Aj Rafael was born and raised in southern California. Growing up with music surrounding him, Aj quickly developed a love for music. His father taught many choirs and Aj was influenced by the many musically talented people surrounding him. At the age of four, Aj began taking piano lessons. When he was ten-years-old, Aj's father passed away due to surgical complications, so Aj took his father's plaice as the accompanist for his church, St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Ever since then Aj has been playing the piano. In 2005, Aj performed his first show in Moreno Valley and soon after began to play in local cities, gaining him much respect in the music scene. He started producing and recording his own album and released it in December 2005. In 2006, Aj became the founder and director of the MoVal Concert Chorale (MVCC). AJ put together a choir concert which raised $8,000+ for his church, St. Patrick's, and it featured the new MVCC. In 2008 & 2009, AJ began to play in places out of Southern California. From New York, to Florida, to Virginia, & even internationally in Canada and the Philippines. AJ gained partnership with YouTube, hit over 100,000 subscribers, and became even more recognized for his original music. The "Juicebox EP" was recorded with talented musicians he met at Berklee College of Music, and "the band" brought a new sound to AJ's existing material. With nearly 200,000 subscribers and 40 million views on YouTube, 70,000 Facebook fans, 11 million plays on MySpace, and with social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, Aj has successfully been able to raise awareness for organizations and charities he holds near to his heart (one of them being Music Speaks, an organization that benefits families with Autism, and the Mahal Foundation, an organization helping to fix the poverty in the Philippines). Aj Rafael is a true believer in music and is very much respected by many artists both nationally and internationally. Aj hopes to inspire more people to have music in their lives and stresses that things like popularity and money… all of it is temporary, but music is forever.
