X Alfonso Premieres Dale Conga Video

February 21, 2021

The renowned Cuban interpreter, composer, and audiovisual director X Alfonso premiered his new work Dale Conga last Friday, a piece that, as a message warns at the beginning of its playback, is not a music video, it is "something else."

I believe and trust in the talent that exists in Cuba, said the multifaceted creator to the music platform Bonus Track, to which he explained that "it is not necessary to have a title or belong to something to become a great artist. This video is an example of young people believing in what they do; they filmed it themselves, with their own resources, then I edited it and finished post-production."

For X, known for his versatility and experimentation in music and audiovisual work, this is a piece "that incorporates the idea of Inside (his most recent recording project) of including all the arts, this time through dance, a fusion of urban and contemporary styles, and of our roots, translating the weight of the message into movements and bodily expression."

With Dale Conga, Alfonso continues the saga of music videos dedicated to Inside, works for which he received at the last edition of the Lucas Awards --the largest Cuban music video competition-- a total of seven awards, including the Video of the Year award, and more than a dozen nominations.

After a long pause away from the public eye as a creator, X Alfonso returned with this multiplatform project to which he has dedicated the last two years. Through monthly single releases, the author of Santa and Civilización created a double album that has been widely recognized by specialized critics, both within and outside the country, and has also designed a series of actions in physical and virtual spaces related to the releases.

This Friday, February 19th, in addition to his new music video, X Alfonso presented a website with a completely renewed aesthetic and layout. Visitors will be able to find at www.xalfonso.com the artist's complete discography (available as a free download for those living in Cuba), photographs, press links, and all of his videos (including video art and the biographical series Los Expedientes de X).

This is the most immersive experience in Alfonso's work, a space for his followers to enjoy the different facets of his work. Since the 1990s, X Alfonso has maintained a successful career in the rock and pop rock scene, where he works through ballads with hip hop elements, electronic music, and pop with Afro-Cuban roots.

His versatility has allowed him to successfully compose music for theater, contemporary dance, and film, in the latter field where he won a Goya Award for Best Original Music for the soundtrack of the film Habana Blues (Benito Zambrano, 2005).

Since 2010 he has led Fábrica de Arte Cubano (FAC), an unprecedented cultural space with transmedia ambitions where emerging young artists (musicians, filmmakers, painters, dancers) converge with others of long trajectories, which was considered by TIME magazine in 2019 as one of the 100 best places in the world.

In 2010 he also received the title of Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, for his artistic work with and for children.

Dale conga

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