Luis Raul Marrero (born January 23, 1974), also known by his stage name
Funky
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mid ...
, is a Puerto Rican rapper and songwriter. With seven solo albums and multiple jobs as a producer, Marrero is internationally recognized as a hip hop and reggaeton Christian artist. He has collaborated with Christian music musicians, including
Marcos Witt,
Jesus Adrian Romero, and
KJ-52
Jonah Kirsten Sorrentino (born June 26, 1975), better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac," . Marrero has been nominated for two
Latin Grammy
The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been ...
awards.
Funky has collaborated and produced for singers
Vico C, Triple Seven, 7th Poet,
Manny Montes
Emmanuel Rodríguez, better known as Manny Montes, is a Puerto Rican rapper, known one of the major Christian artists in Puerto Rico. He has been nominated multiple times for the Premios Arpa and recently, at the Tu Música Urbana Awards for "Mejo ...
,
KJ-52
Jonah Kirsten Sorrentino (born June 26, 1975), better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac," , Contagious,
Marcos Witt,
Israel & New Breed
Israel Houghton (; born May 19, 1971) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, producer and worship leader. He is usually credited as Israel & New Breed.
Musical career
Houghton produced an album by Michael Gungor, ''Big ...
, Travy Joe,
Julissa, Ezequiel Colon, Rey Pirin &
DJ Blass, Kike Pavón,
Redimi2
Redimi2 (born Willy González Cruz; June 3, 1979) is a Dominican Christian music rapper and songwriter.
González began releasing music in 1999 as a part of Redimi2 Squad, alongside his brother JG. After all members besides González left the grou ...
, Evan Craft,
Musiko and
Alex Zurdo
Alexis Vélez Alberio, also known as Alex Zurdo, is a Puerto Rican Christian music rapper and songwriter.
He has almost a dozen musical productions, and has been awarded the GMA Dove Award and Arpa Awards, having also been nominated for a Lat ...
.
Background
Marrero was born in
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 juri ...
, on January 23, 1974. He began to explore music at the age of 15 under the influence of
Puerto Rican Vico C, with whom he would later work on two of his nine albums. He became a husband and father at age 16.
In 1997, he met Vico C, with whom he established a friendship and a business. They collaborated on an album, marking an important stride in Marrero's musical career. In 1998, after several marital crises with his wife and family, Marrero became a Christian. Marrero founded his own label,
Funkytown Music
Luis Raul Marrero (born January 23, 1974), also known by his stage name Funky, is a Puerto Rican rapper and songwriter. With seven solo albums and multiple jobs as a producer, Marrero is internationally recognized as a hip hop and reggaeton Chri ...
, in 1999, the same year he produced Triple Seven's "Diferente".
In 2001, he collaborated as a producer on Manny Montes's album "Realidades", and Marrero also sang in one of the songs. That same year he had his first success as a singer and producer in the Christian music genre: "
Funkytown
"Funkytown" is a song by the American disco/funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music gen ...
". Media outlets in
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 ...
, as well as the international media, liked it, and it became a favorite among young listeners. With less than a year in the
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely aroun ...
world, Marrero received a nomination to the
Grammy Latino
The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been ...
in 2003.
After releasing the 2002 album ''Especie En Peligro'', Marrero consolidated the position as a musical influence of the Christian youth. With this album, he acquired several nominations and awards: ''
Premios ARPA'' (
México
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatem ...
, 2003 and 2004), ''Premios LA Conquista (''
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, 2004), Premio ''Integridad.com'' (2004) and ''Premios La Gente'', (California, 2004), among others.
In 2004, Marrero launched the production Los Vencedores, an album with more than 15 artists and other notable people within the genres. In 2005, Marrero starred in his first live production: ''En vivo desde Costa Rica'', which cemented his influence in the worldwide Christian reggaeton music genre that year. He then launched the production ''Vida Nueva'', which involved some of the most well-known artists of the genre: Manny Montes, Triple Seven, Alex Zurdo, Quest, Dr. P., Sammy, among others.
In 2006, he made his first trip to South America, touring for 17 days and performing more than 25 concerts in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
,
Colombia,
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
,
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
and United States, and other countries.
Between 2006 and 2007, Marrero launched the production ''Corriendo Para Ganar'', his third solo album and his sixth overall. Marrero resides in
Orlando, Florida, with his wife and children, Luis Jr. (19), Jorge (18), and Karla (16). From there, he runs Funkytown Music Inc., producing his own albums and those of various Christian singers of the reggaeton genre.
In 2008, a year described as "a year of great challenges and dreams", he began his "Total Access Tour", during which he visited countries in Latin America and United States cities. Marrero announced the project "Flow Sinfónico", which displays a live soundtrack, accompanied by strings and horn arrangements.
In 2009, he made the tour "Conectado (Plugged-in) World Tour," which was based on the importance of the connection with God. The tour began May 8 in Viceroy Del Pino, Buenos Aires. Marrero also collaborated with American Christian rapper
KJ-52
Jonah Kirsten Sorrentino (born June 26, 1975), better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac," on the song "Fuego" from KJ-52's album ''
Five-Two Television
''Five-Two Television'' is the sixth studio album by KJ-52. Released September 22, 2009 on BEC Recordings. The first single, "End of My Rope", was made available on iTunes on July 28, 2009. KJ-52 has released a few mixtapes already – some Mashup ...
'', and a music video has been filmed in Atlanta.
In February 2010, Marrero released the song "
Hoy
Hoy ( sco, Hoy; from Norse , meaning "high island") is an island in Orkney, Scotland, measuring – the second largest in the archipelago, after Mainland. A natural causeway, ''the Ayre'', links the island to the smaller South Walls; the tw ...
", which was the first single from his 2011 album ''
Reset''. In April 2010, he released the song "Corazones Puros", which was the second single from ''Reset''. In January 2011, he released ''Reset''. Later in 2011, the album earned Marrero a Latin Grammy award nomination. In May 2013, Marrero, with Redimi2, released the album ''Mas''.
In 2020, he participated in the
116 116 (''one hundred and sixteen'') may refer to:
*116 (number)
*AD 116
* 116 BC
* 116 (Devon and Cornwall) Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, a military unit
* 116 (MBTA bus)
* 116 (New Jersey bus)
* 116 (hip hop group), a Christian hip hop collect ...
album titled
''Sin Vergüenza'', in collaboration with
Lecrae
Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979), mononymously known as Lecrae, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur.
He is the president, co-owner and co-founder of the i ...
in the single "La Fiesta". In 2021, he released an album called UNO with
Alex Zurdo
Alexis Vélez Alberio, also known as Alex Zurdo, is a Puerto Rican Christian music rapper and songwriter.
He has almost a dozen musical productions, and has been awarded the GMA Dove Award and Arpa Awards, having also been nominated for a Lat ...
and
Redimi2
Redimi2 (born Willy González Cruz; June 3, 1979) is a Dominican Christian music rapper and songwriter.
González began releasing music in 1999 as a part of Redimi2 Squad, alongside his brother JG. After all members besides González left the grou ...
, reaching #1 on iTunes.
Then, collaborated with
Gerardo
Gerardo may refer to:
People Given name
Gerardo is the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of the male given name Gerard.
* Gerardo Amarilla (born 1969), Uruguayan politician
* Gerardo Bonilla (born 1975), Puerto Rican-born professional race ...
in the song "Agua amarga".
Funkytown Music
Funkytown Music is an American record label that produces Christian hip-hop and reggaeton music. Marrero founded the label in 1999. In that year the label released Diferente with Triple Seven, with Marrero as producer.
Discography
Albums
* ''Funkytown'' (2002)
* ''Especie En Peligro'' (2003)
* ''Los Vencedores'' (2004)
*Vida Nueva
ith DJ Pablo(2005)
* ''Corriendo Para Ganar'' (2006)
*Los Vencedores Platinum Edition (2008)
* ''Acceso Total Tour Edition'' (2008)
* ''
Reset'' (2011)
* ''Indestructible'' (2015)
* ''Agua'' (2019)
* ''UNO''
ith Alex Zurdo and Redimi2(2021)
* ''ROJO'' (2022)
Singles
References
External links
*
Triple Seven Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funky
1974 births
Living people
Puerto Rican rappers
21st-century American rappers