Menson Avena, DJ Abuelo or Abuelo of his artist name, was born in the La Plaine district in Port-au-Prince in Haiti. At the age of 6, he went to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic with his family for his studies.

 

As a teenager, he began to dance the Dembow, a very trendy style of music at that time. He even passes master in this art and his nickname «Abuelo» which means «grandfather» in Spanish comes from the perfect mastery of this dance. He later organizes many events in Haiti at the Meloumens Family Hotel, his father’s club. At this time, he follows the Rap Kreyol a lot. He began his activities as a DJ and his evenings were a great success.

 

Arriving in Montreal in 2015 to pursue professional studies, Abuelo began looking for events where he mixed his turntables in order to quietly enter the musical community in his new country. He accompanied, among others, artist Richy Jay in performances (Quebec, Montreal and Ottawa) and began to be in increasing demand.

 

Abuelo launched an album called «Grand-Père» in 2019 to showcase his talent as a rapper. He collaborates with many other artists (Richy Jay, Ayvi, Fyah Bwoy La, Roby, Jawa and Shortyb). The artist has always loved writing committed texts that denounce social injustices and illustrate the daily lives of young people his age. His musical influences are inspired by great Haitian rappers such as Wendy, Zomo and Toby. However, Abuelo has a style of his own, mixing both Creole and Spanish texts in Trap, Hip-Hop, Rap and Afrobeat rhythms.