De La Ghetto

He was a member of the duo Arcángel & De la Ghetto.

De la Ghetto
De la Ghetto in the music video "Alerta Roja" (2016)
Born	Rafael Castillo Torres (1984-09-17) September 17, 1984 (age 39) New York City, U.S.
Other names	De la Geezy
Occupations	Singer rapper songwriter
Years active	2004–present
Musical career
Genres	Reggaeton Latin R&B Latin trap Latin hip hop dancehall
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Labels	Masacre Musical Sony BMG Norte Def Jam Warner Latina

De la Ghetto was born Rafael Castillo, Jr., in The Bronx, borough of New York, NY, on September 17, 1984, the son of a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother, Migdalia Torres. In 1992, when he was around the age of eight, Castillo's family relocated to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In 2004, just before his twentieth birthday, Castillo met with another young reggaetón musician born in New York City by the name of Austin Santos—better known to the public as Arcángel—and the two decided to form a duo, Arcángel & De la Ghetto. The pair debuted with their single "Ven Pégate" ("come get stuck" or "come dance"), which was featured on Naldo's mixtape Sangre Nueva ("new blood"), in 2005. From there, Castillo was signed to Zion's label, Baby Records, and immediately began to make music. Castillo has appeared on numerous reggaetón compilation albums and collaborations, including the album Mas Flow: Los Benjamins. In 2006, De la Ghetto officially began his solo career, appearing the following year on two hit singles, as well: a remixed version of "Siente el Boom" ("feel the boom") by Tito el Bambino, plus a collaboration with Randy called "Sensación del Bloque" ("street sensation"), which has been viewed on YouTube over 200 million times as of July 2023. Masacre Músical was then released in 2008. Masacre Músical peaked at #46 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in the U.S.; its lead single, "Tú te imaginas" ("you imagine"), peaked at #33 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart.

De la Ghetto was one of several early-2000s era reggaetoneros who were making music during the genre's beginnings, and he was one of the first to experiment by fusing reggaetón rhythms and Spanish lyrics with American-influenced trap, rap, hip hop and R&B rhythms—thus forming a new sound, called Latin trap (or “trapetón”), sometimes referred to as urbano. This genre saw success in Puerto Rico, and ultimately beyond, leading the way for many of today's musicians in the 2010s-2020s.

The 2018 album Mi Movimiento (my movement) was nominated in 2019 for a Latin Grammy Award for "Best Urban Music Album", and the track "Caliente" was also nominated for a Latin Grammy for "Best Urban song".

Albums

• 2008: Masacre Musical
• 2013: Geezy Boyz: The Album
• 2018: Mi Movimiento
• 2020: Los Chulitos
• 2023: GZ

Mixtapes

• The Boss of the Block (2007)
• The Boss of the Block, Vol. 2 (2007)
• Masacre Musical Mixtape (2007)
• Masacre Musical Presents: El Movimiento (2008)
• Masacre Musical Presents: El Movimiento, Vol. II (2010)

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist