Valentín Oliva, professionally known as Wos (stylized in

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), is an Argentine rapper, freestyler and actor. Starting as a freestyler, he won the Argentine competition of freestyle battle ''El Quinto Escalón'' on several occasions, achieving national recognition. He also won the FMS Argentina and the international tournament Red Bull Batalla de Gallos, both in 2018. Following his success in freestyle battles, he decided to pursue a musical career. In 2018, he released his first single "Púrpura" while in 2019 he released his debut studio album ''Caravana''. He has won several Gardel Awards and received a nomination for

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at the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2020.

Early life

Oliva's father, Alejandro Oliva is a musician and founder of the group La Bomba de Tiempo, while his mother, Maia Mónaco, is a dancer and actress who was a part of the group El Diablo en la Boca. His parents artistic influence led him to study piano and drums from a young age, he also studied acting at the Escuela Metropolitana de Arte Dramático in

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. At 13, he was a part of the Argentine television channel

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appearing in various segments freestyling and playing the drums, during this time he started to participate in freestyle battles later inscribing himself into the competition ''El Quinto Escalón''.

Career

At 15, he participated for the first time in the Argentine freestyler competition ''El Quinto Escalón'', he won the competition in 2016 and was runner-up in 2017. In 2017, he competed for the first time in the Red Bull Batalla de los Gallos competition, winning the national competition but losing the international one in the final against Mexican rapper Aczino in

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, the next year he won the international competition in

. In 2018, he also won the competition FMS Argentina. After announcing his retirement from freestyle competitions, he released in 2018 his first single "Púrpura" followed by "Andrómeda", both under the label Agencia Picante with production from LOUTA and Nico Cotto. In March 2019, he performed at the music festival Lollapalooza in

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. On August 9, 2019, he released "Canguro" under the label Doguito Records, being the first single for his debut album. His album ''Caravana'' was released on October 4, 2019, consisting of seven songs it was premiered in two performances on October 11 and 12 at Groove, a venue in

. On May 21, 2020, he released the EP ''Tres puntos suspensivos'', recorded during the quarantines due to the

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is composed of four songs including one with his brother, Manuel. At the 21st Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2020, WOS received a nomination for

. The same year, at the Gardel Awards, he won Song of the Year and Best Urban/Trap Song or Album for "Canguro" and Best New Artist for ''Caravana''. Also in 2020, he made appearances in the comedy webseries '' Almost Happy'' and the music docuseries '' BREAK IT ALL: The History of Rock in Latin America'', both from

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. On November 4, 2020, he released "Mugre", as the first single for his upcoming second studio album and on December 17, 2020, he released "Convoy Jarana" as the album's second single. On November 18, 2021, he released his second studio album titled ''Oscuro éxtasis''.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Caravana'' (2019) * ''Oscuro éxtasis'' (2021)

Extended plays

* ''Tres puntos suspensivos'' (2020)

Awards and nominations

Gardel Awards

Note: At the Gardel Awards of 2020, Facu Yalve received nominations for Record of the Year and Producer of the Year for his work in ''Caravana'' as both a producer and engineer while Martin Levi, Juan Sanchez, Stephen Thayalan and Lucila Taba won Best Cover Design as designers for ''Caravana''. At the Gardel Awards of 2022, for their work in ''Oscuro Éxtasis'', Javier Fracchia, Facundo Yalve and Nicolás Cotto won Best Recording Engineering, Yalve also was nominated for Producer of the Year and Alejandro Ros won Best Cover Design.

Latin Grammy Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wos Living people Argentine rappers Musicians from Buenos Aires 21st-century Argentine musicians Argentine actors Year of birth missing (living people)