Austin Santos

Austin Agustin Santos was born on December 23, 1985, in New York City. His parents were of Dominican descent. His father’s name is Augustin Santos. His mother, Carmen Rosas, was an artist, and a member of ‘Las Chicas Del Can,’ an all-women merengue group from Dominican Republic. Merengue is a music and dance form, which is popular across the Latin American countries.

There is no public information about Santos’ educational qualification. Being brought up in an environment of music and dance, Santos was interested in music right from his childhood. His initial interest was pop music. Later, it changed to reggaeton music, as he felt that it was easy to sing. After listening to artists like Tego Calderon, and Tempo, Santos decided to pursue a career in singing and rapping.

In 2002, Austin Santos moved to Puerto Rico, as it was the place where reggaeton music had originated. His intentions were to pursue a career in reggaeton. He formed a reggaeton group with Rafael Castillo, who is known by his stage name, ‘De La Ghetto.’ Santos adopted the stage name, ‘Arcangel.’ The duo formed the underground reggaeton act, ‘Arcangel & De La Ghetto.’ They signed a contract with the record label, ‘Baby Records,’ which was owned by the reggaeton artist, Zion.

In 2004, ‘Arcangel & De La Ghetto’ worked with the record label, ‘Machette Music.’ They recorded reggaeton compilation albums. In 2006, they recorded their song, ‘Ven y Pegate.’ The song featured in the compilation album, ‘Sangre Nueva,’ hosted by Hector ‘El Father.’ It was a highly popular song, and helped the duo to rise to stardom. In the same year, they featured in the compilation album, ‘Mas Flow: Los Benjamins,’ produced by Luny Tunes.

‘Arcangel & De La Ghetto’ recorded songs such as ‘Agresivo,’ ‘Sorpresa,’ and ‘Me Fanatica,’ which became popular among the reggaeton fans of the Unites States and Puerto Rico. But they did not release any studio albums in their own name. All the songs recorded by them were included in compilation albums. This caused a dispute between Santos and the ‘Baby Records.’ Austin Santos filed a case against the ‘Baby Records,’ and in December 2006, he left the company, to start his solo career.

In 2007, Austin Santos started his solo career. He recorded compilation albums with several reggaeton producers. He recorded the single, ‘Chica Virtual,’ for the compilation album, ‘Flow La Discoteka 2.’ The album was produced by the record producer, DJ Nelson, and contained songs by upcoming artists. ‘Chica Virtual’ was one of the most popular songs by Santos. It reached number 9 spot on the ‘Billboard Latin Rhythm Airplay’ chart. It also reached number 22 position on the ‘Billboard Hot Latin Tracks’ chart.

In 2008, Santos planned to release his full-length debut album, ‘La Maravilla.’ But the release was cancelled, as the songs of the album were leaked to the internet. One of the leaked songs, ‘Pa Que’ la Pases Bien,’ became one of the most popular airplay tracks in the Latin radio stations across the United States. The internet leak proved to be beneficial for Santos’ career.