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on the first day alone. The news of his album spread and the next day Tego made history by becoming the first Reggaeton artist to be signed to a major record label. Fans were loving songs like “Al Natural”, “Loiza” and “Guasa Guasa” and these pieces have now become a standard in the Reggaeton music history catalogue. With the success of El Abayarde, he continued to take his signature rap vocals with fusion of genres like bomba, salsa, dembow and reggaeton to stages around the world and to one very important stage in particular, Tego became the first ever Rap/Reggaeton artist to participate at the prestigious Festival de la Salsa in Puerto Rico. Here he was invited on stage by Tommy Olivencia to interpret his “Planté Bandera” which was one of the highlights of the night and most well received moments in this festival’s history. El Abayarde continued to open doors for Tego and he went on to record his albums El Enemy de los Guasibiri and
The Underdog/El Subestimado which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Rock Album, Alternative or Urban in 2006. Two years later, he recorded El Abayarde ContraAtaca, the follow-up to his first album and this time Tego was nominated and won a Latin Grammy for Best Urban Music Album and Best New Song. His success lead him to also venture into the film industry with roles in the films Illegal Tender and The Fast & The Furious franchise. Tego’s creativity has never been in short supply, with his own record label Jiggiri Records, he kept recording, collaborating and creating. Eight years after his last studio album, Tego now returns with “El Que Sabe Sabe” (EQSS) the highly anticipated studio release from el Negro Calde. EQSS is one of Tego’s most compelling and complete albums both musically and lyrically. In a recent interview for SiriusXM’s Iconos series, Tego confessed that he was turned down by Sony because “the album was too
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intelligent and the public is dumb.” This motivated Tego to release it on his own label, a move that was ballsy and smart; very much like the fans of this album and his music. With a new album that is as honest as it gets, Tego returns to our stomping grounds with a performance that pays tribute to the man, the ideals and talent that Tego Calderon has on stage and with his words. Come join him at CocoCabana on Friday, April 17th. Tickets are available via www.tickeri.com. █