Biography
El Dasa, born Dasahev López Saavedra in Hermosillo, Sonora, performs regional Mexican music as a charting artist who has earned a Latin Grammy nomination. NBC Universo developed the El Vato television series around events from his own life, and he appears as its lead.
At fifteen he took the frontman role with Banda Costa Azul in his hometown and held the position for three years. During 2008 he joined the sixth and final season of the talent competition La Academia Última Generación only to be cut in an early round. At eighteen he relocated to Los Angeles, where Vicente Fernandez brought him into his circle and employed him as a driver. El Dasa kept performing mariachis for the band and its leader until Fernandez, struck by the strength of his voice, invited him onstage for a duet at the Gibson Theater. That endorsement led Fonovisia to sign him; he then recorded singles and shared bills with Fernandez, La Arrolladora Banda el Limón, and El Coyote y Su Banda.
Although Pa' La Raza, his 2012 debut, generated radio and print attention, it failed to register on the charts. Fonovisia kept releasing singles and videos from the project until the arrival of the 2014 follow-up Alegre y Enamorado. That album reached the top of the Mexican Regional Albums chart, climbed to number two on Top Latin Albums, placed in the lower half of the Billboard 200, and received two Latin Grammy nominations. Tracks from both releases continued to chart while El Dasa maintained a steady touring schedule. In 2016 he entered an agreement with NBC Universio to develop the El Vato series and simultaneously issued further digital and video singles such as “Ya Me Vi,” “Perdí el Sombrero,” “Edición Especial,” and the title track of Hijo del Desierto.
At fifteen he took the frontman role with Banda Costa Azul in his hometown and held the position for three years. During 2008 he joined the sixth and final season of the talent competition La Academia Última Generación only to be cut in an early round. At eighteen he relocated to Los Angeles, where Vicente Fernandez brought him into his circle and employed him as a driver. El Dasa kept performing mariachis for the band and its leader until Fernandez, struck by the strength of his voice, invited him onstage for a duet at the Gibson Theater. That endorsement led Fonovisia to sign him; he then recorded singles and shared bills with Fernandez, La Arrolladora Banda el Limón, and El Coyote y Su Banda.
Although Pa' La Raza, his 2012 debut, generated radio and print attention, it failed to register on the charts. Fonovisia kept releasing singles and videos from the project until the arrival of the 2014 follow-up Alegre y Enamorado. That album reached the top of the Mexican Regional Albums chart, climbed to number two on Top Latin Albums, placed in the lower half of the Billboard 200, and received two Latin Grammy nominations. Tracks from both releases continued to chart while El Dasa maintained a steady touring schedule. In 2016 he entered an agreement with NBC Universio to develop the El Vato series and simultaneously issued further digital and video singles such as “Ya Me Vi,” “Perdí el Sombrero,” “Edición Especial,” and the title track of Hijo del Desierto.
Singles