A-F-R-O

James Dean Santiago-Gutierrez was born in Gardena, California. He is Black and Mexican. After living in foster homes, Gutierrez was adopted at the age of 5. He attended middle and high school in Orange County, California.

Gutierrez vowed to become an emcee after discovering Microphone Fiend by Eric B. and Rakim at the age of 9.

Gutierrez adopted the stage name A-F-R-O, an initialism for All Flows Reach Out, at age 13. When he turned 15, he bought his first set of musical equipment with the help of his mother and began to record his own music, mainly over YouTube instrumentals.

2014-2015: First project, meeting R.A. the Rugged Man, The Queen Latifah Show

On June 12, 2014, A-F-R-O released his first EP titled Modest World, which was produced by Pulse Reaction. The EP has a sorrowful tone, but still contains the heavy lyricism that made A-F-R-O well known.

A-F-R-O was discovered by his hip-hop mentor, R.A. the Rugged Man in 2014 at the age of 17 after entering his Definition Of A Rap Flow competition. After their first meeting, R.A. recorded two videos of A-F-R-O freestyling. Both gathered millions of views on YouTube. They soon collaborated on numerous occasions, and toured together across the world.

In October 2014, A-F-R-O made an appearance on The Queen Latifah Show, performing a live freestyle based on random items pulled out of a box.

2016: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, A-F-R-O POLO

In 2016, Honda released a special titled Honda Uncharted. It was a 2015-2017 digital video series produced by Honda in partnership with Woven Digital (Uproxx) for the Honda Stage platform. The series focused on documenting the journeys of emerging musicians and artists, targeting younger audiences through storytelling. A-F-R-O was one of the subjects, and his episode received a Clio Award for 2016 Gold Winner.

On June 16, 2016, A-F-R-O performed a live freestyle on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

A-F-R-O collaborated with EDM producer NGHTMRE on two songs in 2016, one of which was titled Stronger. The accompanying music video, directed by Colin Hanks, showcases the track being recorded straight to vinyl and backed with a live band.

July 2016 saw the release of the A-F-R-O POLO EP, a collaboration between A-F-R-O and producer Marco Polo, with contributions from Pharoahe Monch and Eamon. The project was born after R.A. the Rugged Man brought A-F-R-O to the producer's studio and encouraged him to work with the rapper. The EP has close to 10,000,000 streams.

A-F-R-O recorded multiple songs with his favorite producer DJ Premier for a collaborative project in 2015, but it remains unreleased, as of 2026. However, they did work on two separate songs for A-F-R-O's character D-Rome in The Breaks.

2017-2019: "Freedom Form Flowing"

In 2017, Gift of Gab reached out to R.A. to feature both him and A-F-R-O on a song called Freedom Form Flowing. A-F-R-O, being a big fan of Blackalicious, was more than ecstatic to collaborate with one of his favorite emcees.

The music video was released September 7, 2018, and has reached over 15,000,000 views on YouTube.

A-F-R-O was featured on Novel's single "Young Monster" in 2019, which appeared on Power Book II: Ghost and BET's Stopwatch America.

In May 2019, A-F-R-O appeared on Diamond D's song Hold Up, which also features Twista.

2020-2022: All My Heroes are Dead, Overdrive appearance

On April 17, 2020, A-F-R-O was featured on R.A. the Rugged Man's album All My Heroes Are Dead. The song "Gotta Be Dope" was given rave reviews, and the music video has reached over 2 million views. On April 27, he appeared on Jon Connor's album, SOS.

In 2021, Hi-Rez recruited A-F-R-O on the highly acclaimed song Overdrive, which also features Twista, Tech N9ne, Bizzy Bone, Joell Ortiz, & KRSNA. He was later featured on Diamond D & Talib Kweli's single, Far Out Bar Out.

A-F-R-O made a guest appearance on Fortnite's song Lil Whip (Mmm!) in 2022.

2023: Production career, 2nd EP AFRODEEZEAK

Starting 2023, A-F-R-O focused on producing his own projects, and also for numerous artists including MotionPlus, 60 East, EKYM1536, Pulse Reaction, Elena Charis, MZ1, and Emsee Prospekt.

On August 28, 2023, A-F-R-O released his 2nd solo EP and the first entry to his self-produced AFRODEEZEAK trilogy.

2024: Multiple releases, Posse Part 3

A-F-R-O released his 3rd solo EP New Colonel in Town on January 26, 2024. The EP has a comical take on KFC and Colonel Sanders.

He later released his 4th solo EP The Drawing Board on May 10, and his 5th solo EP AFRODEEZEAK 2 on September 13.

On December 27, A-F-R-O arranged a song titled "Posse Part 3," which features 80 emcees on a single track. Psycho Les, Blu, Jon Connor, Myka 9, and Reverie are among the large roster. The video was nominated for Best Music Video at IndieX Film Festival. '

2025: Trap Door compilation album

A-F-R-O released his 6th solo EP Crimson Fury on June 13, 2025. This conceptual EP tells a story about a man named Archie, who gets sent to prison after killing the men who murdered his best friend.

On September 26, A-F-R-O released his 7th solo EP AFRODEEZEAK 3, closing out his first trilogy. The third single King ov da Throne features Slug. On December 12, he released his 8th solo EP No More Patience, which includes a single that was produced by Erick Sermon, titled U Ain't.

A-F-R-O released a self-produced compilation full-length album, Trap Door, on December 26. Trap Door was in development for 11 years. The album features appearances from Reks, Termanology, Blu, Jon Connor, and actor/comedian Will Sasso.

2026: Multiple releases, Trap Door 2

On May 4, 2026, A-F-R-O released an EP titled A-F-R-O DILLA, with all proceeds going to the J Dilla / James Dewitt Yancey Foundation.

His 9th solo EP titled Blood Rain was released on May 22, 2026.

On June 1, 2026, A-F-R-O and MotionPlus announced a collaborative album titled Frequencies. The front cover and tracklist were revealed on their Instagram profiles on June 4th. On June 26, A-F-R-O and MotionPlus released Frequencies on all platforms, and Bandcamp for direct support.

On July 24, 2026, A-F-R-O revealed the front cover, track list, and release date for Trap Door 2. On July 25, 2026, the first single "Abandon Ship," was released. On August 7, A-F-R-O released the second single, "Play on Wordz," featuring Bishop Lamont, Wordsworth, and Terror Van Poo. A music video for "Play on Wordz" was later released on August 21st.

On August 28, 2026, A-F-R-O released Trap Door 2 on digital platforms.

As of 2026, notable emcees who have appeared on A-F-R-O's production include Slug, Ras Kass, Bishop Lamont, Eligh, Wordsworth, Rock of Heltah Skeltah, Tek of Smif-N-Wessun, Blaq Poet, Ruste Juxx, 4-IZE, and K.A.A.N.

2016-2022: First role, The Breaks

A-F-R-O appeared in a scene for the film Good Time, but it was ultimately left in the cutting room. After feeling discouraged, A-F-R-O landed his first acting gig in 2016 on The Breaks, a VH1 television drama film about 90's hip-hop, and returned to play the same character in three episodes of the TV series spin-off. In 2022, A-F-R-O appeared as Moo in the horror-comedy film Bitch Ass, which also includes the late Tony Todd.

Movie review career

On March 4, 2022, A-F-R-O started a movie review channel and podcast on YouTube titled FRO Thizzle Reviews.

A-F-R-O POLO

Of his collaboration with Marco Polo on the song Long Time Coming, Vibe magazine wrote "A -F-R-O sounds off with takes his intermediate rhyming skills to a whole new level over Polo's piano minor chords, distorted vocals, and hard drums." Acclaim magazine said of the song Joe Jackson "This is easily the best song on the EP, with a laid-back tempo that gives dude room to breathe." Subjective Sounds wrote "From a sonic perspective, A-F-R-O Polo is magnificent with a soundstage that grows as you increase the volume and doesn't distort. The separation between elements is also superb.... A-F-R-O Polo is incredibly dynamic".

Other

The Current wrote "hip-hop has changed so vastly... the old school sound seems to have been completely snuffed out. That is, until the extremely talented 18-year-old rapper A-F-R-O (All Flows Reach Out) came onto the scene... this very talented individual has not only been given the opportunity to share his music, but also brought old school back".

Of Fro's performance in Milwaukee in 2016, the Milwaukee Courier wrote: "Although A-F-R-O may look like a big teddy bear with an even bigger Afro, his bassy voice and ability to rhyme extremely complex words syllable-by-syllable could be considered rap genius."

Lyrical style

A-F-R-O has named Sean Price, MF Doom, R.A. the Rugged Man, GZA, Pharoahe Monch, Rakim, Kool G Rap, Chip-Fu, and Twista as his lyrical influences on rhyme schemes, content, and speed.

Production style

A-F-R-O names DJ Premier as his favorite producer of all time, and is majorly influenced by his works. He also holds Pete Rock, J Dilla, Madlib, Erick Sermon, and RZA in high regards.

Film

Television

Studio albums

Solo EPs

Collab albums

Collab EPs

Compilation albums

Mixtapes

Other projects that A-F-R-O completely produced

Instrumental projects

• Jedi Mind Tricks - The Thief and the Fallen (2015)
• NGHTMARE - Stronger (2016)
• Wax Tailor - By Any Beats Necessary (2016)
• Chinese Man - Shikantaza (2017)
• Gift of Gab - Rejoice! Rappers Are Rapping Again! (2018)
• Diamond D - The Diam Piece 2 (2019)
• Novel - "Young Monster" (2019)
• R.A. the Rugged Man - All My Heroes Are Dead (2020)
• L'Orange & Solemn Brigham - Marlowe 2 (2020)
• Jon Connor - SOS (2020)
• Diamond D & Talib Kweli - "Far Out, Bar Out" (2021)
• Hi-Rez - "Overdrive" (alongside Twista, Tech N9ne, Bizzy Bone, Joell Ortiz, & KRSNA) [2021]
• K.A.A.N. - KAIZEN (2021)
• Fortnite - "Lil’ Whip (Mmm!)" (2022)
• Freedom Fry - "Mr. Nobody" (2022)
• Artifacts & Buckwild - No Expiration Date (2022)
• Emsee Prospekt & Big Duke - "3 Kingz" (2025)
• 4-IZE - All Seeing IZE On Me (2025)
• Stu Bangas & Horror City - The Phantom of the Operap (2025)
• Blu & Myka 9 - God Takes Care of Babies & Fools (2025)

Clio Awards

One-Wheeler Short Film Competition

IndieX Film Fest