Talk:Fulanito

Meaning of name
Can anyone think of an encyclopedic way to point out that their name can be translated as "what's-his-name" and that this combines with the title of their first CD to read "What's-his-name: The most famous man on Earth"? I've always found that very amusing, and non-Spanish speakers wouldn't get it, but I don't want to get into trivia, either. Lawikitejana 03:13, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

Hello,

Let me point out that according to Rafael Vargas, pka Fulanito, when asked how he and former partner Winston Rosa came about the name of Fulanito, he would state "It's a name that pretty much catches attention in all of Latin America. he's a guy that everyone knows, but no one knows his name". Fulanito would be the equivalent to "John Doe" in the United States. hence "El Hombre Mas Famoso De La Tierra" (The Most famous man in the World). /-\/-\ 03:40, 5 August 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Verdugo27 (talk • contribs)

History of Fulanito


Please see the original contracts that I Winston Rosa, have uploaded to try and reduce the confusion caused by RUBEN DARIO MARTINEZ, EDWIN VARGAS, WILSON SANCHEZ and others as to who is the rightful owner of the trademark FULANITO.

This is the real facts of the group FULANITO. The self centered, egotistical Rafael Vargas, has been trying to make a hit without his ex-partner Winston Rosa for years. To no avail sad to say. Fulanito is a household name in the latin music industry. Now his brother Edwin Vargas (Verdugo27) tries to fill in the gap left by Pickles "Don Fulano" el Gordito. What a laugh. You should see the videos of this manager/dancer/rapper/DJAY Edwin Vargas. He is a failed actor and a college drop out trying to live of Winston Rosa and his father Arsenio De La Rosa's hard work and investment.

Well as it has been evident, There has been a questions as to who Fulanito the artist is. I'd like to begin with a brief history of how Fulanito began, How it went about with its founders, members, management, record label and fans.

First off, to sum up where Fulanito is at his current state; Where Fulanito began as a group, it has pretty much been a solo artist. Rafael Vargas, lead singer, writer, producer, and co-founder of Fulanito has been the main person in what makes Fulanito a household name in the latin music industry. It's not to come off as being arrogant about it, this was never his style. He and his former partner, Winston Rosa, recorded the first album in 1996, titled "El Hombre Mas Famoso De La Tierra". It was released by Cutting Records in Nov. 1997. Winston was Rafael's partner in producing and writing the album. In truth, it was a attempt to follow a "boy band" trend in Latin music during the 90's that had Rafael fill the roster with "coristas", or background members that would fill in on group chants during performances. While they were visually present in all group activities, these other members were not involved in any part of the recording of the album. /-\/-\ 03:33, 5 August 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Verdugo27 (talk • contribs)


 * This is the ACTUAL Fulanito Info box, in the event that it continuously gets altered.

{{Infobox musical artist
 * name           = Fulanito
 * image          =Fulanito Pesente!.jpg
 * image_size     =
 * landscape      =
 * alt            =
 * caption        = Facebook picture of Fulanito
 * background     = group_or_band
 * alias          = "El Hombre Mas Famoso De La Tierra"
 * origin         = United Sates
 * genre          = Merengue, Hip hop, Dance, Latin
 * years_active   = 1997-Present
 * label          = Cutting Records (1997-2007)
 * associated_acts = 740 Boyz2 in a Room
 * website        = www.fulanitoreal.com
 * current_members = Winston Rosa (Co-Founder)Jose "Pickles" Fuentes 

Fulanito is a Dominican-American musical group that combines traditional merengue with other styles (specifically house, hip hop, and bachata among other genres). With about 2 million albums sold throughout the world, they were at one time the top selling act in Colombia, and were placed on other charts including those of Japan, Switzerland, United States, and Chile. Their name means "so-and-so" (i.e. unknown) in Spanish (see Fulano + -ito). Members of Fulanito were formerly with popular groups such as 740 Boyz and 2 in a Room.

Discography
{| class="wikitable" ! Album !! Year !! Label
 * El Hombre Mas Famoso De La Tierra || 1997 || Cutting
 * El Padrino || 1999 || Cutting
 * The Remixes || 2001 || Cutting
 * Americanizao || 2001 || Cutting
 * The Remixes || 2001 || Cutting
 * Americanizao || 2001 || Cutting
 * Americanizao || 2001 || Cutting
 * Americanizao || 2001 || Cutting

History
Fulanito was formed in 1996 by lead singer / producer Rafael 'Dose' Vargas and producer Winston 'Win' Rosa with the idea of exploiting their blended talents into the Latin market. Vargas grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan, New York, and Winston grew up in the South Bronx. They met in 1992 during a studio session where Winston was working as a recording engineer on one of Rafael’s earlier projects. Their first album, “El Hombre Mas Famoso De La Tierra” gained international fame with the hit singles “Guallando”, “El Cepillo” and “La Novela,. The album sold over 500,000 units worldwide. They further gained international notoriety with their second album, “El Padrino” which garnered them their first Grammy nomination. Their third album, “Americanizao” (2001) would be the last production both Vargas and Rosa would work on together. While Winston would depart from Fulanito, Rafael would continue on, releasing two more albums, “La Verdad” (2004) and Vacaneria” (2007). “Vacaneria” would once again solidify Fulanito’s place among the tropical music elite gaining his second Grammy nomination in 2007. In 2009, Vargas released an EP under the brand Fulanito on his own label Verdugo Entertainment.

Influences
Fulanito’s influences trace back to the early days of Tropical Latin music in New York. “Growing up in New York City during the late 70’s,and 80’s, our generation has been influenced by the sounds of classic dance music and Hip-hop, all while the classic tropical sounds waved through our ears” states Vargas. From their Latin roots, Vargas and Rosa were driven by the likes of Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Johnny Pacheco, Johnny Ventura, and Fernandito Villalona. Their more youthful roots go as far back as Run DMC, T La Rock, and LL Cool Jay, among others.

2 in a Room
Vargas began his quest in the music business when he first collaborated on a compilation project headed by Aldo Marin and his record label Cutting Records. The compilation was to consist of various producers bring in their very own sounds in dance music. Vargas and then partner, Roger Pauletta submitted a House/Hip-hop fused track "Do What you Wanna Do", the song gain notoriety in the underground House Music industry for its unique flow of Rap mixed in with a dance-friendly House beat. The song's popularity prompted Marin to suggest that Vargas collaborate his rap style on another single from the album. Vargas would team up with DJ/producer George Morel on the international hit "Wiggle It". With the immediate success of "Wiggle It", Vargas was eventually stapled as the frontman to the group 2 in a Room, releasing the album "Wiggle It" (Cutting/Charisma, 1990).

In 1992, Vargas met Winston Rosa while Rosa was engineering one of his featured singles. Having similar music styles and influences in common, they hit it off very well, eventually teaming up and forming their production company, WinDose International. Following the success of "Wiggle It", Vargas was looking to bring in something new. With the help of Rosa, he released the album "World Party" (Cutting Records, 1994), which added the Latin element to his already popular House/Hip-Hop blend. Vargas recruited his classmate Elvin Ovalles as his lyrical partner. The first single on "World Party" was the Latin Urban club hit "El Trago", produced by the dance music DJ duo of Victor and Danny Vargas (No relation to Rafael)

740 Boyz
The sound and popularity from "World Party" was the motivation that both Vargas and Rosa needed to build on a new sound in the ever changing Dance music circuit. WIth the addition of Jose "Pickles" Fuentes, their friend and local club promoter and DJ from Vargas' neighborhood, they went on to form the 740 Boyz. Their self-titled album was released in 1995, gaining a worldwide following with the international hit "Shimmy Shake". The group gained greater popularity in Europe, specifically in France. 740 Boyz was the precursor to what defined the legacy of Fulanito, where Vargas first utilized his signature high-pitched chanted choruses and rap style.

El Hombre Mas Famoso De La Tierra (1997-1999)
As the popularity of the 740 Boyz began to whine down, Vargas was once again in search of a new sound, and market to exploit his talents. With the growing success of many young urban latin groups such as Proyect Uno, Ilegales and Sandy y Papo surging in South America, Vargas and Rosa were eager to tap in. Vargas was well aware of the rising success of the grassroots Typical merengue genre known as Perico Ripaio (Spanish for Ripe Parrot). Vargas found a way to keep his previous projects together by bringing Ovalles, Fuentes and adding a Marino Paredes to the mix of things. Rosa, being very close to the genre enilsted the talents of His father, Arcenio De La Rosa, is an accomplished well known Typical merengue artist in his own right, to add to the authenticity of the sound. They merged their Hip hop styles with the sounds of merengue, as well as samba, and cumbia, and released "El Hombre Mas Famoso De La Tierra" in 1997. The album gain immediate worldwide recognition selling over 500,000 units. The first single off the album, "Guallando", became a household chant, gaining song of the year honors in Colombia in 1998.

El Padrino (1999-2001)
Fulanito's second studio album, "El Padrino" (Cutting, 1999) used many of the same elements that garnered them international fame, with only minor changes to the sound and the frontline. Rosa decided to step down as one of the frontmen to concentrate on the production end. Vargas would add Welington Belen to replace Rosa. Belen, born and raised in the Dominican Republic and a student of merengue genre, was very instrumental in the production of "El Padrino". Vargas and Rosa were able to incorporate more of the authentic merengue sound while adding their American urban element with ease. The album received a Grammy nomination in 1999, and had several songs featured in John Singelton's modern day film release of Shaft

Americanizao (2001-2003)
The release of "Americanizao" (Cutting, 2001) saw the group becoming a quartet. Belen left the group and Vargas would focus on a more urban dance feel for the album. With its hit single "Callate", hip-hop tracks "Otra Vez" and "Eight Million Ways", the sound that Fulanito producing was making waves for a change, while still staying grounded in its merengue roots with "Pecho A Pechuga", "La Tiembladera" and "El Generalissimo", a song that created slight controversy in the Dominican Republic. "El Generalissimo" was eventually prohibited from the nations airwaves just days after the albums release. Officials cited the use of the title "Generalissimo" as a certain glorification to the country's last dictator, Rafael Trujillo.

Neutrality tag and sorting out the mess
It looks like there's multiple editors, each with some connection to the subject, who have been changing the pages. I've reverted back to the version that is best formatted; 's changes broke the infobox and tables, so I've rolled back to the version that is the easiest to read. I don't necessarily think this is the "right" version, just the easiest starting point to discuss from.

I strongly suggest that all editors who want to make changes to the page explain why they want to change it and list the sources that support the changes. If there's consensus, then we'll change. If the edit warring continues, I can enforce the discussion requirement by having the page protected so only administrators can make changes.

I also strongly suggest that all parties to the dispute review Wikipedia guidelines including WP:Reliable sources, WP:Conflict of interest, and WP:Sock puppetry. Abuse of multiple accounts will not be tolerated. —C.Fred (talk) 15:51, 13 August 2012 (UTC)


 * The situation here has also been reported at Conflict of interest/Noticeboard. —C.Fred (talk) 16:42, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

FIrst off, the user has deliberately deleted my talk input which I inserted earlier, and has replaced it with his own (UNETHICAL), rather than placing his own, allowing for an impartial review of the two items. I will place the chronology for you to review. -- *** Verdugo 27  ***  talk  17:17, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Inaccuracies
As for the information inserted by the Mr. Rosa, he definitely left crucial information behind. Just compare his to mine. As much as he's angry and bitter, he would toss up a story that would most definitely benefit him and him alone.

No one has taken anything from him. Here are the fact:


 * 1. Yes, both Winston Rosa and Rafael Vargas are co-founders and co-producers of the brand name Fulanito. It all started as a spin off from their previous project, The 740 Boyz.


 * 2. As per the contract you see above, YES, they recorded 3 albums together as a production team, Rafael Vargas was the SOLE lyricist and vocals on 95% of the albums (the rest were added chants done by hired background singers, but written by Rafael)
 * A - El Hombre Mass Famoso De La Tierra (1997)
 * B - EL Padrino (1999)
 * C - Americanizao (2001)


 * Rafael and Winston had ended their partnership at the end of the 3rd album in 2002, Winston was very well aware of separation of partnership, but of course, as so noted here, he was not happy with it.

Rafael then signed a new contract with the same record label to record 3 more albums under the Fulanito name. Winston was no longer partnered in the new venture. He was, however, hired as a producer in ONLY 2 songs that were released in the next 2 Fulanito albums.
 * A - La Verdad (2004)
 * B - Vacaneria (2007)


 * Winston submitted 2 songs that were later used in these Fulanito albums ON A WORK FOR HIRE BASIS, where he was well compensated for. The albums were produced by Rafael along with various other producers that submitted tracks for him to record. Rafael was, once again, the writer and main vocalist of the albums.


 * Winston would go on and produce and work with other artists on his own. He and Rafael still kept in contact throughout the years, But it was obvious that Winston was not conforming.


 * In 2007, Jose, "Pickles" Fuentes, better known as El Gordito, left the group to pursue his solo rap career. He too began to work with Winston. At this point, Winston and Jose began the public battle for the use of Fulanito.  Let's keep in mind, Jose Fuentes was only a hired member, which gives him absolutely NO RIGHT to present himself as the artist Fulanito.  This is where he joined in with Winston.

They made an attempt at releasing an album under the reformed 740 Boyz along with Daniel Fernandez. after several single releases that fell on deaf ears, their project was unsuccessful.

This is where they decided to just call themselves Fulanito, to create confusion, gain popularity of their own project by using the name, and mislead the public.


 * 3. All listed background members, past and present are as follow2s:
 * The ORIGINAL 5
 * Rafael Vargas (Co-FOunder) 1997-PRESENT
 * WInston Rosa (Co-Founder) - 1997-1998
 * Jose "Pickles" Fuentes - 1997-2007
 * Elvin Ovalles 1997-2002
 * Marino Paredes 1997-2002


 * Other members
 * Wellington Belen (1999-2000)
 * Jesus Martrinez (2003-2006)
 * Daniel Fernandez (2003-2005)

-- *** Verdugo 27  ***  talk  18:14, 13 August 2012 (UTC)


 * How much of all of that can be corroborated by secondary sources? Have any newspaper stories, magazine articles, or biographies been written about them? Again, we're looking for independent biographies, not blurbs written by the artists or their labels. —C.Fred (talk) 20:50, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Fulanito InfoBox
-- *** Verdugo 27  ***  talk  19:05, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Fulanito's infobox with more accurate information

Constant bickering on behalf of co-founder and ex-member of Fulanito
In the recent years, it has become an ongoing battle, initiated by a former member of the group Fulanito.

Winston Rosa, who formed the project along with Rafael Vargas in 1997, has been on a personal crusade to take control of the brand name and claims he was was pushed out of the venture.

He goes under the name 740Boyz on Wiki and constantly attempts to change the information that pertains to the history of Fulanito by posting misrepresenting images of what he's created as a replica of the group.

It has become quite ridiculous.

Stay tuned

-- *** Verdugo 27  ***  talk  13:44, 6 February 2013 (UTC)