Avelino Junior Figueroa Rodríguez (born January 24, 1983), known musically as Lápiz Conciente (Lit. "Conscious Pencil"), is a Dominican rapper. He is described as one of the pioneers of Hip hop in the Dominican Republic. In 2013 he was nominated at

Premios Juventud Premios Juventud (Youth Awards) is an awards show for Spanish-speaking celebrities in the areas of film, music, sports, fashion, and pop culture, presented by the television network Univision. Winners are determined by online vote at univision.c ...

, in the category ''(Favorite Urban Artist)'', in 2016 he was awarded at the Latin Music Italian Awards, and in 2017 he was nominated in the Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Song, "Papa" in collaboration with Vico C.

Career

In 2008, Figueroa published through

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, including the songs "Las Menores", and in 2009 the mixtape "Ráfaga de Plomo". In 2011 he participated in the single " CAPEA EL DOUGH" in collaboration with Toxic Crow, it was considered representative of Hip hop in the Dominican Republic, In 2012 Lapiz made his comeback with the Album Lapiz mundial produced by M3 Productions, MALA CARA 809, Master Beat,El Metrolo with the hit singles NO TE QUIERO PERDER, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC329mcjVIA&list=PLNgMZ-CLJoyi1gTiQ7PY9DXxmD-1Q_HFV&index=4&pp=iAQB8AUB, POR TI FT La GLO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwLyZl1dT_8&list=PLNgMZ-CLJoyi1gTiQ7PY9DXxmD-1Q_HFV&index=7,CUALTO CLAVAO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HqUzizohHU&list=PLNgMZ-CLJoyi1gTiQ7PY9DXxmD-1Q_HFV&index=2, and AMOR POR ACCIDENTE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxk_W2cnpoc from the Album El Army which has 21 million views. later he released the debut singles "Yo Soy Papa", and "Yo No Te Quiero Perder" audiovisual obtained more of 39 million views on

. In 2014 he received a

Gold Record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

for the debut song " Si No Te Quisiera" in collaboration with Juan Magán and Belinda, and obtained 300 million views on YouTube. In 2016 he released the album "Latidos", it includes collaborations with Vico C,

Natti Natasha Natalia Alexandra Gutiérrez Batista (born December 10, 1986), better known by her stage name Natti Natasha (stylized all caps), is a List of people from the Dominican Republic, Dominican singer, songwriter and composer. She was signed to Don Om ...

, Belinda, J Álvarez, Black Jonas Point, Musicologo The Libro. In 2016 he signed with

Sony Music Latin Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is an American record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. Sony Latin was also a division of the Sony Discos label. History In ...

where the second studio album «Cicatrices» was released under the

record label debuted in record sales in the

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 ...

and the United States on digital platforms, includes collaborations with Magic Juan, Nacho,

Leslie Grace Leslie Grace Martínez (born January 7, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. For her work as a singer, she has received three Latin Grammy Award nominations. She starred as Nina Rosario in Jon M. Chu's film adaptation ''In the H ...

, Xaxo, El B, Negro HP. In 2020, Figueroa held a

rap battle Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults, wordplay and disses originating in the African-American community. Battle rap is of ...

against the Dominican rapper Mozart la Para, where he premiered the singles "El Descanso Eterno", Tú No Tá", "9 Días". In 2022 he participated in the song " Culpable" by the studio album Formula, Vol. 3, by

Romeo Santos Anthony "Romeo" Santos (born July 21, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer who is best known as the frontman and lead vocalist of the Bachata (music), bachata group Aventura (band), Aventura. In 2002, the song "Obsesión ...

Early life

Figueroa was born on January 24, 1983, at the Maternity (Hospital Materno Infantil San Lorenzo de Los Mina),

Santo Domingo Province Santo Domingo () is a province of the Dominican Republic. It was split from the Distrito Nacional on October 16, 2001. Municipalities and municipal districts As of June 20, 2006, the province is divided into the following municipalities (''mu ...

. He grew up in a dysfunctional family, where he was raised by his grandmother Paulina Rodríguez de Jesús (Palín), who was a

domestic worker A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...

and

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

. Figueroa is older than his siblings, and at the age of 21 his mother died. In 1993, Figueroa was inspired by American rapper, Vico C, where he was introduced to hip hop music at the age of 10. He was named Lápiz Conciente after his grandmother's pronunciation, where Figueroa corrected his grandmother's spelling mistakes. Figueroa had 2 children with his romantic partner of more than ten years, Niurka. He studied accounting and is a devout believer in God.

Awards and nominations

References

{{Authority control 1983 births Living people Caribbean musicians Dominican Republic male rappers Dominican Republic male songwriters Male songwriters Spanish-language singers of the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic people Musicians from Santo Domingo