David Martínez Álvarez (born 30 July 1985), better known by his stage name Rayden, is a Spanish rapper.
Career
Rayden was a member of rap groups A3Bandas and Crew Cuervos.
In 2006, Rayden won the
freestyle rap competition Red Bull Batalla de los Gallos. He participated again in 2009, and was eliminated in the semi-finals.
Rayden released his first solo studio album, ''Estaba escrito'', in 2010. His second album, ''Mosaico'', was published in 2012, and the third, ''En alma y hueso'', was released in 2014.
His fourth studio album, ''Antónimo'' (2017) initiated a trilogy completed by ''Sinónimo'' (2019) and ''Homónimo'' (2021).
In November 2021, Rayden headlined a concert at the
WiZink Center in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
dedicated to his twentieth anniversary as an artist.
In December 2021, he was selected to participate in the
first edition
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants.
First edition
According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...
of
Benidorm Fest, the song festival organised to determine 's entry for the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
, with the song "Calle de la llorería". He finished in fourth place.
In March 2023, Rayden reported his intentions to quit music and focusing on writing.
In April 2023, he released the album ''La victoria imposible'', which he announced as his last as a recording and performing artist.
Following the
2023 municipal elections in Spain, Rayden cancelled the August 2024 concert in his native Alcalá de Henares set to put a closure to his musical career, due to "moral duty" in the wake of the arrival of the extreme right to areas of the municipal government.
In July 2023, it was announced Rayden would have a role on
Benidorm Fest 2024 as a musical advisor.
Discography
Albums
Awards and nominations
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayden
Singers from the Community of Madrid
Spanish male rappers
Living people
Benidorm Fest contestants
1985 births