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L. Negro

L. Negro, or Latino Negro, was born in the Dominican Republic, and migrated with his family to New York City’s Washington Heights section, when he was just three years of age. He was exposed to a vast selection of music early on and as an adolescent inspired by rap’s “golden era” contenders, often aligned himself with peers that shared in his excitement for the fresh genre. In 1993, L. Negro, two others, and a local music producer, decided to take it seriously and together, they formed a one-female, two-male trio, called Azphault. Although the group never released an album, Azphault enjoyed a momentary taste of “success” as they spawned a generous buzz amidst New York City’s underground circuit. Although reputable major labels wanted to sign the group - in addition to their being guided by Chris Lighty (Violator), and legally consulted by Paul Rosenberg (Shady Records) and Theo Sedlmayr (50Cent) - life happened and in 1999, they disbanded - but the bond between the three remained.

In 2003, Negro, and his two former group members (now OneDaTwinz) approached the idea of bringing the soul of New York style rap, to the Latin market – in Spanish. With OneDaTwinz providing the production, marketing vision and creative direction, combined with L. Negro’s charisma, swagger, and vocal and lyrical dexterity, sealed with a ten year bond between the three, the creative chemistry proved to be phenomenal as L. Negro’s promotional mixed CD’s, Majadera (Volumes 1, 2, 3, & 4) became some of the hottest merchandise on the streets! The choice of his direction was confirmed when he became the first artist to record a promo in Spanish for NYC’s Power 105 (an American urban station) before there was a format for urban Latin music, and was confirmed even more when NYC’s top tropical Latin station, La Mega 97.9, began to play two songs from one of L. Negro’s mixed CD’s. One of those songs landed him in a ten-week long La Mega Estrella competition in which he snagged third place – next to a pop bachata artist, and a merengue artist (traditional Latin music). Spanish Hip –Hop/Soul, NYC style, was now beginning to take its first steps.

For the past four years, L. Negro has graced many stages, opened for an impressive selection of some of today’s most respected music artists, and has been able to captivate their audiences as well. Referred to as “the Latin translation to good American rap music”, L. Negro explains why he fervently adheres to his roots as a “hip-hop” artist even in the face of the recent reggaeton explosion, “I am doing what Biggie, Pac, and Jay-Z have done, but in Spanish. I came up when there were battles, boom boxes, fat laces, schoolyard jams, and mixed tapes – not mixed CD’s; Hip-Hop is in my veins;” he goes on to say, “Hip-Hop is a culture and Hip-Hop music, or rap, is the soul of that culture – it’s the urban voice; Reggaeton is a completely different genre; it is a festive music which has become the soundtrack to many urban Latino celebrations. Hip-Hop music is the soundtrack to life.” In addition to doing shows L. Negro is currently working on a few collaborative projects.