De la Ghetto is a reggaetón artist from Puerto Rico who established himself in tandem with onetime partner
Arcangel before embarking on a solo career in 2007. Born Rafael Castillo on September 17, 1982, in New York City, he later moved with his family to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and became involved with the city's burgeoning reggaetón scene. In 2004 he founded
Arcangel y De la Ghetto, a duo with fellow New York City-born Puerto Rican artist
Arcangel (born Austin Santos). The duo first established themselves with the song "Pégate," which is featured on the popular
Hector El Father-hosted mixtape album Sangre Nueva (2005). Throughout 2005 and 2006,
Arcangel y De la Ghetto were featured on a variety of reggaetón albums, including
Luny Tunes'
Mas Flow: Los Benjamins (2006), and were associated with Baby Records, the label of
Zion (of the duo
Zion & Lennox). However,
Arcangel announced in December 2006 that he was embarking on a solo career and founding a label of his own. In the wake of
Arcangel's announcement,
De la Ghetto embarked on a solo career of his own and was subsequently featured on his biggest hit to date, the
Tito El Bambino and
Randy remix of "Siente el Boom" featured on the album
Top of the Line: El Internacional (2007). Also in 2007 he scored his second major hit with "Sensación del Bloque," another of his collaborations with
Randy. Following these mainstream breakthrough hits,
De la Ghetto made his major-label full-length album debut with
Masacre Musical (2008). ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide