'The De Los Podcast': Álvaro Díaz on being kicked out of a rock band and recording new album 'Omakase'

The Latin Grammy-nominated Puerto Rican MC Álvaro Díaz wasn’t ever a rapper; helium was a rocker too. Or, an aspiring one.

“[My involvement successful music] truly started erstwhile I was 12 and successful school, the archetypal set I fell successful emotion with was Blink-182,” Díaz told “The De Los Podcast” hosts Fidel Martinez and Suzy Exposito. “The archetypal posters and CDs I had successful my house… each Blink-182.”

In the latest occurrence of “The De Los Podcast,” Díaz dove into his aboriginal vocation and wrong the making of his latest album, the culinary-inspired “Omakase,” which went No. 1 successful 16 Latin countries.

The San Juan autochthonal happened upon his archetypal philharmonic accidental arsenic a teen, erstwhile helium overheard that a pupil set successful his precocious schoolhouse was looking for a bass player.

“I said, ‘I deliberation I person a bass astatine home,’ but I was lying… I didn’t cognize nothing,” Díaz said. “I showed up aft Christmas with the bass and said, ‘Look what I found!’”

Although his stone vocation was chopped abbreviated — helium didn’t person the chops to play metallic songs connected bass — it flipped a power for a young Díaz.

“It was the archetypal clip I thought, I privation to larn however to marque music,” Díaz said. “A mates of years later, I realized penning was the happening I was bully at.”

Since then, Díaz’s philharmonic vocation has been afloat of blessed accidents, which person yielded an urbano-alternative fusion each his own. Iconic reggaeton shaper Tainy, who worked connected Díaz’s first-ever song, “Chicas de la Isla,” returned to assistance with “Omakase.”

Díaz came up with the rubric aft visiting his relative Chef Tino’s edifice successful Isabela, Puerto Rico, wherever helium observed his relative make a likewise bespoke acquisition successful his kitchen.

“You cognize what’s much idiosyncratic than the sheet and the result? The process, for me,” Díaz said. “I thought, it would beryllium astonishing if I could disagreement this task by the process of the kitchen.”

After losing some his grandma and his adjacent person Oscar Botello, the precocious shaper amended known arsenic Milkman, Díaz infuses the medium with sentimental tributes. Before his passing, Botello sent Díaz the bushed that would yet go the album’s archetypal single, “Pienso En Ti.”

“He was a large member to me,” Díaz said. “It’s not a time that volition walk by that I don’t deliberation astir him and what helium would bash successful originative things.”

Díaz besides partnered with newer collaborators Latin Mafia, taking the Mexican alternate trio to Mexico City edifice Voraz to stock his album. “I showed them ‘Malasnoticias’ and they said, ‘OK — crook the mic on,’” Díaz said.

“[Emilio] and Milton grabbed the mic, Mike was connected the machine doing caller drums, programming,” helium recounted. “It was amusive to make with them, not conscionable due to the fact that they’re my friends, but we did it successful a restaurant. It’s a communicative I cognize we’ll beryllium talking astir successful 10, 15 years.”

Díaz is presently connected circuit successful Latin America, but volition proceed to the United States successful the fall, with a Nov. 5 amusement astatine the Wiltern successful Los Angeles.