Alx Veliz takes a sip of his Amaretto di Saronno with ginger ale and makes a face as he stares deeply into his glass. “Whoa,” he says. “The ginger ale in Canada tastes more like club soda with a hint of ginger. This tastes like candy.”

He’s at the York in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles while working on new music with a few musicians under Disney’s record label, rather than his native nation to the north. It’s the beginning of summer, and only a few weeks away from the start of his tour to promote his upcoming EP, Love Has No Language. Although Veliz chose the title in part because of the variety of languages and cultures that influence his music, it also fits the record's message.

“I decided on that title because I think something we can all identify with is love," Veliz says with another sip of his drink. "I feel that everybody can identify with the stories that I’m telling, especially the love stories. It talks about the seasons you go through, like falling in love at first sight and, of course, heartache."

Veliz believes this is the album where people will begin to understand his personality and who his influences are, like Juan Luis Guerra, Michael Jackson, and James Brown. That diversity in cultural influences helped shape the music he creates comes directly from his family. With familial ties to Jamaica and Guatemala aside from his Canadian upbringing, Veliz's family is deeply rooted in music. One cousin is a Christian recording artist, another a conductor for one of the most famous orchestras in all of Guatemala, and that's just the beginning.

“If anything I was pushed away from [a musical career]," Veliz says between bites of a chicken sandwich. "My parents always wanted for me to become a working professional. Being immigrants, my parents worked really hard their entire lives so that their children could one day become professionals, only to have this one rebellious kid who says ‘I want to be an artist.’”

But Veliz didn't leave his parents empty-handed. He graduated from college with a business degree, and it's an experience he's glad to have even if he doesn't plan on working a 9-to-5 anytime soon.

"My goal was never just to be a musician, but also a mogul," Veliz says. "I run my own business and invest in different areas of agriculture and technology. This is the first step of getting to a position of influence and giving back to my community. Now, my parents are happy with my decision.”

Long before he went to college, Veliz found a passion in music production around the age of 12. By 16, he was touring Latin America in a Christian band. Following a performance, he was approached by manager and label-owner Lex Borrero. Borrero wanted to sign Veliz on the spot, but the singer was bound to an unfair contract he'd signed when he was younger.

After originally giving up on performing to spend years focusing on writing and producing for other musicians, Veliz's passion was rekindled by a chance meeting with Borrero just last year. Borrero had been given the head A&R position at the Canadian branch of Universal Music, and he still believed Veliz should be the one at the microphone. "I was showing [Borrero] what all I had been working on when he says to me ‘Unfortunately, you can’t be a songwriter. You’re supposed to be an artist! The songs you have here are amazing.’"

Weeks later, Veliz found himself in the recording studio with a Montreal-based producer known for working magic with some of the most famous names in Latin music. However, Veliz was looking to do something a little different than the traditional Latin sound. “He would say ‘No! It’s not going to work like that. You’re getting away from the roots of the sound!’ I’d say ‘Yeah, that’s the point!'"  

Eventually, the two were able to find common ground in the studio over Kizomba—a combination of African and Haitian dancing with a slower, more romantic rhythm. The duo combined traditional Latin vibes with instruments such as African drums, Indian sitars, and even an EDM-inspired synth to create Veliz's hit single, "Dancing Kizomba."

“During a meeting with Lex, I played ‘Dancing Kizomba’ halfway through and then skipped over it," Veliz says as he reaches for a French fry. "He shouted ‘No, go back!’ So I replayed it, and he said to me ‘That’s the hit.’ The scary part was knowing the potential that the song had as far as being a fantastic introduction to the album, but an equally high potential of becoming a one-hit wonder.”

Only time will tell if Veliz can replicate the success of "Dancing Kizomba." With a handful of other strong tracks on Love Has No Language, any of them could be another breakout for him. For now, Veliz has a flight to catch back to Toronto, and he still has one more important decision to make before he leaves LA: what to watch on Netflix on his way home.