Ashley Neyra 🇵🇪
Chipelo is currently on his “college tour” for the fall semester of 2024, and is expected to preform in several universities throughout the state of Maryland and Virginia. (Image courtesy of Benjamín Molina)
Benjamín Molina, also known as “Chipelo,” performed at the University of Maryland for Brillando Juntos presented by the Coalition of Latinx Students Organizations and The Office of Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy. Additionally, the event was co-sponsored by other Latinx organizations on campus on Oct. 17.
Molina is a Salvadoran-American artist and Montgomery County native. Having spent his younger days in Silver Spring and Takoma Park, Maryland, he later moved to Germantown, Maryland. Molina went on to attend Northwest High School in 2016.
When he was in 8th grade, he made a pact to become famous with a friend. As a man of his word, and in pursuit to complete his promise to become famous, Molina joined programs such as theater and the Latin dance club.
He was always drawn to the world of entertainment since he was younger combined with the newfound love of Latin music discovered in middle school, it only made sense for him to join clubs where he could explore his passion.
Having been an outgoing student he participated in musicals where he discovered a passion for performing and putting on an energetic performance show for the audience to enjoy.
He took inspiration from performers, such as Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber and Rauw Alejandro. Molina goes on to describe Rauw Alejandro as “Latin Chris Brown” because of his energetic on stage presence.
Molina decided to follow the path to going into the music industry.
Soon, he knew he would have to learn the music basics and went on to teach himself piano on his own during lunch in 10th grade.
Later, getting inspiration from the movie “Coco,” he decided to learn the guitar – leading him to also learn the electric guitar, base, bongos and güiros.
Molina ended up making his first song in 11th grade, called “Cuando Te Conocí.”
“It was so bad,” Molina said. “It had voice cracks and was a horrible production.”
Since then, Chipelo has worked hard and released several songs, including his latest song “En La Disco” Ft. Kellí Alva, which was released on Oct. 23.
After graduating from Northwest High School, Molina went on to attend St. Mary’s College of Maryland and then transferred to Towson University. He is now a business administration major with a concentration in marketing. Molina is also a part of the Delta Rho Chapter of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc.
During this time, Molina has put in hard work in his music career and has been able to perform in places like Ultrabar in Washington, D.C. He has also been able to perform in educational institutions around Maryland and recently performed at Woodlawn High School in Gwynn Oak, Maryland. His largest performance so far has been in Fiesta DC 2024 in September.
Currently, Molina has a few semesters left at Towson University.
He's getting ready to start working and is excited to focus on his music career. As he is currently on a college tour around universities in Maryland, he hopes to one day be able to perform at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. as a way for his friends and family to enjoy his music.
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