ON BEAT: Alejandro Nuila

Vision Multimedia, Zach Watkins

Nuila began his music career in the summer of ninth grade. Starting as a DJ, Alejandro Nuila, a junior music business major at Belmont, continued his journey into a producer. 

Growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee with his El Salvadorian and Malaysian roots, he said he felt a lack of representation of other rappers, especially of El Salvadorian influence, within his local Hispanic community.

“I think it’s needed so everybody feels they have their own voice. When I was growing up, there were few Salvadorians in Knoxville,” Nuila said.

Nuila described his experience of visiting El Salvador where he said he wished he had found more artists' influence. 

“I didn’t know any big Salvadorian actors or artists or anything. I didn’t ever hear about Salvadorians, especially to be mixed Latino-Asian,” Nuila said.

Most of his family is from California which is where he found a lot of influence, especially from his aunt who had her own music career, he said.

“My aunt used to be a DJ and so I started messing around with being a DJ, and I found it really fun. But it was like, I don’t want to remix other people’s stuff, I want to make my own stuff,” Nuila said.

He began working with beats the summer of his ninth grade year of high school, and began his rapping a year later.

“My aunt was like, you don’t want to be a DJ, you want to be a producer. So I got a beat-making app on my phone and started making beats,” Nuila said.

Previously known as Loco A.O.N., he eventually found his artist name: El Chino. 

Collaborations with other artists helped Nuila in growing in his rapping career. He began a music club in high school where he started collabing with other students.

“It taught me about leadership and working with a team, especially with music. I was used to doing it solo and it made me look at my music from different perspectives,” Nuila said.

His first performance was Feb. 10, 2021 during the 11th grade for a talent show, where he performed his original song, “My Definition”.

“You feel like you’re in this zone. That’s why I consider the entire image of El Chino, it’s the version of me that is better than what I typically am,” Nuila said.   

Nuila said he felt the challenge of moving to Nashville and starting as a freshman. He said he learned a lot from being surrounded by other artists.

“I stepped in here and wondered how I got here. I did my first performance in the cafeteria, and it was the first time I’d felt like not the best in the lineup,” Nuila said.

Nuila discussed the challenges of being a rap Latino artist in a predominantly country music city like Nashville.

“I see it as the best thing and worst thing because I rap with Latino influence and where it’s all country. I got something nobody else got,” Nuila said.

He said he has a desire to collaborate with other Latinx artists communities in Nashville. He said he plans to do more live shows outside of Belmont as well as internships at different studios.

“I have four journals worth of songs. About 90% of the time, I won’t record the song. I just make the beats and hand it to my band and figure out how to play it live,” Nuila said.

He started writing music in his journals in the 10th grade. He said he soon got deeper into writing as it introduced him to a new element.

“I started carrying a journal with me and wrote out everything. I didn’t turn back. I go everywhere with a journal. I’m always writing something,” Nuila said.

“My Definition” was one of his first produced songs which he released March 24, 2023. He said the song is an expression of his identity and style.

“It showed off the rap, the Latino, it showed off the English, it showed off the Spanish, it showed off the languages blended together. It was an introduction to it all,” Nuila said.

He also has singles such as “Lowrider Music,” “College Journey 1” and “On My Grind,” which are available on Spotify.

“My best song is “Lowrider Music” and “My Definition,” I still love it. It’s still my favorite song I’ve made,” Nuila said.

Nuila said he hopes to continue growing as an artist and music producer and to pursue new studio and live performing opportunities in the future.

“It is every good quality of me heightened by some amount,” Nuila said. “I’ve been chasing that feeling every time I go on stage.”

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This article was written by Kyla Davidson