Abel Díaz Rodríguez, popularly known as El Chulo and El Presidente del Reparto, is a Cuban reggaeton artist belonging to the urban music genre. He was born in Belén, Havana, on June 24, 1990.
When he started making music in Cuba, in the Havana neighborhood of La Habana Vieja, the representatives of the urban genre were Los Generales, Michel Delgado, the son of Issac Delgado, and Jose Juanqui, with whom he formed a group. He always knew he wanted to emigrate to the United States. He always leaned towards the reggaeton genre. His childhood took place in an environment marked by marginality.
In Cuba, he worked as a backing vocalist for Chocolate MC, with whom he recorded the song that launched him to fame and inspired him to start making music. He owes his nickname El Chulo to his mother, who gave it to him because only her son could live at her expense.
In 2016, while living in Miami, he was arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder for shooting at an officer, a charge to which Díaz Rodríguez eventually pleaded guilty and served time in prison. After serving his sentence, he found great support in a friend who owned a recording studio, and he has credited this friend with teaching him to sing, as he only knew how to rap and found it impossible to do choruses. His perspective on his own music changed, and the goal of his current career, as he himself has stated, is to make the Reparto genre international.
El Chulo has participated in multiple performances alongside other urban genre artists from Cuba such as El Micha, El Taiger, Yakarta, Jacob Forever, Señorita Dayami, Baby Lorens, Lenier Mesa, Yomil and El Dany, the Puerto Rican Lary Over, and with members of Zona, with whom he recorded "Loco por bailar contigo" in 2019. He has achieved significant success with his music and has performed in New Jersey. His songs have garnered over 1 million views on YouTube.
In September 2018, he was one of those involved in the alleged assault against the Cuban singer Gorki Ávila, which took place a week prior at the studios of Channel 41 in Miami when he was asked about Decree 349, with which the Cuban government aims to limit the freedom of artists from the Island. El Chulo defended his fellow professionals who refused to discuss politics and ended up attacking Gorki, resulting in a beating. Gorki eventually called the police, and El Chulo was expelled from Channel 41.
Her singles "Que mostra eres tú" and "Te estoy explicando" received Gold Record certification in June 2020.
In 2018, he joined the spectacular concert in Miami featuring Gente de Zona, Marc Anthony, Leoni Torres, Diana Fuentes, and other Cuban artists.
In May 2020, he released a video in which he made his political stance against the Cuban regime clear, calling himself part of the resistance and promising to denounce the dictatorship in every interview he gives. "How long will this go on? Years and decades continue to pass, and the people are still being oppressed," he stated. His remarks were well received by his followers.
On his social media, he boasts about his financial successes and has recently made headlines for sharing photos of his new $175,000 Rolls Royce, purchased in cash, while announcing the upcoming purchase of his house, also in cash. In May 2020, he sent money to a disabled woman in Cuba whose case had been shared on social media and moved the artist, who wanted to disclose the amount of his donation to encourage other performers to follow his example.
His album El Presidente is set to be released in October 2020.
