Rauw Alejandro was born Raúl Alejandro Ocasio Ruiz on January 10, 1993, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Rauw is the son of guitarist Raúl Ocasio and backing vocalist María Nelly Ruiz, and he grew up in Carolina and Canóvanas. Alejandro also spent some time living in New York City and Miami with his father. Rauw has been friends with award-winning rapper Anuel AA since childhood, and Anuel AA performed on the tracks “Reloj” and “Elegí (remix)” on Alejandro’s debut album. Rauw took part in school talent shows as a child, with dancing as his talent, and after high school, he attended the University of Puerto Rico. Alejandro played soccer from the ages of 7 to 20, and in a 2019 interview with Tidal, he stated:
“I played for the [Puerto Rican] national team; I had a college scholarship, I traveled to the U.S. to play in the PDL (Premier Development League). That was the dream — to be a famous fútbol player. But everything was against me because the country didn’t help me fully develop. I got to a moment where I’m 20 and I had to ask myself, ‘What am I doing?’ I didn’t see a huge future in it. I decided to get into music as a hobby. Doing it as fun, next thing you know I’m in it.“
