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| Tego Calderón | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 2 1972 |
| Origin |  Santurce, Puerto Rico
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| Genre(s) | Reggaeton, Hip-Hop, Latin Rap, Mambo, Salsa, Reggae |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Label(s) | Jiggiri Records (2000–present) Sony BMG (2001–2005) Atlantic Records (2006–present) |
| Website | www.tegocalderon.com |
Manny Espinal Rosario (born February 2 1972 in Santurce, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican rapper. He is best known as Tego Calderón. To Reggaeton fans he is commonly known by the nickname "El Abayarde" which refers to an insect commonly found in Puerto Rico similar to a fire ant.The name is a reference to being bothersome and behaving improperly as a childLatin Rap Interview - "Tego Calderón Part II: El Abayarde Strikes Back". He not only records hip hop music but also mambo, salsa (e.g. "Planté bandera" on his debut album, and "Llora, llora" and "Llámame" with Oscar D\'León) in 2006, blues ("Mardi gras", on the 2006 album) and reggaetón. In addition, he has also made songs that are pure reggae, but sung in Spanish (e.g. "Chillin\'" from the 2006 album The Underdog/El Subestimado).He also believes that Jamaican dancehall reggae and hip hop along with Salsa are the roots of Reggaeton. His album El Abayarde made him a major Latin star. His lyrics speak of the struggles of the Puerto Rican people, involve topics of racism, inequalities, and ghettos in Puerto Rico, and have strong nationalist undertones.
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Calderón attended high school in Miami Beach, Florida. He received multicultural exposure he later drew upon in creating genre-crossing reggaeton, which may have shaped his stylistic range and his ease in collaborating with US musicians. Calderón says that his parents were die-hard fans of Ismael Rivera, and that Rivera\'s innovative salsa music influenced him. He lists his father\'s love of jazz as another influence (for instance, a solo trumpet playing a slower version of Minnie the Moocher by Cab Calloway is used as the backbeat of his first single, Abayarde). Calderón eventually studied percussion and created his own rhythmic style that combined the sounds of salsa, plena, dancehall, and hip-hop. In his youth he was a drummer for a rock band, which performed songs by artists such as Ozzy Osbourne and Led ZeppelinLatin Rap Interview - "Tego Calderón Part II: El Abayarde Strikes Back". Lyric-wise, he combined slang of the 1960s with current slang and tales of barrio life. Calderón made several appearances on other Latin rappers\' albums before the White Lion label signed the artist. Issued in 2002, El Abayarde became Calderón\'s full-length debut. “EL ABAYARDE” broke sales records in the then-underground Reggaeton genre, selling a remarkable 50,000 on the first day of its release, and Calderón became an overnight Latin superstar. Just three months after making his solo debut, Calderón was greeted with a tumultuous response at a sold-out concert at Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan. The following day, he made history when he became the first rap artist to perform at the traditional National Day of Salsa celebration.
When Tego first headlined New York’s Madison Square Garden in August 2003, The New York Times heralded him as “the most forward-looking performer” of the artists on the bill, noting that “Mr. Calderón made the best case for Reggaetón as music with room to grow.” In October 2004, when he returned to the stage of the Garden as the star of the breakthrough “Megatón 2004” event, attendance had swelled from 12,000 to a sold-out 20,000,with a large number of non-Spanish-speaking fans in the audience. “The crowd erupted into a frenzy,” noted the Village Voice. “The fruit of Tego’s crossover appeal was palpable. ..They were bopping their heads and flailing their arms to the universal beat.”
Returning to Miami led to an increase in the dancehall flavor of his music. This, combined with Calderón\'s outspoken viewpoint that salsa had become too corporate and too safe, made the 2004 album El Enemy de los Guasíbiri, a punchier, more hectic, more street affair. Years after its release, Calderon stated that he never approved the release of the Guasibiri album, that it was a collection of his old songs and shouldn\'t be considered a real album of hisLatin Rap Interview - "Tego Calderon Represents for the Underdogs".
With the reggaeton genre becoming popular with New York City\'s hip-hop tastemakers and spreading its influence farther and farther, Calderón soon found himself fielding offers from hip-hop producers while landing tracks on numerous street-level mixtapes. His voice ended up on remixes of Usher\'s "Yeah," Fat Joe\'s "Lean Back," N.O.R.E.\'s "Oye Mi Canto",and Snoop Dogg and Akon\'s "I Wanna Fuck You".
His Father Esteban Calderón Ilarraza was a government worker at the Health Department of Puerto Rico and died in May of 2004. His Mother Pilar Rosario Parrilla is an Elementary School Teacher. From his appearances at New York’s annual Puerto Rican Day parades in 2004 and 2005, to becoming the first Spanish-language artist to be featured on New York’s Power-105, Calderón has been breaking cultural barriers. In a cover story on Calderón and Reggaetón,the Village Voice noted that Tego “almost single-handedly. .. steered his country’s dominant youth culture out of the island and Latino neighborhoods, and into the American stream of pop consciousness.”Tego Calderon - Bio. Atlantic Records. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. Among Calderón’s achievements are Latin Grammy and Billboard Award nominations, a Source Award for “International Artist of the Year,” a Tu Música award, and nominations for La Gente and Lo Nuestro awards
In the summer of 2005, Calderón signed a deal between Atlantic Records and his own independent label, Jiggiri Records, making him the first reggaeton artist to have a deal with a major record company.Latin Rap News - "Tego Calderon Signs Global Deal with Atlantic" His first album under the deal is titled "The Underdog" (El Subestimado) and is set for release on August 29th, 2006.
Calderon defines this new production as a journey through the Afro-Caribbean musical scene which masterfully brings together Reggae, Dance Hall, Salsa, Bomba, Rumba, and the Deep South feeling of the blues.
This new production will feature the guests appearances of Buju Banton, Voltio, Bataklán, Eddie Dee, Luis Cabán, Yandel, Zion, Chyno Nyno, Don Omar and the legendary salsa singer Oscar D\'León. Producers of the caliber of Cookee, Major League, Salaam Remi, Eric Figueroa, Luny Tunes, DJ Nelson, Danny Fornaris, DJ Nesty, Naldo, DJ Joe, DJ Fat and Echo & Diesel, also collaborated in the 21 track CD.
At the listening party for his upcoming album, Calderón explained that he no longer considers himself as a reggaeton artist because this subgenre of music has become too commercial.Reggaeton Music News: Tego Calderon "Underdog" Album Listening Party Tego stated that reggaeton is becoming too much like pop music and that he does not let his children listen to it at home unless it is on the radio. Calderón\'s upcoming album will have blues, rock and salsa sounds, making it different from most new reggaeton albums.
Calderon had recently traveled to Sierra Leone along with artists Raekwon and Paul Wall to film a VH1 documentary about diamond mining entitled "Bling\'d: Blood, Diamonds, and Hip-Hop." The documentary focused on the role of Hip Hop in the blood diamond trade, after the trip Tego had publicly announced that he would no longer wear jewelry. His experience in Africa also changed his outlook on life, which influenced the recording of the track "Alegria", encouraging fans to not complain about life and recognize that there are other people with bigger problems in their lives.Latin Rap Interview - "Tego Calderon Part II: El Abayarde Strikes Back"
He has also talked about the need for Black Latinos to be proud of who they are. Black Pride
Almost single-handedly and perhaps unintentionally, Tego steered the dominant youth culture of Puerto Rico out of its native areas and into pop culture of America. According to Tony Touch, "Tego is someone who represents struggle, an underdog... He\'s more of an MC, a product of late-\'80s hip-hop." Village Voice - Riddims by the Reggaeton
Although Calderón is a reggaeton artist, he claims to like "all types of music". [1] Albert Perez. "Tego Calderón visits Latino 96.3" Accessed January 31, 2008. www.latino963.lamusica.com Evidence of this is seen both in his biography (he began his career in music in a metal band and attended a school for music as a drummer) as well as in his music, which incorporates "\'several musical tendencies\'", including sounds and rhythms from places like Africa, Colombia, and the Caribbean. He obtains the sound for his popular reggaeton music through "fusing an experimental reggaeton style strongly rooted in the working-class Caribbean aesthetics of classic salsa with a strong dose of hip-hop". [2] Frances Negrón-Muntaner and Raquel Z. Rivera, "Reggaeton Nation" (17 December 2007) Accessed January 31, 2008. http://news.nacla.org/2007/12/17/reggaeton-nation At the same time though, he recently collaborated with rap duo Anónimo consejo to create a less reggaeton and more hip-hop song entitled "Son Dos Alas" on his album The Underdog/El Subestimado.
Calderón has also been praised for his lyrics, which are much more substantive and uplifting than the misogynist materialistic words that have come to define reggaeton as well as the majority of hip-hop music. Calderón has been described as "the reggaeton champion of an Afro-Caribbean working-class aesthetic" and is known for lyrics that are equal parts poetry and politics. [3] Frances Negrón-Muntaner and Raquel Z. Rivera, "Reggaeton Nation" (17 December 2007) Accessed January 31, 2008. http://news.nacla.org/2007/12/17/reggaeton-nation A consistent link between all of his albums "are the social themes and the untouchable bravado that he usually transmits through his artistic outlook." [4] Albert Perez. "Tego Calderón visits Latino 96.3" Accessed January 31, 2008. www.latino963.lamusica.com
Calderón made his acting debut in the film "Illegal Tender" produced by John Singleton. Calderon played the role of Choco, a Puerto Rican gangster whose character was written specifically for him by director Franc Reyes.Illegal Tender movie reviewLatin Rap Interview - "Tego Calderón Part II: El Abayarde Strikes Back"
Calderón turned down roles in both "Feel the Noise" and "El Cantante" and instead chose to appear in Illegal Tender out of respect for its producer. After convincing John Singleton that he wanted to appear in a comedy, Calderón is slated to appear in an upcoming Singleton film which casts him as the coach of a baseball team.Latin Rap Interview - "Tego Calderón Part II: El Abayarde Strikes Back"
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia