Alexis Vélez Alberio, also known as Alex Zurdo, is a Puerto Rican

Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. He has almost a dozen musical productions, and has been awarded the

GMA Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee exce ...

and Arpa Awards, having also been nominated for a

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

, and a Tu Música Urbano award. He has been the main artist in various concerts and events around Latin America, sharing stages with

Funky Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mi ...

Vico C Luis Armando Lozada Cruz (born September 8, 1971), known by his stage name Vico C, is an Puerto Rican rapper, singer and record producer. Regarded as the founding father of reggaeton, Vico C has played an influential role in the development of ...

Marcos Witt Jonathan Mark Witt Holder (born May 19, 1962), better known as simply Marcos Witt, is an American Christian singer and pastor. Witt is considered one of the most influential and famous Spanish speaking figures of Christian music. Biography Witt ...

, Christine D'Clario,

Tercer Cielo Tercer Cielo (in English ''Third Heaven'') is a contemporary Christian Latin pop music duo formed in 2000 by Dominicans Juan Carlos Rodriguez and Marcos Yaroide. The duo is currently composed of Rodriguez and his Mexican-American wife, Evelyn H ...

Danilo Montero Luis Danilo Montero (born 1 November 1962) is a Costa Rican contemporary Christian music singer, author, and pastor, who is pastor of Lakewood Church's Spanish-speaking congregation. Biography Born on 1 November 1962, in San Jose, Costa Rica, ...

, Marcos Vidal, and collaborated with artists such as

Olga Tañón Olga Teresa Tañón OrtizIn this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is ''Tañón'' and the second or maternal family name is ''Ortiz''. (born April 13, 1967) is a Puerto Rican singer. Over the course of her career, she has earned two G ...

, Gabriel Rodríguez EMC, among others.

Musical career

Alex Zurdo was born on June 10, 1983, in

Trujillo Alto Trujillo Alto () is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico. Located on the northeastern coastal plain on the boundary between the Northern Karst Belt and Sierra de Luquillo, it is north of Caguas and Gurabo, southeast of San Juan, and west of ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. At the age of 11 he wrote his first rap songs. At 13, he had his first piano and learned to play it himself. In the following years he participated in several non-Christian rap and reggaeton productions as "''Zurdo''", in duet with Rey Blasto, Zurdo did also a duet with Blasto in 2003 in the album ''Rolexx: La Hora De La Venganza''. In the next year at the age of 21, he began his musical ministry, including ministrations, conferences and seminars and launched his first production of Christian music, entitled ''Nada es mío'', distributed by

Universal Music Latino Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in producing and distributing Latin music in Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico. UMLE includes famous Latin music labels such as Uni ...

. After his first album, Zurdo released from 2005 to 2009, one album per year. Albums such as ''Con propósito'', ''Se trata de ti'' (with Jonny L), ''De Gloria en Gloria - La Trayectoria'', ''Una y mil razones'' and ''Así son las cosas.'' His seventh production titled ''Mañana Es Hoy'' ("Tomorrow is today") took three years. The musical production was in charge of the producer duo Marcos Ramírez and Víctor Torres ( Los Tranz4Merz), Effect-O, DJ Cróniko and Zurdo himself. It was promoted with the single "¿Dónde estás?" ("Where are you?"), which talks about the importance of fatherhood. Since 2012, their productions have been released every two years, and nominations and recognitions for various ceremonies such as the Arpa Awards and AMCL began. This album is Zurdo's first to make it onto the ''Billboard'' charts, debuting at number 9 on

Latin Rhythm Albums Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of ...

, remaining in the top 15 for over 20 weeks. For this record production, Zurdo won three AMCL Awards in 2012, in the categories ''Urban album of the year'', ''Urban song of the year'' for "Mañana es hoy" and ''Musical intervention of the year'' for "Si no hay amor" ("If there is no love") with Vanessa Vissepó. ''De la A a la Z'' ("From A to Z") was launched in 2014 and featured the participation of Redimi2, Christine D'Clario, Nancy Amancio and

Samuel Hernández Samuel Hernández is a Puerto Rican Christian music singer. He also has had songs crossover and become mainstream secular hits. His 2003 album ''Jesús siempre llega a tiempo'' was one of the first big-selling Puerto Rican Christian albums. He per ...

. The album debuted at number 4 on ''Billboard'''s

chart. This album won an AMCL Award in 2014 in the category ''Urban Album of the Year'' and ''Urban Song of the Year'' for "No soy yo" with Redimi2, and was also nominated at the 2015 Arpa Awards for "Best Urban Album". On the "From A to Z" tour, Zurdo's first live album was recorded, which was titled AZ Live and was released in 2016. The concert that was used for the recording of the album was that of its presentation in his native country, specifically at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot. The album was nominated at the 2017 Arpa Awards in the categories "Best Live Album" and "Best Urban Album". In 2018, he released his album '' ¿Quién contra nosotros?'' (Who Against Us? in English), also, it obtained at the

Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee excep ...

the recognition of "Song of the Year in Spanish" for the single "Sin ti", while in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, being nominated as ''Best Christian Album'' ''in Spanish'' at the

Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music, Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish language, S ...

and Arpa Awards, being the winner in these last two ceremonies as "Best Christian Album in Spanish", and "Best Urban Album", respectively. Then he launched ''M.E.M.E.'' in 2020, (acronym for "Menos Ego, Más Enfoque", "Less Ego, More Focus" in English), where the single "Toca la guitarra, Viejo" ("Play the guitar, dad") dedicated to his father, was approached by various media due to the theme touched,

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. In February 2021, he released ''UNO'', an album collaborating with

and Redimi2. In March 2021, he participated in "Al Taller del Maestro", a benefit streaming concert performed by Alex Campos, where Evan Craft was also present. In 2022, he released his first EP titled DTOX. In the third edition of the Tu Música Urbano Awards, he was recognized as Top Christian Artist, in addition to being nominated in the Urban Christian Song category again. In 2023, he collaborated with Gocho on his return to music for the single "Hablaré". He again received nominations at the Tu Música Urbano Awards. He participated in the remix of "Danzando (Versión Urbana)" with Travy Joe, Harold Velázquez and the Venezuelan band Montesanto.

Personal life

On April 8, 2008, he married Denisse Contreras, sister of singer Daliza Contreras, wife of Dominican rapper Willy González, known as Redimi2. In 2011, his first child was born. In 2014, Zurdo became a father for the second time.

Discography

* 2004: ''Nada es mío'' * 2005: ''Con propósito'' * 2006: ''Se trata de ti'' (with Jonny L) * 2007: ''De Gloria en Gloria - La Trayectoria'' * 2008: ''Una y mil razones'' * 2009: ''Así son las cosas'' * 2012: ''Mañana es hoy'' * 2014: ''De la A a la Z'' * 2016: ''AZ Live'' * 2018: '' ¿Quién contra nosotros?'' * 2020: ''M.E.M.E.'' * 2021: ''UNO'' (with

and Redimi2) * 2022: ''DTOX'' * 2023: ''CONXION'' * 2024:Dual (With Gabriel Rodriguez EMC) * 2025 UNO Live(with

and Redimi2)

Awards and nominations

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...
s

, - ,

, , '' ¿Quién contra nosotros?'' , , Best Christian Album , ,

Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee excep ...

, - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , ''Sin Ti'' , , Spanish Language Recorded Song of the Year , , , - , rowspan="2" ,

, , '' ¿Quién contra nosotros?'' , , Spanish Language Album of the Year , , , - , ''Mi GPS'' , , Spanish Language Recorded Song of the Year , , , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , ''UNO'' (with

& Redimi2) , , Spanish Language Album of the Year , ,

Arpa Awards

, - , 2015 , , ''De la A a la Z'' , , Best Urban Album , , , - , rowspan="2" , 2017 , , rowspan="2" , ''AZ Live'' , , Best Urban Album , , , - , Best Live Album , , , - , 2019 , , '' ¿Quién contra nosotros?'' , , Best Urban Album , , , - , 2021 , , ''UNO'' (with

& Redimi2) , , Best Urban Album or Track , , , - , 2023 , , ''"Guarda Tu Corazón"'' , , Best Urban Album or Track , ,

Premios Tu Música Urbano The Premios Tu Música Urbano is a music industry awards ceremony presented by television network Telemundo Internacional, Telemundo Puerto Rico to recognize artists who "transcended and boosted the success of Latin urban music around the world" fo ...

, - , 2020 , , ''Intentemos algo (Remix) ft. Gabriel EMC'' , , Best Christian Song , , , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , ''Himself'' , , Top Christian Artist , , , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , ''Himself'' , , Top Artist — Christian-Spiritual , ,

Unción Awards

, - , 2012 , , ''Himself'' , , Best Male Psalmist , ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zurdo, Alex 1983 births Living people Converts to Christianity People from Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican rappers 21st-century American rappers

Musical career

Personal life

Discography

Awards and nominations

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...s

Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee excep ...

Arpa Awards

Premios Tu Música Urbano The Premios Tu Música Urbano is a music industry awards ceremony presented by television network Telemundo Internacional, Telemundo Puerto Rico to recognize artists who "transcended and boosted the success of Latin urban music around the world" fo ...

Unción Awards

References

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...
s