Halfway through the second track off his newest album, Cosa Nuestra: Capítulo 0 , Rauw Alejandro sings, “The Caribbean can’t be explained; it’s felt, it’s lived, it’s honored.” If the album has a thesis, those lines would be it.

On last year’s Cosa Nuestra — which he’s said Capítulo 0 (“Chapter 0”) is a prequel of — Alejandro explored different genres linked to the Caribbean, albeit through the lens of the cultural exchange that has occurred over the decades between the region and North America. It’s a dialog that fused son cubano, jazz, bomba, hip-hop, reggae, and more, and went on to birth salsa, reggaetón, bachatón, Latin trap, and other sounds featured on Cosa Nuestra . From the Nuyorican influences of that album’s art, visuals, and live shows, it was evident his attention w

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