Abel Díaz Rodríguez, popularly known as El Chulo and the President of 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 Old Havana, the representatives of urban genre were Los Generales, Michel Delgado, 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 was always drawn to the reggaeton genre. His childhood was spent in an environment marked by marginality.
In Cuba, he worked as a backup singer 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 off her.
In 2016, while already residing in Miami, he was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder for shooting at an officer, to which Díaz Rodríguez eventually pleaded guilty and served time in prison. After completing his sentence, he found significant support from a friend who owned a recording studio and who, as he has mentioned, taught him to sing since he could only rap and found it impossible to perform choruses. His perspective on his own music began to change, and the goal of his current career, as he himself has pointed out, 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 y el Dany, Puerto Rican Lary Over, and with the group 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 on Cuban singer Gorki Ávila, which took place a week earlier at the studios of Channel 41 in Miami when he was asked about Decree 349, through which the Cuban government aims to restrict the freedom of artists on the Island. El Chulo defended his fellow professionals who refused to talk politics and ultimately ended up attacking Gorki, resulting in a physical beating. Gorki ended up calling the police, and El Chulo was expelled from Channel 41.
His singles "Que mostra eres tú" and "Te estoy explicando" achieved Gold Record certification in June 2020.
In 2018, he joined the spectacular concert in Miami with Gente de Zona, Marc Anthony, Leoni Torres, Diana Fuentes, and other Cuban artists.
In May 2020, he released a video in which he clearly expresses his political stance against the Cuban regime, declaring himself part of the resistance and promising to denounce the dictatorship in every interview he gives. "How long? Years and decades keep passing, and they continue to trample on the people," he stated. His remarks were warmly received by his followers.
On his social media, he boasts about his financial achievements and has recently made headlines for sharing photos of his new $175,000 Rolls Royce purchased in cash, while announcing his upcoming cash purchase of a house. 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 inspire other performers to follow his example.
His album El Presidente is set to be released in October 2020.
