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Santiago Matías

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Matías and the second or maternal family name is García.

Santiago Matías
Born
Esmelin Santiago Matías García

(1981-12-06) December 6, 1981 (age 42)
El Capotillo, Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic
NationalityDominican
Other namesAlofoke
Occupation(s)host and producer, record producer, celebrity interviewer, businessman
Years active2000-present

Esmelin Santiago Matías García (born December 6, 1981), known as Santiago Matías or Alofoke is a Dominican radio host and producer, record producer, celebrity interviewer, businessman and media mogul.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Career

Early life

Santiago Matías was born on December 6, 1981, in El Capotillo, Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic. He started recording rap songs at a young age in Capotillo and began his professional career in 2000, touring as the backing vocals for Vakero, a famous Dominican Rapper.[8]

Alofoke Music media group

While touring in many of the provinces of the country, Matías saw the lack of coverage of Urbano music or Latin Urban music in the Dominican media and the enthusiasm of the people wherever they performed, which motivated him in 2006 to start AlofokeMusic, a media group explicitly dedicated to cover Urbano music artists in the Dominican Republic.[9]

The company started with the AlofokeMusic website, where he uploaded exclusive content about the underground rap movement and rap battles between artists. Within months of its launch, the website had thousands of daily visitors, which made Matías stop his rapping career and dedicate his time to interviewing and writing about Urban artists. In 2013, he started Alofoke Radio Show, a radio talk show that interviews Urbano music celebrities broadcast on Power 103.7 FM and then on KQ 94.5 FM.[6][10][11] The same year he started the Fuse Music record label and signed the Dominican-American rapper Mark B and positioned him internationally through collaborations with artists like Bad Bunny and Maluma.[12]

In 2021, Ozuna and Santiago Matias bought Sonido Suave, a Spanish-language Bolero and Ballad radio station serving Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. That same year, it was rebranded as Alofoke FM, and its format changed to an urban contemporary. Alofoke Music Group now operates it.[13]

Alofoke Sin Censura

Alofoke Sin Censura is a segment of the Alofoke Radio Show broadcast on KQ-94.5 FM produced and hosted by Matías, in which he asks the artists to interview personal questions and their opinions on social issues. He has interviewed the majority of the most recent influential Urbano music performers from Dominican Republic and Internationally such as Anuel AA, Bad Bunny, J Balvin, El Alfa, Arcángel, Natti Natasha[14] and more, as well as politicians like the Dominican vice-president Margarita Cedeño de Fernández,[15] former Dominican president Hipólito Mejía[16] and the Dominican presidential candidate Gonzalo Castillo.[17][18][19]

In 2021, he denounced receiving threats from Venezuela after interviewing Dominican musician and culture Vice Minister Bonny Cepeda, where he declared that he received $60 000 to sing at a birthday party of the Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, showing a WhatsApp screenshot where he received racial slurs.[20]

Personal life

Santiago's mother had him when she was only fifteen, and his grandmother and aunt helped her raise him. He attributes all he has become to them. Santiago started college studying Computer System Engineering and dropped out in his junior year to devote himself to music. However his mother made him learn English and other computer courses, he later got involved in entrepreneurship.[21]

Kings League Americas

Since early 2024, he has been part of the project Americas Kings League, led by Miguel Layún. He is president of one of the participating teams, Galácticos del Caribe (Caribbean Galactics). In this league, he competes against other content creators and celebrities such as Arcangel, Germán Garmendia, Chicharito, or James Rodriguez, with the aim of becoming champions of the competition.[22] [23]

References

  1. ^ "Margarita lamenta critiquen entrevista de Santiago Matías a Gonzalo; pide ser entrevistada". Listin Diario. May 22, 2020.
  2. ^ ""Alofoke" meets with Danilo Medina and resumes his aspirations to deputy". DominicanRepNews. July 4, 2019.
  3. ^ "Santiago Matías habla del Covid y música urbana". El Dia Newspaper. May 31, 2020.
  4. ^ "Santiago Matías "Alofoke" responde a críticas de periodistas por la entrevista a Gonzalo Castillo". CDN NEWS. June 19, 2020.
  5. ^ "Who is Alofoke". January 9, 2018.
  6. ^ a b SUZY, EXPOSITO (November 7, 2019). "This Week in Latin Music: YouTube Policy Spurs Urbano Beef; Pop Divas Tour the U.S." The Rolling Stones.
  7. ^ "Dozens of Puerto Rican & Dominican Urban Artists Unite for 'Un Solo Movimiento' Album". Billboard. September 12, 2018.
  8. ^ "Él es Santiago Matias aka Alofoke, el comunicador que llevó la música dominicana a otro nivel". Heabbi. May 15, 2018.
  9. ^ "Santiago Matías: "Alofoke es un complemento para que los artistas logren su pegada"". El Caribe Newspaper. March 27, 2019.
  10. ^ "103.7". Tunein.
  11. ^ "KQ 94.5 FM - Santo Domingo - Emisoras Dominicanas". May 6, 2014.
  12. ^ "Mark B Biography". Genero Ubano.
  13. ^ "Cantante Ozuna y Santiago Matías lanzan nueva emisora Alofoke FM". HOY. September 29, 2021.
  14. ^ ELIAS, LEIGHT (November 7, 2019). "Dembow Took Over the Dominican Republic. Can It Take Over the World?". The RollingStone.
  15. ^ "Margarita sobre salida de Leonel del PLD: Me afectó mucho, me caí, pero tenía que pensar en el país". El Listin Diario. June 9, 2020.
  16. ^ "Medios alternativos, en el ojo de los políticos para la conquista de nuevos electores". Diario Libre. January 31, 2019.
  17. ^ "Santiago Matías "Alofoke" responde críticas recibidas por entrevista a Gonzalo Castillo". El nuevo Diario. May 22, 2020.
  18. ^ "Alofoke se defiende: entrevistar a Gonzalo no es un crimen". Acento News. June 25, 2020.
  19. ^ "Juan TH y Santiago Matías chocan pareceres por la entrevista a Gonzalo". Listin Diario. May 21, 2020.
  20. ^ "Santiago Matías denuncia "amenazas desde Venezuela" tras entrevistar Bonny Cepeda". EFE. Diario Libre. June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  21. ^ "Santiago Matías, el exitoso joven detrás de "Alofoke"". El Caribe News. June 22, 2020.
  22. ^ SHIRLEY, GOMEZ (October 27, 2023). "PIQUÉ WELCOMES THE FIRST DOMINICAN TEAM TO HIS SOCCER COMPETITION: INTRODUCING KINGS LEAGUE AMÉRICAS".
  23. ^ Nuevo, Diario (October 25, 2023). "Santiago Matías y Los Futbolitos presidirán equipo de RD en la Kings League Las Américas".
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