Performing in front of the public is not something new for Germán Arzate. He remembers that from a very young age he liked to participate in poetry declamation contests. Then he got fully involved in oratory.
“I took a liking to all that interpreting lyrics,” said Germán. “I learned to go down [expresar] what I think, to communicate in a real way”.
What he never thought was that this would serve as a stage for what is now his passion: singing and composing music.
Currently, under the name of Daaz, Germán is one of the performers of the zeta generation that seeks to place Mexico in a predominant place within the world of urban music and hip hop. This movement has already exploded in countries like Spain, Chile, Argentina and Colombia, something that Daaz believes is about to happen in his native Mexico.
“The urban movement in Mexico is still not solid,” he acknowledged. “It hasn’t come to that point. […] But it will come, just as it happened with the Argentines, the Chileans, it has just happened with Spain, and then it is Mexico’s turn.
Daaz started his career five years ago, and it was a mere accident. He started creating sounds and rhythms on his computer, with YouTube videos as a teacher. Then he thought that it would be very difficult to give the clues to someone to add the lyrics to them, so he decided to use them himself to say his own things.
“I had many stories to tell,” he said. “And I found hip hop and urban as a way to express it; then people began to identify themselves and I followed him as a way of letting off steam, of taking out all that I have saved”.
His audience was first five friends, then he was invited to local events in Cancun, where he grew up. His fame grew to the point that he had to move to Mexico City to be able to move more easily through the states of his country where he is hired.
Daaz, 23, is currently promoting “Hotel California,” the first track from his as-yet-unnamed second studio album, due out in June. This, like other of her songs, is a collaboration; this time he worked with Sabino, another Mexican hip hop artist.
In this cut, Daaz included an intro with piano and drums because he wanted it to highlight the lyrics of the song —which no, it has nothing to do with the Eagles’ “Hotel California”—, to later integrate more instruments that complete a story that It has to do with love that began but did not materialize.
“They are everyday stories, told my way,” he said. “Stories that people can tell ‘are coolI already went through that’”.
In June, Daaz, who once aspired to be a soccer player, will visit Chicago to participate in a music festival. If something doesn’t come out sooner, it would be the first time this artist has performed in the United States. His dream is that it be the first of many.