Inside AJ’s Artistic Journey: Collaboration, Reggaeton Roots & Building Unity

On this episode of the Monica Black Diamond show, host Monica sits down with singer AJ, a Calgary-based artist who’s been performing solo for a little over a year, for a wide-ranging conversation about his musical roots, his creative team, and what it will take to bring the city’s independent artists closer together.

AJ opens by giving the audience the basics: he’s 30, has lived in Calgary for 14 years after 12 years in BC, and — when Monica asks her signature “if you were a diamond or a rock” question — picks turquoise, describing it as a color that’s “loud but welcoming,” which he says mirrors his own personality.

The story of how he got here starts young. AJ says he began singing at 12, after his older brother bought him and his twin brother a boom box. He describes recording himself onto cassette tapes with a microphone rigged to the back of the machine, re-recording takes until they sounded right, all while also performing choreographed dance routines with his brother and a friend — routines he admits, laughing, were straight out of the NSYNC playbook. He went solo just over a year ago, in December, and says his one regret is not starting sooner: “better late than never,” as he and Monica agree, is still better than never at all.

A chunk of the episode turns into a mini history lesson when Monica asks AJ to explain reggaeton for listeners who assume it’s simply “Latin music.” AJ traces its roots to Panama, explaining that Panamanian and Jamaican laborers working on the Panama Canal sang along to Jamaican reggae, which eventually evolved into what became reggaeton — with Puerto Rico later shaping its urban hip-hop side. He’s candid that his own sound leans more pop than traditional reggaeton, blending in EDM influences, and says he’s intentionally trying to make his music sound different from what’s oversaturating the scene.

Listeners get a preview of what’s next: a second English single called “The Man,” which AJ hoped to release around April 27, followed by a Latin trap track he’d just started recording with his producer. He describes the trap song as a departure from his usual romantic material — “there’s some swagger to the voice in this one” — with something else planned for the summer.

The conversation’s most animated stretch comes when AJ talks about his upcoming performance headlining a show called The Exclusive at The Junction food hall, alongside other local headliners, openers, and acrobats. He gives credit to the show’s organizer, Joshua, for building a rare platform where local artists open for and headline alongside each other rather than just filling a slot between DJ sets. That leads directly into the episode’s central theme: unity. AJ tells Monica that artists too often treat each other as competition when they’re all chasing the same dream, and that what the local scene needs is the kind of supportive circle Monica has been trying to build since returning to the city.

AJ also walks through the team behind his videos — including his first single/video since going solo, and a bigger follow-up production — crediting his producer and DJ, and the collaborator handling mixing and mastering, for helping him find a sound that stays current. His advice to any artist feeling discouraged is blunt and heartfelt: don’t do it for money or fame, do it because you love it, and keep going regardless of outcome.

The episode also gives a glimpse of AJ outside the music — he explains that his stage name comes from a shortened version of his real name, chosen because he didn’t want anything flashy, and that off-stage he considers himself shy, even a “class clown,” while on stage he becomes someone louder. He shares that his son recently got to see him perform live for the first time at an all-ages show, a moment he lights up describing before the conversation wraps.

Throughout, the tone stays easy and unscripted, true to Monica’s interview style — equal parts industry insight, genre history lesson, and genuine friendship between two people clearly rooting for the same local scene to thrive.