Gente de Zona is a musical group founded by Alejandro Delgado in Havana in 2000.
The team was formed in the poor area of Alamar. It is called the cradle of Cuban hip-hop.
At first, the group existed as a duet of Alejandro and Michael Delgado and gave their performances on the streets of the city. Already at the dawn of its existence, the duo gained its first popularity.
Teenagers from the poorer parts of Cuba quickly made Gente de Zona a true style icon. The group performs their compositions in the style of hip-hop and reggaeton.
Carier start
The founder of the band, Alejandro Delgado, fell in love with music at school. He attended all the music festivals in his country and dreamed that he would also become a famous artist.
Already at a young age, Delgado tried to compose compositions that were successful with his friends and acquaintances.
The Gente de Zona group was born in 2000. She began to give concerts at local holidays.
But the duet immediately declared itself, so it quickly outgrew small venues and began touring the major institutions of its country.
Two years after its founding, the team joined an independent association founded by producer Antonio Romeo. This allowed young people to rehearse and create new compositions in a comfortable studio.
In 2005, Michael Delgado decided to go solo and left the band. In his place came Nando Pro and Jacob Foreve.
It was at this time that the musicians of the band began to dilute the classic hip-hop and reggaeton with traditional Cuban motifs.
The audience liked the unusual sound so much that the group received real recognition not only in their homeland, but also among Cubans living far from the "Island of Freedom".
Billboard magazine called Gente de Zona the founder of a new genre - Cubaton (Cuban reggaeton).
The band's first single "Pa' la" was released in 2005.
The composition of the same name quickly won first place in the Latin American charts. The album released after the single only strengthened the success of the team.
But a year later, "Gente de Zona" storms new heights. The compositions "Sone" and "La Campana" became mega-popular in Cuba. This allowed the band's music tracks to reach European radio stations.
The second album was released in 2007 on the Italian label Planet Records. To date, the band's discography includes 5 numbered albums and several singles.
Including with well-known reggaeton performers. After the release of the albums A Full and Oro: Lo Nuevo y lo Mejor, Alejandro Delgado, Nando Pro and Jacob Foreve became the real stars of Cuba.
Their compositions reached the world charts, where Cubans have not been for many decades.
To date, the trio's most popular composition is "El Animal". Its text talks about how children grow up in poor areas (“zones”). It is almost autobiographical.
Each member of the Gente de Zona group grew up in poverty and knows firsthand all the hardships of need.
In 2010, the group "Gente de Zona" went on their first tour. Concerts were held in the USA and Canada.
The musicians also stopped in the capital of France - the city of Paris. This year, the group's arsenal was replenished with several more hits that made their way into the TOP 40 of Billboard magazine.
It seemed that the group was waiting for real success and very soon everyone would talk about their work. But the Cuban government intervened and decided to ban reggaeton.
Yes, this can happen in the XNUMXst century. It was decided not to allow songs and videos with sexual content on television and mass concerts, as they undermine the ethical principles of the country's culture.
It is not known whether this ban or the internal conflicts of the team became the reasons for the split, but Nando and Jacob left the group, leaving Alejandro alone.
Former members of the trio announced the creation of a new team. In their place, Delgado invited Randy Malcolm from the group "La Charanga Habanera". In this composition, "Gente de Zona" creates new compositions to this day.
The group records intensively with other musicians. Not so long ago, the band released a new song with Pitbull, which immediately became a hit.
The track "Con la Ropa Puesta", recorded with the Dominican artist El Cata, became the king of parties in Latin American countries.
Another success came to the team in 2014, when the composition was recorded together with Enrique Iglesias. The song immediately took off in the Latin American charts. It was ranked number six on the "50 Greatest Latin American Songs" list.
The YouTube clip has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of users. One of the authors of this song is the producer Desemer Bueno, who stated that he was inspired by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky to create the song.
Those who know Spanish can even find phrases from the works of the Russian classic in the text.
It did not take long to wait for the next success of the Gente de Zona group. The joint work of the Puerto Rican composer Marc Anthony with the team brought two more hits to the creative treasury of the group.
The song once again in the history of the team reached high places in the charts. The clip has been viewed by tens of thousands of users.
In 2017, the band recorded another hit "Ni Tu Ni Yo". Jennifer Lopez helped the guys to record this composition. The video for the song quickly gained 100 million views on YouTube.
A year later, the team won an award for their work at a festival in Chile. The sincerity and energy of the musicians were noted.
The festival was followed by another tour of the group in Latin America and the USA. After its completion, the guys sat down in the studio to record new hits.
The Gente de Zona group introduced traditional Cuban rhythms to the global music industry.
The incendiary songs of guys from poor areas of Havana fell in love with listeners far beyond the borders of Cuba. Many critics rightly call the team the founders of the cubaton genre.
Musicians create bright and catchy melodies, drawing their inspiration from traditional motifs. Listen to the work of "Gente de Zona" and enjoy unforgettable hits.
