DJ Méndez
| DJ Méndez | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Leopoldo Jorge Méndez Alcayaga |
| Born |
21 July 1975 Valparaiso, Chile |
| Origin | , Sweden |
| Genres | Pop, Rap, Urban, Hip hop, generation blu-kdie |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-Songwriter, DJ, Producer |
| Years active | 1999–Present |
| Labels | Macabro Records |
Leopoldo Jorge Méndez Alcayaga (born July 21, 1975 in Valparaíso) is a Chilean-Swedish DJ, singer and producer, known by his stage name Méndez, formerly DJ Méndez. He won the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamérica Awards for Best Southwest New Artist.
His father was a political dissident, who left the country after the Chilean regime began monitoring him. In 1986, Méndez, his two brothers and mother left for Sweden; they lived at various places before settling down in the suburb of Farsta in . He went to school in the Larsbodaskolan, in Farsta Strand, joined a gang and was small-time criminal, though he always had the goal of making it in showbusiness. After several run ins with the police, he focused on beginning his career.
After joining a counseling institution called Fasta and meeting sound engineer Jordi Fuste, DJ Méndez started his career as a Latin rapper, making his live debut in a local festival. Mixing hip-hop and traditional Latin American rhythms, and he was able to get a record deal, soon climbing charts in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and even Russia with his first hit "Chiki-Chiki", featured in his debut album Latino for Life. He had met the producer Robert Wåtz while working at Toys R Us. The emerging interest for the Latin American music in Europe was one factor in the acceptance and music like this Chilean market as closed as the Scandinavian market, which until recently were only local artists and popular English-speaking. Some of his songs like "Estocolmo", show-through a Latin song the attitude and opinion of Latin American migrants to lands so different from theirs as the Scandinavian countries.
In March 2001 he visited his native country, carrying out a successful promotional tour.
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