Two decades since its inception, Lecrae’s Reach Records has hit a new milestone — expanding into the Latin music scene.
Last month, the Atlanta boutique indie label that specializes in gospel music announced it signed its first Latin artist: Alexxander.
The 26-year-old Christian singer was born in Puerto Rico but now lives in New Orleans, with plans to move to Atlanta soon. As a child, Alexxander, who weaves pop, rock, gospel and reggaeton into his music, was a huge fan of gospel rapper Lecrae. He described signing with Reach as a “lifelong dream.”
Lecrae, who resides in Atlanta, has won four Grammy awards and released multiple No. 1 albums since his 2004 debut, “Real Talk.”
That same year, Lecrae teamed with business partner Ben Washer to establish Reach Records. Reach has nearly a dozen artists on its roster, including the popular rapper Hulvey, who recently performed the first Christian hip-hop set at Rolling Loud music festival. Reach artists like Hulvey, Jackie Hill Perry and 1K Phew are based in Atlanta.
Alexxander’s signing comes at an exciting time for Latin music, which a recent Luminate report revealed is the fastest-growing music genre in the U.S. His latest single, “Tres Deseos” (which translates to “three wishes”), follows his journey of self-acceptance.
Alexxander has nearly 120,000 average monthly listeners on Spotify, but he’s excited to expand his following with Reach.
“Alexxander is already shaping out to be a leader in the Latin space, and getting to be a part of his vision is an honor,” said Dee Diaz, vice president of Reach’s marketing and digital, in a prepared statement. “Reach has always had a devoted base of Latino fans who we’ve been able to reach through past releases, but I could not be more excited to serve them in collaboration with an artist as uniquely talented as Alexxander.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to Alexxander about signing with Reach and his future plans.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q: Congratulations on being signed! Tell me about the process of signing with Reach.
A: In a space where a lot of things are going viral and numbers are priority, it was surprisingly just letting the music speak for itself. One of their (recruiters) discovered me through a Christian playlist on Spotify, and they reached out to me on Instagram. There was no crazy numbers to that song. It was just simply the sound.
Q: What made you gravitate toward the label?
A: I had been reaching out before I even had a song made. I just had song ideas in my notebook and in my voice memos on my phone. I remember, very embarrassingly, sending emails to Reach Records before I even had a song, just asking them to listen to my voice memos and to read my lyrics. I was like 13 or 14 at the time, and my email was like, AlexBlink182@hotmail.com. It was not professional at all. But thankfully, they never saw them. God knew what He was doing. He set everything up at the right time.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Q: How long have you been making music? What inspired your artistry?
A: My dad was a Latin gospel artist, for a very long time. My grandpa basically used to play in a salsa band at bars and clubs. My great-grandpa was a poet, so I just have a lot of family in music and poetry. I really didn’t see myself doing this. I wanted to pursue a career in film, actually. I went to Full Sail University to study film, and I dropped out very quickly because I just had a strong desire to write songs.
Q: What does being Reach Records’ first Latin artist mean to you? Does that add any pressure?
A: I’m so proud of Reach for just deciding to prioritize representation and to make sure that our space has a voice for every person. I really aligned with Reach, with all their views and the way they carry themselves. I’m just trying to take that weight off my shoulders and those expectations of being the first and relying on knowing that I’m not going to be the last.
Q. You mentioned your dad was also a gospel artist.
A: Yeah, it’s a niche scene that’s been around for a while. It started in the early ‘90s. I’m from Bayamón, Puerto Rico. We are a very, very Christian community. There’s been Latin urban music. There’s been gospel Latin music, but now it’s definitely becoming very popular, and the space is growing.
Q: What’s something unique that you bring to the Latin music space?
A: With the collaboration with Reach, I think that we can do so many things in the gospel Latin space. In American culture, it’s very easy to see artists like Lecrae and other artists in the worship space like Brandon Lake and all these gospel bands sell out arenas and do these crazy shows and tours. We don’t really have that in our space, and I think that with this collaboration, we’re going to be able to access so many doors and open so many doors for the listeners.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Q: What’s next for you?
A: Soon, we’re releasing another single called “Celebrar,” which means celebrate. It’s kind of like the close out to “Tres Deseos.” It’s kind of the opposite. It’s just a celebration of where we’re at now. It’s a great song to kick off the summer. We’re also going to be doing some shows in other countries like Mexico and Guatemala.
Heat Check is a monthly music column where AJC culture reporter DeAsia Paige explores the temperature of Georgia’s buzzing, expansive music scene. The column includes music news, trends and any Georgia-related music that DeAsia is listening to. If you’re a Georgia artist and have music you want to be considered for this column — or if you just want to talk music — feel free to send an email to deasia.paige@ajc.com.
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