Rafael Castillo Torres, known professionally as De La Ghetto, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter, originally part of the duo
Arcángel & De La Ghetto. His name is a reference to a 1990 episode of ''
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart ...
''.
Early life and career
Rafael Castillo, Jr. was born in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and moved to
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the ...
, at the age of eight. He is the son of a
Dominican father and a
Puerto Rican mother. In 2004, he collaborated with reggaeton artist
Arcángel (real name: Austin Santos) to form the duo Arcángel & De La Ghetto; the group debuted with the single "Ven Pégate", which was featured on Naldo's mixtape ''Sangre Nueva'' in 2005. He along with
Arcángel signed to
Zion
Zion ( he, צִיּוֹן ''Ṣīyyōn'', LXX , also variously Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated ''Sion'', ''Tzion'', ''Tsion'', ''Tsiyyon'') is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Isra ...
's label Baby Records, and have appeared on numerous reggaeton albums including the compilation ''
Mas Flow: Los Benjamins''. In 2006, De La Ghetto began his solo career and appeared the next year on two hit singles, the remix of "Siente el Boom" by
Tito el Bambino and a collaboration with Randy, "Sensación del Bloque" which has been viewed on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
over 200 million times.
[Archived a]
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
''
Masacre Musical'' was released in 2008.
''Masacre Musical'' peaked at #46 on the ''Billboard'' Top Latin Albums chart in the U.S.;
its single "Tu Te Imaginas" single from his album Masacre Musical peaked at #33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Tracks chart. De La Ghetto is one of the first artist to bring ''
Latin Trap'' to
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, leading the way for many of today's biggest artist. His 2018 album ''
Mi Movimiento'' was nominated in 2019 for a Latin Grammy Award for "Best Urban Music Album", and the track "Caliente" was also nominated for a
Latin Grammy for "Best Urban song".
Discography
Albums
* 2008: ''
Masacre Musical''
* 2013: ''
Geezy Boyz: The Album''
* 2018: ''
Mi Movimiento''
* 2020: Los Chulitos
Mixtapes
* ''
The Boss Of The Block'' (2007)
* ''
The Boss Of The Block Vol. 2'' (2007)
* ''
Masacre Musical Mixtape'' (2007)
* ''
Masacre Musical Presents: El Movimiento'' (2008)
* ''
Masacre Musical Presents: El Movimiento Vol. II'' (2010)
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:De La Ghetto
Living people
American hip hop singers
American people of Puerto Rican descent
American singers of Dominican Republic descent
Latin trap musicians
Puerto Rican people of Dominican Republic descent
Puerto Rican reggaeton musicians
Urbano musicians
Year of birth missing (living people)
Warner Music Latina artists