Ángel Dior — Ángel Rosario, born in 2003 in the Villa María neighbourhood of Santo Domingo — is a Dominican dembow artist known as El Rey de la 42, who went from selling chocolates door to door to a viral career and a courtroom win against a French luxury conglomerate inside two years.

«AIO»

Before music, Rosario sold chocolates around his neighbourhood. His debut single, «AIO» (September 2022), spread quickly on YouTube, and Rosalía and Cardi B both worked it into their own performances — Rosalía during a Louis Vuitton show at Paris Fashion Week, Cardi B at an MTV appearance. That same year he sang it live with Bad Bunny at the Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez, the performance that put his name in front of a national audience for the first time. «Piropi» followed that October.

A run of features

In 2023 he appeared on «Ojos Ferrari», from Karol G’s «Mañana Será Bonito», alongside Justin Quiles, and recorded «Tamo en nota» with Rauw Alejandro and «Wapae» with 6ix9ine, Lenier and Bulin 47. A single with Chimbala, «Súbete a mi moto», and an appearance on La Baby’s planned EP «Niña Traviesa» followed.

Fighting for the name

In September 2022, as «Ángel Dior» began to spread, Parfums Christian Dior — a house owned by the luxury conglomerate LVMH — filed a formal opposition in the Dominican Republic against his registering the name as a trademark. The case ran nearly two years; on 5 April 2024, Dominican authorities rejected LVMH’s opposition and let Rosario keep the name he had built his career on.

Legacy

By the end of 2023 Rosario had picked up nominations at the Premios Heat, the Premios Juventud, the Premios Soberano and the Premios Tú Música Urbano, without yet converting any of them into a win — a run of recognition that, together with the Dior ruling, marked how far a chocolate seller from Villa María had travelled in barely two years.