About Me
Carlos D. Planas, artistically known as Ñejo, was born on June 20, 1975. His mother raised him and his brothers in the place that has become part of his essence and style, Ponce, Puerto Rico.Ñejo was introduced to the reggaeton / hip hop genre at a young age by his older brother. After his brother went to New York for vacation, Ñejo received all the hip hop and ‘underground’ music that was running in the streets at the time. Ñejo had the benefit of listening to beats that where very different to the ones in Puerto Rico at the time and experience movies such as Beat Street, all from the commodity of his grandmother’s house in Ponce. He was introduced to a whole different level of hip-hop at this early stage in his life, as he started listening to influences, such as The Fat Boys and witness events, such as the ‘electro boogie’ movement. Ñejo also witnessed the ‘underground’ movement happening in Puerto Rico by watching TV and listening to underground tapes. When he saw that everyone was sort of ‘hooked’ on these ‘underground’ tapes that included artists such as Wiso G, he was motivated enough to start recording his own lyrics with his older brother’s sound equipment.Although Ñejo was born with the gift of being able to rap and compose heavy lyrics, he did not realize it at first instance. He really wasn’t looking to become an artist, as he was a more reserved and shy person. But before he knew it, his brother and him were competing with other neighborhood friends, rapping and battling from one balcony of the street to the other. Ñejo began to notice that he had a talent above from the rest when people around him started commenting about his strong lyrics and pursued him to keep singing and participating in local events. He also began battling with people from his area and he saw how they had to struggle to opaque him, while he came back at them with an enormous ease and steady flow.Soon thereafter, Ñejo, at 20 years of age, appeared at a nightclub in the area where other aspiring rappers went on stage and performed. When the MC was about to shut off the microphone, Ñejo got on stage and performed, stunning everyone there. People were leaving the club and when Ñejo spit out his lyrics, clubgoers came right back in, which surprised everyone present that night. It was after this successful night, that Ñejo was approached by a friend of DJ Joe to record for an album that they were going to produce together. Ñejo went to Master Joe’s house, (from Master Joe and OG Black), where the recording sessions were taking place, and did his magic. Unfortunately, certain situations and conflicts arose between the producers and the project was a no-go. Some time passed and he remembers getting a call from his brother telling him to go to the record store. When he arrived, he saw a poster promoting DJ Joe 5, and his name was posted along with the other known artists that collaborated. Like if it was meant to be part of his destiny, DJ Joe sought the vocals that Ñejo had recorded at Master’s house and surely enough confided in this new artist’s talent and placed him in the compilation, without Ñejo even knowing.As talented as he was, like any normal person, Ñejo had demons in his closet. At this young age, he was introduced to a world of street drugs and without even realizing it, he had grown heroin dependent. In 1997, Ñejo realized that he had to make a drastic change to improve his situation. He woke up on a Tuesday morning, went to Marshalls, bought to pair of jeans, a couple of T-shirts, two pairs of New Balance sneakers and told his brother to take him to a rehabilitation program. This turning point decision came out to be the best thing that happened to him, as he has been clean since he finished the program. When asked about this very difficult time in his life, in his own words, Ñejo describes it like this:Yo he hecho de to’ en esta fukin’ vida Y si te digo q no me arrepiento de na’, te estoy diciendo una mentira Desde andar en chancleta to’ pelu y en bicicleta Juntando pesetas pa’ darle a la manteca, Pero hace nueve años que el mono ya no se trepa Sigo fumando pasto, pero le saco las pepas -----After overcoming this great ordeal, Ñejo, armed with lots of malice and maturity, appeared in productions such as DJ Joe 6, The Noise 9, Fatal Fantasy, Fatal Fantasy 2, Fatal Fantasy 3, Guatauba XXX, (with the hit song Deja que la nota se te suba), and Los que la Montan. It was in his collaborating work in Fatal Fantasy 2, that Ñejo met his frequent artistic partner, Dalmata.Most recently, and with the support of DJ Nelson’s, Flow Music Corp. , Ñejo and Dalmata have composed and performed songs, such as “Esa Nena†and are also featuring together in Ground Zero, another album to be released in 2006. Also in 2006, Ñejo appeared solo in Naldo’s, Sangre Nueva Special Edition, with what has been a hit song: No Quiere Novio. He also appeared in La Kalle , with another of his compositions, Dime Con Quien Andas y Te Dire Quien Eres. In February 2006, Ñejo’s voice and lyrics were also requested for an exclusive recording session with Damian Marley.With 2006 proving to be a very promising for this laid back, hardcore rapper, his flow and spirit will reach levels beyond imagination, because unlike many artists in the genre, his lyrics do have real meaning. Hopefully, this promising star will not be BROKE AND FAMOUS forever…
