Austin Agustín Santos (born December 23, 1985), better known by his stage name Arcángel, is an American rapper and singer. He is often described as one of the most influential artists in the Latin urban genre, as well in Latin music overall, and one of the pioneers of Latin trap music.[2][3] Around 2002, he became interested in becoming a performer of reggaeton. While living in Puerto Rico, he met fellow singer De la Ghetto, where they eventually formed a popular then-underground reggaeton duo, Arcángel & De la Ghetto.
While releasing music with De la Ghetto during the mid-2000s, they would release songs that eventually became popular in the United States and Puerto Rico, including "Aparentemente", "Agresivo", "Sorpresa" and "Mi Fanática". The duo went on to pursue solo careers following their separation in 2007; Arcángel would also start a record label of his own. Since the start of his solo career in 2008, he has released hit singles such as "Pa' Que la Pases Bien", "Por Amar a Ciegas", "Hace Mucho Tiempo", "Me Prefieres a Mí", "Me Acostumbré", "Tú No Vive' Así", "Sigues Con Él", "La Jumpa", and "ALV". Arcángel's second major-label album Sentimiento, Elegancia & Maldad (2013) peaked at number one on the US Top Latin Albums chart, with his later solo studio albums—Ares (2018), Historias de un Capricornio (2019), and Los Favoritos 2 (2020)—appearing on the chart's top five.
Early life
Austin Agustín Santos Rosas was born on December 23, 1985, in New York City to Dominican parents.[4] He and his family moved to Puerto Rico when he was 3 months old, and eventually began moving back and forth between New York City and Puerto Rico, starting when he was 12. His mother, Carmen Rosa, was a former member of the all-women merengue group, las Chicas del Can, who were popular during the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.[5][2] Santos grew up listening to various types of music and has been a fan of rock music, particularly Draco Rosa, a Puerto Rican pop rock artist and a former member of Menudo.[6] Santos was not always a fan of reggaeton; he claims that it is not his favorite type of music, but it is easy to sing to.[7] During the early 2000s, Santos grew fond of the new kind of music.
After returning to Puerto Rico in 2002, Santos had decided to follow in the footsteps of the upbringing of reggaeton music.[7] He went on to form part of an underground reggaeton act with De la Ghetto, Arcángel & De la Ghetto. The duo was signed to reggaeton artist Zion's record label, Baby Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. The duo were also involved with Machete Music in 2004 during the time that they were recording for reggaeton compilation albums. Arcángel & De la Ghetto rose to fame in 2006 on the reggaeton compilation album hosted by Héctor el Father, Sangre Nueva, with their hit song, "Ven Pégate".[8][9] They were also featured on the Luny Tunes-hosted compilation Mas Flow: Los Benjamins in 2006.[8]
Though an active musical duo, Arcángel & De la Ghetto never released a studio album since the formation of the duo. Any production they had been involved with only resulted in tracks and recordings being included on compilation albums or leaked onto the Internet. This was due to a conflict with Baby Records because the company was not releasing any material by Arcángel & De la Ghetto onto an album of their own. Arcángel claimed to have even spent $150,000 on producing an album, which resulted in the label not releasing it to market. The tracks produced were said to have been leaked onto the Internet instead.[6] Arcángel had then filed a lawsuit with Baby Records in 2007 for US$1,000,000 and eventually left the record company in December 2006, when he announced that he was embarking on a solo career and founding a label of his own.[6][8]
2008–2013: Solo career, El Fenómeno, and Sentimiento, Elegancia & Maldad
Arcángel on stage in 2013
After the separation of the duo in early 2007, Arcángel began his solo career, working with various reggaeton producers and performers on compilation albums. Most notable of them was a compilation album produced in 2007, Flow la Discoteka 2, which was produced by songwriter and record producer DJ Nelson.[10] The album was an upbringing of different artists trying to rise to fame, one of those including Arcángel, who made a track titled "Chica Virtual", which went on to be one of his most recognizable songs, as well as being a popular airplay single on American Latin Urban radio stations, charting at number 9 on the Billboard Latin Rhythm Airplay chart.[11] It also charted at number 22 on the BillboardHot Latin Tracks chart.[12]
In July 2008, Arcángel told Billboard that he was working on his debut album La Maravilla, which was set to be a Latin urban album and was set to release in September or October 2008.[13] The album was eventually cancelled due to tracks of the album being leaked onto the internet that same year.[14] One of the internet leaks, a song titled "Pa' Que la Pases Bien", went on to be a popular airplay track on American Latin Urban radio stations across the United States. The unreleased album being leaked onto the internet resulted in making Arcángel more popular among reggaeton fans in the United States, as well as Puerto Rico.[8]
Arcángel founded Flow Factory Inc. in 2006, and his mother became his manager afterward.[6] He claimed that it was easier having his mother be his manager so that he would not have to pay 20 percent of money received from record sales to his record label and manager.[6] He went on to release his debut album, El Fenómeno, in late 2008.[8] The album included songs that were produced in the last quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008, including the DJ Nelson produced "Chica Virtual". Half of the album was tracks that he originally produced for an album that was to be released in the first quarter of 2008. The other half of the album also included newly produced tracks, ones including "Por Amar a Ciegas", which went on to become a successful airplay single on Latin urban radio stations across the United States.[8]
In mid-January 2009, Arcángel announced plans of a European tour sometime during 2009, in promotion of his debut album, El Fenómeno, and to receive more exposure across the world from reggaeton fans.[15] To comment on the tour, he claimed that in order for it to be successful, good equipment would be highly important, and by going on the tour, he would be able to learn more about a continental tour experience.[15] Arcángel confirmed to be touring in several countries, including Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, England, the Netherlands and Denmark. His mixtape The Problem Child was released in April 2010, with his following mixtape Optimus A.R.C.A. released in October 2010.[8]
In February 2012, Arcangel signed with Pina Records, which is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico and operates offices in Colombia and Venezuela. Through the label, Arcángel released "Hace Mucho Tiempo", the lead single from his 2013 album[16]Sentimiento, Elegancia & Maldad, which both performed successfully.[17][18] The album debuted at number one on the US Top Latin Albums chart, making it his first number-one, and first top-10, studio album.[19]
In 2018, he released his third studio album Ares, which was composed mostly of Latin trap, something much different compared to his past albums which were mostly reggaeton. The album featured Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny and Colombian artist J Balvin.[25][26]
In 2019, he would collaborate with Myke Towers, Farruko, Sech and Zion on the remix for "Si Se Da".[27] That same year, he would end his contract with Pina Records and sign with Rimas Entertainment, where he released singles to promote his fourth studio album, Historias de un Capricornio, which contains collaborations with Ozuna, Bad Bunny, Myke Towers, among others.[28][29] He would release "Te Esperaré" on August 16, 2019, as the album's lead single;[30] "Memoria Rota" with Towers was released on October 25, 2019, as its second single.[31][32] Within the album, its fourth single, "Sigues Con Él" featuring Sech, would mark a major breakthrough for Arcángel, as it peaked at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100, which marked his first appearance on the chart.[33]
2020–2021: Los Favoritos 2 and 2.5
In April 2020, Arcángel and Sech would release a remix version of "Sigues Con Él" with Romeo Santos.[34] After, the rapper would release a few more singles to promote his fifth studio album Los Favoritos 2, which is a sequel to his 2015 album with DJ Luian, Los Favoritos; the singles "Tussi" and "Amantes y Amigos" were released on September and October 2020.[35][36] The album, which was originally planned to be released in 2017, contains a sequel to "Aparentemente" with Yaga & Mackie and De la Ghetto titled "Aparentemente 2,"[37][38] as well as other collaborations with Cosculluela, Ozuna, Wisin & Yandel, Romeo Santos, among others.[39]
In April 2021, Arcángel and Colombian rapper Farina would release their collaborative EP FloWres, which was supported by their single "La Boca".[40] In September of the same year, he released his sixth studio album Los Favoritos 2.5, which was supported by the single "Insegura" and contains collaborations with Zion & Lennox, Nicky Jam, Tempo, among others.[41][42] In November 2021, Arcángel's younger brother, Justin Santos, died in a car accident while on a visit to Puerto Rico.[43]
2022–present: Sr. Santos and Sentimiento, Elegancia y Más Maldad
A year after the death of Justin Santos, Arcángel would release the single "JS4E" and would also announce his seventh studio album Sr. Santos to be a tribute to his brother, in November 2022.[44] A week later, he released the album's second single, "La Jumpa" with Bad Bunny, which became another hit single for Arcángel, peaking at number 68 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[45]Sr. Santos was released on December 1, 2022, containing other collaborations with Myke Towers, Young Miko, Eladio Carrión, Bizarrap, among others.[46] The album peaked at number three on the US Top Latin Albums chart, achieving his sixth top 10 on the chart.[19]
In March 2023, Arcángel would join Bizarrap to release his 54th "Music Sessions", which was originally teased on social media before release.[47][48] After the release of several singles, the singer would announce his eighth studio album, Sentimiento, Elegancia y Más Maldad, which is a sequel to his second album Sentimiento, Elegancia & Maldad. Following the announcement, Arcángel would release the album's lead single, "La Chamba" with Peso Pluma, which was announced with a trailer which featured American actor Danny Trejo, being released on October 30, 2023.[49] The album was released on November 17, 2023, with most of the album's production done by Dímelo Flow.[50][51] Within the album, "ALV" with Grupo Frontera would become a hit in other countries.[52]
Controversy
Since 2007, Arcángel has released a series of tiraderas (diss tracks) under the title "Feliz Navidad", with most of them being produced by DJ Luian. Farruko, Wisin, Tito El Bambino, among others has been mentioned by Arcángel in at least one of his diss tracks.[53] In December 2023, Arcángel released "Feliz Navidad 8", which is a diss track against Anuel AA, Rochy RD and Ozuna. The release of the track would start a feud against the singer and Anuel; its reason for release is due to Anuel ending his business relationship with his longtime manager Frabián Eli, who is Arcángel's brother-in-law.[54] Anuel would respond with the release of the "Glock, Glock, Glock", where he mentions that without Bad Bunny, Arcángel cannot make a hit single. Titled after the substance of the same name, Arcángel would respond with "El Narcan", where its lyrics claim that Anuel has substance abuse issues.[55] Anuel responded again with a second diss track "Arcángel Es Chota", a song where he mentions Karol G and Cosculluela, and also mentions Arcángel's arrest in 2019 for domestic battery. Also responding to the singer again through an Instagram post, Anuel claims that nobody noticed that he released his album, Sentimiento, Elegancia y Más Maldad, adding that "[he's] waiting for Bad Bunny to collaborate with him to revive his career."[56] Arcángel would release a third diss track titled "3 a 0", where he mentions Anuel's ex-partner Yailin La Más Viral and defends Karol G and Feid in the track.[57]
Personal life
Family
Arcángel has two children. The first was born while in a relationship with Alejandra Pascual,[58] while the second was born during Arcángel's relationship with Janexsy Figueroa.[59] He is also stepfather to the son of Figueroa and Nicky Jam.[60][61] Justin Santos, who was Arcángel's brother, died at the age of 21 on November 21, 2021, in a car accident on the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge in Puerto Rico.[62][63][9]
Legal issues
In July 2010, Arcángel was arrested in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding. In February 2012, he was arrested again for something similar, despite refusing to take a field sobriety test.[64] In 2019, Arcángel got into legal trouble for domestic battery and was set to appear in court in June 2020.[65][66][67]
^ abPérez-Duthie, Juan (January 23, 2009). "Arcángel da la batalla". Billboard (in Spanish). Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on March 25, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
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