Luis Raúl Marrero (born January 23, 1974), also known by his stage name Funky, is a Puerto Rican rapper and songwriter. With seven solo albums and multiple jobs as a producer, Marrero is internationally recognized as a
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
and
reggaeton
Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...
Christian artist.
He has collaborated with Christian music musicians, including
Marcos Witt
Jonathan Mark Witt Holder (born May 19, 1962), better known as simply Marcos Witt, is an American Christian singer and pastor. Witt is considered one of the most influential and famous Spanish speaking figures of Christian music.
Biography
Witt ...
,
Jesus Adrian Romero, and
KJ-52
Jonah Kirsten Sorrentino (born June 26, 1975), better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac", . Marrero has been nominated for two
Latin Grammy
The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...
awards.
Funky has collaborated and produced for singers
Vico C
Luis Armando Lozada Cruz (born September 8, 1971), known by his stage name Vico C, is an Puerto Rican rapper, singer and record producer. Regarded as the founding father of reggaeton, Vico C has played an influential role in the development of ...
,
Manny Montes,
KJ-52
Jonah Kirsten Sorrentino (born June 26, 1975), better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac", ,
Marcos Witt
Jonathan Mark Witt Holder (born May 19, 1962), better known as simply Marcos Witt, is an American Christian singer and pastor. Witt is considered one of the most influential and famous Spanish speaking figures of Christian music.
Biography
Witt ...
,
Israel & New Breed
Israel Houghton (; born May 19, 1971) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, producer, and worship leader. His worship team is credited as Israel & New Breed.
Musical career
Houghton produced an album by Michael Gungor ...
,
Julissa,
DJ Blass
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...
,
Redimi2,
Musiko,
Alex Zurdo,
Lilly Gooman, and others.
Background
Marrero was born in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
, on January 23, 1974. He began to explore music at the age of 15 under the influence of
Puerto Rican Vico C
Luis Armando Lozada Cruz (born September 8, 1971), known by his stage name Vico C, is an Puerto Rican rapper, singer and record producer. Regarded as the founding father of reggaeton, Vico C has played an influential role in the development of ...
, with whom he would later work on two of his nine albums.
In 1997, he met Vico C, with whom he established a friendship and a business. They collaborated on an album, marking an important stride in Marrero's musical career. In 1998, Marrero became a Christian. Marrero founded his own label,
Funkytown Music
Luis Raúl Marrero (born January 23, 1974), also known by his stage name Funky, is a Puerto Rican rapper and songwriter. With seven solo albums and multiple jobs as a producer, Marrero is internationally recognized as a hip hop and reggaeton Chri ...
, in 1999.
In 2001, he collaborated as a producer on Manny Montes's album "Realidades", and Marrero also sang in one of the songs. That same year he had his first success as a singer and producer in the Christian music genre: "
Funkytown
"Funkytown" is a song by American disco-funk group Lipps Inc., written and produced by Steven Greenberg and released by Casablanca Records in March 1980 as the second single from the group's debut studio album, '' Mouth to Mouth'' (1979). T ...
". Media outlets in
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
, as well as the international media, liked it, and it became a favorite among young listeners. With less than a year in the
Christian music
Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...
world, Marrero received a nomination to the
Grammy Latino in 2003.
In 2002 Marrero released the album ''Especie En Peligro;'' with this album, he acquired several nominations and awards: ''
Premios ARPA'' (
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, 2003 and 2004), ''Premios LA Conquista (''
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, 2004), Premio ''Integridad.com'' (2004) and ''Premios La Gente'', (California, 2004).
In 2004, Marrero launched the production Los Vencedores, an album with more than 15 artists and other notable people within the genres.
He then launched the production ''Vida Nue''.s.
In 2006, he made his first trip to South America, touring for 17 days and performing more than 25 concerts in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
,
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
,
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
,
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
,
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
, and the United States
Between 2006 and 2007, Marrero launched the production ''Corriendo Para Ganar'', his third solo album and his sixth overall.
In 2008, Marrero announced the project "Flow Sinfónico", which displays a live soundtrack, accompanied by strings and horn arrangements.
In 2009, he made the tour "Conectado (Plugged-in) World Tour," which was based on the importance of the connection with God. The tour began May 8 in Viceroy Del Pino, Buenos Aires. Marrero also collaborated with American Christian rapper
KJ-52
Jonah Kirsten Sorrentino (born June 26, 1975), better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac", on the song "Fuego" from KJ-52's album ''
Five-Two Television
''Five-Two Television'' is the sixth studio album by KJ-52. Released September 22, 2009 on BEC Recordings. The first single, "End of My Rope", was made available on iTunes on July 28, 2009. KJ-52 has released a few mixtapes already – some Mashup ...
'', and a music video has been filmed in Atlanta.
In February 2010, Marrero released the song "
Hoy
Hoy may refer to:
People
Given name
* Hoy Menear (died 2023), American politician
* Hoy Phallin (born 1995), Cambodian footballer
* Hoy Wong (1920–2009), American bartender
Surname
* Hoy (surname), a Scottish and Irish surname
* H� ...
", which was the first single from his 2011 album ''
Reset
Reset may refer to:
Film and television
* Reset (2015 film), ''Reset'' (2015 film), a 2015 French documentary film
* Reset (2017 film), ''Reset'' (2017 film), a 2017 Chinese film
* Reset (2024 film), ''Reset'' (2024 film), a 2024 Sri Lankan sh ...
''. In April 2010, he released the song "Corazones Puros", which was the second single from ''Reset''. In January 2011, he released ''Reset''. Later in 2011, the album earned Marrero a Latin Grammy award nomination. In May 2013, Marrero, with Redimi2, released the album ''Mas''.
In 2020, he participated in the
116 album titled
''Sin Vergüenza'', in collaboration with
Lecrae
Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979) is an American Christian rapper, singer-songwriter, actor, and Record producer, recording producer and Music executive, executive. Since having begun his career in 2004, he has released ten studio alb ...
in the single "La Fiesta". In 2021, he released an album called UNO with
Alex Zurdo and
Redimi2, reaching #1 on iTunes.
Then, collaborated with
Gerardo
Gerardo may refer to:
People Given name
Gerardo is the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of the male given name Gerard.
* Gerardo Amarilla (born 1969), Uruguayan politician
* Gerardo Bonilla (born 1975), Puerto Rican-born professional race c ...
in the song "Agua amarga".
Discography
Albums
* ''Funkytown'' (2002)
* ''Especie En Peligro'' (2003)
* ''Los Vencedores'' (2004)
*Vida Nueva
ith DJ Pablo(2005)
* ''Corriendo Para Ganar'' (2006)
*Los Vencedores Platinum Edition (2008)
* ''Acceso Total Tour Edition'' (2008)
* ''
Reset
Reset may refer to:
Film and television
* Reset (2015 film), ''Reset'' (2015 film), a 2015 French documentary film
* Reset (2017 film), ''Reset'' (2017 film), a 2017 Chinese film
* Reset (2024 film), ''Reset'' (2024 film), a 2024 Sri Lankan sh ...
'' (2011)
*Mas(2013) With
Redimi2
* ''Indestructible'' (2015)
* ''Agua'' (2019)
* ''UNO''
Alex Zurdo and
Redimi2">ith
Alex Zurdo and
Redimi2(2021)
* ''ROJO'' (2022)
* Rewind XX+ (2023)
* Parentesis (2024)
* UNO Live(with
Alex Zurdo and
Redimi2)(2025)
Singles
References
External links
*
Triple Seven Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funky
1974 births
Living people
American performers of Christian hip-hop
Puerto Rican rappers
21st-century American rappers