Tego Calderon

Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, in 1972 but raised in Carolina. Calderón got the multicultural exposure he later called upon in creating genre-crossing reggaeton, which may have shaped his stylistic range and his ease in collaborating with US musicians. Calderon says that his parents were die-hard fans of Ismael Rivera, and that Rivera's innovative Latin pop music influenced him. He lists his father's love of jazz as another influence. Calderón eventually studied percussion and created his own rhythmic style that combines the sounds of salsa, plena, dancehall, and hip-hop. Lyric-wise, he combined slang of the 1960s with current slang and tales of barrio life. Calderón made a couple 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. An instant success, El Abayarde sold 50,000 copies during its first month, and propelled Calderón into Latin music superstardom.