Yomel el Meloso, born Cristofer Hernández, is a Dominican dembow singer and songwriter. He found the music at fourteen, started by improvising, and was picked up by producers who signed him to a label in 2017.

The run of singles

From 2018 the records arrive without pause: Pásate, A Carta Blanca, Los Pomposos, Sexy, Yo Me Curo, and El Espagueti with Químico Ultra Mega. En Ruta, in 2019, was cut with Ceky Viciny.

That same year came El Pichirri, made with Kiko el Crazy, El Cherry Scom and Ito Ogamy — which is an unusual room, because Ito Ogamy had been rapping in Santo Domingo since before Yomel was born. Dominican urban music puts three generations on one track more casually than any other genre in the country.

2020 brought Malísimo y Pico, Ruégale, Freaky Party, Cuando Tú Me Besas and Los Quita Novia, the last of those with El Cherry Scom and Leo RD. 2021 brought Atento a la Parita, Fiestatata, Pa Japón, Abatido and Mari.

Revelación

He took the Premios Q statuette as revelation of the year, and Listín Diario was writing about it in January 2020 — two years into a career that has not slowed since.

What he sounds like

He is filed as a dembow artist and he is one, but rap, trap and reggaetón all turn up inside the records. What he is actually known for among Dominican listeners is delivery: an energy and a phrasing that carry a track built on very little.

Millonario put him with Chimbala, El Cherry Scom and Kiko el Crazy at once. Por Una Foto was made with Rochy RD. Pases Bien and its remix, El Motor, Jamaica, Ganas de Ti, Lo Chico Sample with Leo RD, and a track named after a footballer — Lamine Yamal — are all recent.

Naming a dembow record after a teenage winger is exactly the move the genre keeps making: take whatever the street is talking about this month and put it in a title before anyone else does.