La Cruz is making gay love in reggaeton music go mainstream, as the rising Venezuelan star had a breakthrough year thanks to his hit “Quítate La Ropa.” The music video that features men perreando, or twerking, to La Cruz’s reggaeton romp went viral during LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Now he is proving there’s space for the queer community in the largely hetero genre year-round.
“I’m super excited because I didn’t expect this,” La Cruz says about his success. “I believe people have empathized a lot with my musical project in a beautiful way. I’m very grateful for that.”
Reggaeton music has a history of excluding and putting down people in the LGBTQ+ community. Times have changed in the past few years with queer women like Young Miko, Villano Antillano, and RaiNao becoming leading voices in the genre. What was missing in reggaeton on a similar level as the aforementioned acts was a gay man singing to other men. That all changed when La Cruz came along.
La Cruz, who was born Alfonso La Cruz in Venezuela, first started singing about men in his debut album Hawaira, which was released in November 2022. It was his follow-up release, “Quítate La Ropa,” that would put him on the map and draw attention to his work as a gay groundbreaker in the genre. Since then, La Cruz has amassed many new fans, including Karol G and Omar Apollo. Over Zoom, he caught up with Uproxx about his wild past year, normalizing “regayton,” and what’s next.
Why did you relocate from Venezuela to Madrid, Spain?
I moved to Spain from Venezuela due to the [economic] crisis. I went through a very difficult time because of the crisis going on in my country. I also didn’t see a future for my music in Venezuela because it’s very complicated in Latin America to be openly gay. Spain is one of the countries that is more accepting of us. I came here in an unexpected way, I fell in love with this city, and I started working on my music here. I’ve stayed very connected with Latin America, of course. I always have to represent Venezuela proudly because that’s my birth country.
Can you tell us about the moment you decided that you were going to be open about being gay in your music?
I’ve never said this before, but everything happened at a songwriting camp. When I was talking with a boy and I was in the studio, my producer asked us to write about something different. I told him, “I’m going through this situation where I like a boy outside of the country and because of COVID, I’m far away from him.” I remember my producer told me without mincing his words, “Let’s write about that.” I wrote about that boy I liked and I felt very comfortable and free from doing that. From that moment, I began to write from one man to another man.
What was the inspiration behind your debut album Hawaira?
It’s different experiences in my life that deal with love and heartbreak. I went to the studio little by little without knowing that I would make an album. When I realized I had all the songs ready, I grouped them together under the name Hawaira because that’s the city that I grew up in. It’s a part of me. I want people to listen to the album with total freedom to allow themselves to feel good and to understand that we’re free to love who we want to love. At the end of the day, we all need to be happy.
How did the song “Quítate La Ropa” come together?
I remember we were in the studio and we wanted to make a super spicy song for partying. My producer had worked on a demo. I started writing lyrics to it with my co-writers and “Quítate La Ropa” came out of that. It’s a very daring and fun song for partying. It was incredible because we went viral on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. People accepted the song with a lot of love.
What did you think when Karol G and Omar Apollo followed you on Instagram after the success of “Quítate La Ropa”?
When [Karol G] followed me on Instagram, it was very special because I’m very a big fan of hers. I remember my mom was with me when that happened. She told me, “Tell her what you feel at this moment so she can understand your excitement.” I wrote to Karol G saying, “Wow, bichota, I admire you so much and I’m going to kill it.” It was beautiful to see that she responded to my message saying, “I love what you’re doing. I love the vibes. I love it all.” I’ll never forget that message. With Omar as well, I’ve messaged with him a few times. I would love to make music with him. Now he knows that and he’s open to us working together one day.
Your queer fans have dubbed your music as “regayton.” Why is it important for you to represent who you are in the reggaeton scene?
It’s very important for me because I want young people to feel seen by that. I grew up listening to Arcángel and Ivy Queen, but I realized their lyrics weren’t from one boy to another boy. I had to change that in my own way. I feel like today we’re more open and there’s space for us now that we have important representation from artists like Villano Antillano and Young Miko. I love that any person can relate to a song that I wrote in the studio. That makes me so proud. But beyond that, I love that gay people now have someone with a story that’s similar to theirs. They can relate and be able to say, “Something like that has also happened to me.”
How do you feel to be part of this new wave of queer artists in reggaeton?
I feel like we’re killing it honestly. We’ve a very beautiful community. We don’t have any prejudices, we aren’t classist, and we don’t follow societal standards. We just live freely. In a way, we sing about freedom and love, which are what the world needs.
Why did you choose to release “Easy Boy” as your follow-up single?
The first option that came to mind was “Easy Boy.” We felt it was a good song for partying with incredible vibes. I also wanted to sing about what no one else is talking about. There are boys who are an easy lay for other boys, but it was never talked about in songs. As it is for the gay community, it’s a song for heterosexuals to relate as well to because they can be an easy lay for women, too.
Are those two songs going to lead to a new album?
I’m working on a new album for 2024 that’s going to be very good. It’s going to incorporate a lot of different genres because I don’t like to be repetitive when it comes to rhythms. People have heard two great singles from me and now I want them to hear something more fresh from me.
What do you want to accomplish next with your music?
I want to keep fulfilling my dreams and making them a reality. I want to be able to help out my family, which has always been a top priority of mine. Fortunately I’m making a living off of my music now, but there’s so much more that I want to accomplish.
Hawaira is out now via La Cruz. Listen to it here.
