DON DINERO: RAP WITH A NEW SOUND

A Latino Rapper Comes Knocking on Mainstream's Door

Don Dinero

Latinos are staking their claim to the American rap music dream, adding their own musical flavor, rhythm and language. Among those spearheading this movement is Don Dinero, a Cuban-American, seasoned Miami-based rapper, whose 2002 independent debut sold more than 100,000 copies. The artist, whose real name is Jose Manuel Guitian, is the son of Cuban exiles who arrived in the United States at the beginning of the 1960's. Shortly after their arrival, the Guitian family settled in the populated district of Washington Heights, New York. While growing up there, Don Dinero witnessed the birth of rap and immediately became attracted to the movement.

Dinero, who raps fluently in English and Spanish, says his music has been successful because Latinos were hungry for rap that spoke to their experience. The same philosophy is shared by other ASCAP artists such as Tego Calderón, Pitbull and Daddy Yankee, who have been instrumental in driving the rise of Latin hip hop and reggaeton, propagating a seed that continues to thrill those in the industry with its robust growth and sales. Within the last few years, radio airplay has increased meteorically and audiences have clamored for albums such as Daddy Yankee's recently released Barrio Fino, on his own El Cartel Records, which to date has sold more than half a million copies and been in the Top 10 of the Billboard Latin Album sales chart for 32 weeks, as well as the upper echelons of the American charts.

Industry insiders in radio, music, television and other facets of the business have taken notice of this phenomenon and are ushering in deals with talented veteran artists that at one time presumably did not have legitimacy in the hip-hop world, the media or the industry in general. Their movement was perceived by some, to be in its infancy and was lacking in mainstream distribution. Now, with different avenues to showcase their chops, those in the know have warmed to the ever-increasing appeal of these artists, whose chronicles of life and its many complexities, along with their undeniable talent, are sparking fervor in Latino youth and music aficionados alike, reminiscent to the inception of American rap. Clear Channel for example, which owns more than 1,200 stations nationwide, has prioritized its incursion into the Hispanic market by recently converting English music stations in Atlanta, Orlando and Miami to Spanish, with more to come.

Adding to this new wave is Don Dinero, who on March 3 of this year signed a joint venture between his Don Dinero Music and Universal Music Latino (UML). Universal, earlier in the year, launched a label dedicated to the urban Latin music market called Machete Music. On hand for the signing was UML's President John Echevaria who lauded Don Dinero as "being one of the greatest and authentic artists in his genre." His new album, Ahora Que Si, will hit stores on May 17 and count with the participation of artists such as Toi of Control Machete, D'Mingo Ramos, Adassa, Psycho Les from the group Beatnuts, plus music from Echo and Thirstin Howell III. His music is somewhat reminiscent of other ASCAP members like Orishas in that he uses Cuban rhythms and melodies, but is far more urban in his rap content. With radio and other media succumbing to the draw of Latin rap, reggaeton and its expanding audience; you can expect to see the proliferation of the genre, with record sales, as they are now, growing exponentially.

By Karl Avanzini