De la Ghetto
Rafael Castillo Torres (born September 17, 1984), known professionally as De la Ghetto, is an American singer, rapper and songwriter, and the one-half of reggaeton duo Arcángel & De la Ghetto, alongside Arcángel. He is known for fusing reggaeton music with hip hop and trap rhythms, eventually creating Latin trap music.[2]
Not to be confused with Timothy DeLaGhetto.
De la Ghetto
Rafael Castillo Torres
- De la Geezy
September 17, 1984
New York City, U.S.
- Singer
- rapper
- songwriter
Vocals
2004–present
- Masacre Musical
- Sony BMG Norte
- Def Jam
- Warner Latina
Early life[edit]
Rafael Castillo Torres was born in The Bronx, borough of New York, NY, on September 17, 1984, to a Dominican father, Rafael Castillo, and a Puerto Rican mother, Migdalia Torres. His father died months after he was born,[3] while his mother was incarcerated for six years in Argentina when Castillo was around the age of eight, eventually relocating to San Juan, Puerto Rico where he lived with his grandmother.[4]
Career[edit]
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.[5] The pair debuted with their single "Ven, Pégate", which was featured on Naldo's mixtape Sangre Nueva, in 2005. From there, Castillo was signed to Zion's label, Baby Records, and immediately began to make music.[3] 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" by Tito el Bambino, plus a collaboration with Randy called "Sensación del Bloque", which has been viewed on YouTube over 200 million times as of July 2023.[6] Masacre Musical was then released in 2008.[7] Masacre Musical peaked at #46 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in the U.S.;[8] its lead single, "Tú Te Imaginas", peaked at #33 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart.
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".