Why YOU Should Listen to Quevedo

By: Julia Gonzalez

You might be asking yourself, who is Quevedo? Well, while the Spanish singer and rapper is fairly unknown in Brazil, in the past two years he has managed to jump to the top charts and made his name famous. Although this doesn't seem to have reached Brazil yet. Quevedo releases mostly singles, and has recently released his debut studio album, "DONDE QUIERO ESTAR" (where I want to be), with the goal of demonstrating how he has been searching to find where he wants to be in life and music. The album explores various music genres like reggaeton, latin trap, pop, nostalgia, and more. His album was awarded a double platinum certification by PROMUSICAE and multiple positive reviews from critics. His variety of catchy songs make it impossible for you not to find at least one you enjoy. 

22 year old Pedro Luis Domínguez Quevedo was born on the 7th of December, 2001 in Madrid, Spain. When he was 1 year old, he moved to Brazil due to his father's job and lived here for 6 years. He then moved back to Spain to Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands. This place is extremely meaningful to him and he believes anyone who visits will experience the same peace and tranquillity the beach, people, and environment emit; he truly considers it his home.

 Quevedo has always felt a connection with rap since the age of 14, liking the messages it transmits; he says it made him feel like he was not alone. He has dreamt of becoming an artist since he was around 8 years old, though letting it go with the flow, knowing he would catch up with music later on. When he was young he would perform for family and friends, also freestyling with colleagues after soccer practice and participating in local events/battles. His professional career started when the pandemic hit. He was not in a good mental state, so he dropped out of college and as soon as he could leave his house, started recording songs with his friends, not having any idea what exactly they were doing. He's been working with Linton (Alejandro Prendergast), his producer, who is also Canarian, from the first day on. Quevedo and his producer also worked with other 6 Canarian artists whose goals are to change the way people view the Canary Islands and see the talent held in their home, they are known as 922 928 (Tenerife and Gran Canaria's dialling code).

On the 6th of July 2022, Quevedo released the song "Quevedo: Bzrp music sessions, Vol.52" (aka Quédate) with the Argentinian DJ Bizarrap; and in less than one day, reached 10 million views on youtube and number one on Spain's youtube most trending. On Spotify, the song hit the number one spot on the Global Top 200 chart, making Quevedo the first Spanish artist to achieve this. The song earned him a platinum certification by PROMUSICAE and a nomination for Best Urban Song at the 2023 Latin Grammy Awards. Bizarrap reached out to Quevedo through instagram while he was in Argentina working with Duki, he said the music session was "super normal" and that he had a lot of fun working with Bizarrap. Besides the awards, the song helped Quevedo gain popularity on social media, not to mention introducing him to new fans, since they liked his music style and started listening to his other songs. This song is truly what skyrocketed his career. 

Hispanic music has reached most of the world, but surprisingly not Brazil. A partial reason for this is that while reggaeton, for example, started being socially accepted in Hispanic countries, Brazil was fixated on the rise of funk, trap, and sertanejo. This left no space for reggaeton, not to mention the language barrier, as not understanding the lyrics to a song is understandably not as enjoyable; though the engaging beat and rhythm are worth the listen. Some artists believe that for Hispanic music to reach Brazil, artists should make the same effort as Brazilian ones to sing in portuguese, this can introduce Hispanic artists to the society and also show that they are making an effort and notice Brazil. Anitta has helped with this movement by collabing with artists from the rest of Latin America, and obviously, singing in Spanish. When mentioning music in Spanish, generally the first thing Brazilians think of is Bad Bunny, and while he is great, not all people are a fan, so if the music genre is only narrowed down to him, people forget there are other types of songs and artists that could fit their style more.

In conclusion, Quevedo is a Spanish artist who is ascending in the music industry, with his engaging, varied music; gaining fame with his music session with Bizarrap, in fact believing him as the reason for his shift in destiny. While he still hasn't reached Brazil due to the various different options of Brazilian music genres leaving no room for Hispanic songs to shine, I encourage you to try to listen to Quevedo, or any other artist you can find (like Feid, Mora, Saiko, Emilia, Jhayco, etc.) If you are looking for a calm song, I would recommend you start with "Sin señal", "Apa", "Playa del Ingles" and "Dame". Some upbeat songs of his include "Quevedo: Bzrp music sessions, Vol.52" (Quédate), ", "Los Roques",  "Vista al Mar", and the summer hit, "Columbia". If you end up liking more than one of these, I motivate you to listen to the rest of his songs, new and old, as he is an artist worth listening to.