El Dasa

Sonoran pop singer Dasahev López Saavedra performs under the stage name El Dasa. While still in his early teens he began entering vocal competitions and eventually earned a place on the final season of Mexico’s La Academia 6: Última Generación, only to be cut after the second round. Undeterred, he moved to Los Angeles at eighteen, kept performing wherever possible, and took whatever temporary work came his way. He later found steady employment driving Spanish-speaking performers, actors, and officials during their visits to the United States and eventually became the chauffeur for ranchera icon Vincente Fernandez. During one ride the young singer gave an impromptu audition that left Fernandez visibly moved by his vocal control and focus; the veteran artist then invited him onstage at the Gibson Amphitheater for a duet on “Amor de los Dos” and urged the crowd to follow Saavedra’s future work. Footage of the performance spread rapidly online, bringing new bookings and prompting him to adopt the name El Dasa. Fonovisa soon offered him a recording deal. His first album, Pa’ La Raza, appeared in October 2012 and quickly climbed Mexico’s radio charts. Television appearances followed, along with opening slots for artists that included Roberto Tapia. A year later he released the advance single “Por Ser Bonta,” then issued his second album, Alegre y Enamorado, in August 2014; it reached number one on both the Latin Albums and Mexican Regional charts. Between 2016 and 2017 he placed four singles on the charts—“Ya Me Vi,” “Perdí el Sombrero,” “Edición Especial,” and the title track of his third album, El Hijo del Desierto—which arrived late in 2017 and topped the Mexican Regional album survey.