Career
Originating from Moreno Valley, California, United States, he has toured internationally. In 2005, AJ Rafael auditioned for American Idol, but never progressed to the later stages. After the show he started posting his songs on YouTube in 2006, which garnered considerable interest.
Some of his influences are popular-rock based and his performances and recordings are generally within this genre.
In 2011, he was nominated to be a part of Billboard"s Battle of the Bands alongside Gentlemen Hall, Otenki, Hotels, Lightning Love and Side by Side. In the same year he released the kickstarter funded album.
Charity AJ is involved in the charity Music Speaks and has run the annual autism benefit concert since 2006. Every year, Music Speaks has donated revenues to the nonprofit organization Autism Speaks.
Performers for these concerts include Jennifer Chung, Quest Crew, JR Aquino and Mike Isberto.