Arcángel

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. 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.

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 K-Libre (2006), which resulted in the label not releasing it to market. The tracks produced were said to have been leaked onto the Internet instead. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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 Sentimiento, Elegancia & Maldad, which both performed successfully. 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.

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