2014–2016: Regional growth, national controversy, and Dembow Exitos 2.0
The success of his music in the early 2010s launched him into regional stardom, and he began to record with Jowell & Randy, Nicky Jam, Tempo, and Arcángel from Puerto Rico's Reggaeton industry. In 2014, El Alfa released his biggest track to date, "Tarzan," which describes his sexual relations with a woman who 'screams like Tarzan'. "Tarzan" formed part of Dembow Exitos 2.0, El Alfa's second album. Once again, Bubloy produced the album alongside DJ Plano.[12]
In 2015, after receiving criticism for insulting the founding fathers of the Dominican Republic in a music video, El Alfa was sentenced to 15 days of community service. The President of El Instituto Duartino, Cesar Romero called for the boycott and destruction of El Alfa's albums for having disrespected the founding fathers. Part of El Alfa's sentencing was to clean the Plaza de la Bandera, and to sing the national anthem for two hours for 15 consecutive days. Additionally, El Alfa was ordered to hand out educational pamphlets about the founding fathers at traffic lights in Santo Domingo.[13] He considered the situation a misunderstanding.[14]
During this period he collaborated with a number of Dominican artists: Don Miguelo, Shelow Shaq, Quimico Ultra Mega, El Mega, Nfasis, and El Super Nuevo. The biggest success of that year would be "Pal de Velitas" with Mark B, a song produced by Chael Produciendo that surpassed 20 million views on YouTube.[15]
Chael produced two songs for El Alfa in 2016, "No Hay Forma" and "Segueta (Remix)" ft. Nicky Jam. Alongside him, El Alfa began to excel in a sub-genre of Dembow called "TrapBow", which is a mix between American trap and Dembow.[16] He went on to record "Nadie Como Tú" with Nicky Jam and "Una Papi Que La Mima" with Tempo and Farruko before the end of the year. El Alfa toured Europe[17] for the first time in 2016 after a promising 2015 in the United States.[18]
In November 2018, El Alfa released "Mi Mami" featuring Cardi B.[22]
In April 2021, El Alfa released "La Mamá De La Mamá" featuring CJ, El Cherry Scom[23] & Chael Produciendo,[24] under his own record label "El Jefe Record" and published by Solo E Group, RM Music Publishing and Warner Chappell under BMI Broadcast Music.[25] In May 2021 "La Mamá De La Mamá" debuted in the Global Top 200 on the Billboard.[26] In July 2021, El Alfa released "La Mamá De La Mamá (Remix)" featuring Busta Rhymes, Anitta (singer), CJ (rapper), Wisin & El Cherry Scom.[27][28]
In August 2021, El Alfa announced his first-ever world tour, beginning in the U.S. in the fall of 2021.[29]
His fifth studio album, Sagitario, was released in 2022.[30]La Leyenda del Dembow World Tour was his first arena tour in the United States, from October 2023 through December 2023.[31][32]
Awards and nominations
In 2022, El Alfa received two nominations for Premio Lo Nuestro: Male Revelation Artist and Best Tropical Song Of The Year.[33][34][35]
"Viajo Sin Ver" (Remix)[82] (Jon Z featuring De La Ghetto, Almighty, Miky Woodz, El Alfa, Noriel, Ele A el Dominio, Lyan, Juanka El Problematik, Pusho and Jeycyn)
↑ Ramírez, Dixa. Colonial Phantoms : Belonging and Refusal in the Dominican Americas, From the 19th Century to the Present. NYU Press, 2018. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1612028&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
↑ Nacimientodiciembre 18, Información personalNombre CompletoEmanuel Herrera Batista; Alfa, 1990Edad30 añosOcupación Rapero y compositor Apodo/PseudónimoEl; Dembow, El Alfa El Jefe NacionalidadDominicanoGéneros; Urbano; reggaeton; trap (17 July 2020). "El Alfa". Historia y biografía de (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
↑ Clay, Steve (24 February 2022). "List of winners of the Premio Lo Nuestro 2022". Good Word News. No.Digital. Good Word News. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
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