Sheila Cecilia Escovedo, known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American singer and drummer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist for the George Duke Band. After separating from the group in 1983, Sheila began collaborating with Prince and launched a solo career, starting with the release of her debut album in 1984, which included her biggest hit "The Glamorous Life". She also saw a hit with the 1985 single "A Love Bizarre". She is sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Percussion".
The Donnas were an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1993. The band consisted of Brett Anderson, Allison Robertson, Maya Ford and Torry Castellano. Amy Cesari replaced Castellano, who left the band in 2009 due to tendonitis. They drew inspiration from the Ramones, the Runaways, Girlschool, AC/DC, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Kiss. Rolling Stone has stated that "the Donnas offer a guileless take on adolescent alienation; they traffic in kicks, not catharsis, fun rather than rage". MTV has stated that the band offers "a good old-fashioned rock & roll party".
Melina León is a Puerto Rican merengue singer and actress. From an early age she performed with several groups including The Rubi, Girls of Puerto Rico and The Cherries, with whom she appeared in several San Juan hotels. Her first recording, Mujeres Liberadas, appeared in 1997 on the Tropix Music label. This was followed in 1998 with a Sony release, Con Los Pies Sobre La Tierra. By 2003, she was also performing as an actress on television movies such as: "Yo Creo en Santa Claus" in 2004, broadcast by Televicentro in Puerto Rico, and Wapa America in the United States, among others, and has received several popular awards and had several successful albums and singles on the Billboard Tropical and Latin charts.
Linda Bell Viera Caballero, known professionally as La India, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of salsa, house music and Latin pop. La India has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, winning the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album for the Intensamente La India Con Canciones De Juan Gabriel album.
Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, known mononymously as Cassie, is an American singer, dancer, actress, and model. Born in New London, Connecticut, she began her musical career after meeting producer Ryan Leslie in late 2004, who signed her to his record label, NextSelection Lifestyle Group. She was then discovered by rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs, who signed her to a joint venture with his label, Bad Boy Records, to commercially release her 2006 debut single, "Me & U". The song marked the first of her two entries on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number three.
María Rodríguez Garrido, known as Mala Rodríguez, is a Spanish Latin hip hop rapper based in Barcelona. She appeared as a judge on Spain's La Voz prior to releasing her first album in seven years, Mala, in May 2020. Rodríguez released her memoir, Cómo ser Mala, in June 2021. Rodríguez is also the first female artist to win both Best Urban Album and Best Urban Song at the Latin Grammy Awards, as well as the first urban artist to win Spain's National Music Award.
Gossip is an American indie rock band formed in Searcy, Arkansas. For most of their career, the band has consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell, and drummer Hannah Blilie. After releasing several recordings, the band broke through with their 2006 studio album, Standing in the Way of Control. A follow-up, Music for Men, was released in 2009. The band played a mix of post-punk revival, indie rock, and dance-rock. Their fifth album, A Joyful Noise, was released in May 2012. They disbanded in 2016 but reformed to embark on an anniversary tour for Music for Men in 2019 and released the album Real Power in 2024.
The Mint Chicks were a New Zealand noise rock and art punk group. The band is originally from Auckland and relocated to Portland, Oregon, USA in 2007.
Fulanito is an American musical group based in Washington Heights in New York City. The group combines traditional merengue with elements of other genres such as house, hip hop, and bachata among others. With over five 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 "Little John Doe" in Spanish. Members of Fulanito had previously been in popular groups such as 740 Boyz and 2 in a Room.
Niatia Jessica Kirkland, better known by her stage name Lil Mama, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and dancer. She experienced top 10 Billboard placements at 17 with her debut album VYP (2008), which debuted at number 25 on the Billboard 200. The album spawned her four major singles including her staple song and dance anthem "Lip Gloss", earning her two Teen Choice Awards and Monster Single of the Year nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards. Kirkland gained further attention in pop music after a collaboration with Avril Lavigne for the remix of her hit single "Girlfriend".
La Llave de Mi Corazón is the 10th studio album recorded by Dominican singer-songwriter Juan Luis Guerra, It was released by EMI Televisa Music on March 20, 2007. It was Guerra's first album to contain songs in English since his 1994 recording of Fogarate. The album contains fusions of mambo and tropical rhythms that Guerra himself defined as "Mambo merengue". Its production and musical structure of album is based on merengue, bachata and salsa and encompasses elements of Blues, Son, Jazz, Mambo and Bossa Nova. The album was written, arranged and produced by Juan Luis Guerra and according to the artist is his most romantic album. It is composed of four merengues, two bachatas, three romantic songs and two salsas.
Ryeisha Berrain, known by her stage name Rye Rye, is an American rapper, singer, dancer and actress. Signed to N.E.E.T. Recordings, she released her first mixtape RYEot PowRR in 2011 and her anticipated debut album Go! Pop! Bang! on May 15, 2012. In early 2009, MSNBC listed Rye Rye as one of the "5Top: Top of the pops! Up-and coming young singers." In 2011, Rye Rye was named one of Billboard's "21 Under 21". Rye Rye made her acting debut in the 2012 film 21 Jump Street.
"Disturbia" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna for Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded (2008), a re-release of her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). It was written by Andre Merritt, Chris Brown, Brian Kennedy and Rob. A!, with the production of the song helmed by Kennedy. The song was released as the third single from the reloaded edition of the album, and seventh overall. "Disturbia" was sent to US contemporary hit radio on June 17, 2008, and was released as a CD single in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2008.
"Si Una Vez" is a song recorded by American recording artist Selena for her fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido (1994). It was written by Pete Astudillo and produced by Selena's brother-producer A.B. Quintanilla. "Si Una Vez" is a mariachi fusion song and draws influence from cumbia and Latin dance music. Lyrically, Selena questions why she ever fell in love with an abusive partner, saying she will never repeat her mistakes. The lyrics suggest unrequited love and female empowerment.
Kim Hyo-yeon, known professionally as Hyoyeon or DJ Hyo, is a South Korean singer, dancer, DJ, and television personality. She debuted as a member of the girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one of the most widely known K-pop groups worldwide. She has since participated in other SM Entertainment projects, including Girls' Generation-Oh!GG and Got the Beat. Hyoyeon also released solo singles: "Mystery" (2016), "Wannabe" (2017) prior made her solo debut as HYO with the single "Sober" in 2018.
"Loca" is a song by Dominican singer, El Cata. It achieved mainstream success by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, who recorded a cover taken from her ninth studio album, Sale el Sol (2010). It was released by Epic Records as the lead single from the album. The Spanish-language version features Dominican rapper El Cata, and was released on 10 September 2010, while the English-language version features British rapper Dizzee Rascal, and was released on 13 September 2010. It was written and produced by Shakira, with additional songwriting from Edward Bello, Armando Pérez, and Dylan Mills. The song is a Latin pop and merengue track that lyrically describes Shakira's eccentric infatuation with a man. In August 2014, a senior US district judge found "Loca" to have been indirectly plagiarised from "Loca con su Tiguere", a mid-1990s song composed by Dominican songwriter Ramon "Arias" Vasquez. The case was dismissed in August 2015 after it was found that Vasquez had fabricated the evidence he had presented in court.
Miguel Ángel Durán Jr. known by his stage name as Fuego ("fire"), is an American singer, songwriter and founder of Fireboy Inc./Sauce Gang. He is currently signed to Lionfish Entertainment.
"Addicted to You" is a song recorded by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira for her ninth studio album Sale el Sol (2010). The song was released as the fifth and final single from the album by Epic Records, on 13 March 2012. "Addicted to You" was written by Shakira, El Cata, John Hill and Luis Fernando Ochoa, and is a merengue-influenced song on the album. The song also draws prominent influences from merengue music, and lyrically describes Shakira's infatuation for a lover. Despite having an English title, the majority of the song is sung in Spanish.
Héctor Elpidio Acosta Restituyo, better known as Héctor Acosta "El Torito" or simply Héctor Acosta, is a Merengue and bachata singer, and politician from the Dominican Republic. In 2020, he was elected senator representing the Monseñor Nouel Province before the Senate of the Dominican Republic; he was reelected in 2024.
Urbano music or Latin urban is a transnational umbrella category including many different genres and styles. As an umbrella term it includes a wide and diverse set of genres and styles such as dancehall, dembow, urban champeta, funk carioca, Latin hip hop and reggaeton. The commercial breakthrough of this music took place in 2017 with artists from Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico, the United States, Venezuela and even non-Spanish-speaking nations, such as Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken.
