Manuel Varet Marte (born July 21, 1979), known as Vakero, is a Dominican singer and rapper, believed to be one of the most important acts of the Dominican urban music movement and one of the first to gain international exposure. Known for blending elements of

punta Punta is an Afro-Indigenous dance and cultural music deeply rooted in the cultural traditions of the Garifuna of Honduras. It heavily incorporates West African/Central African drumming, the dance primarily of Angola and Congo origins. The musi ...

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

and merengue with Dominican urban and

dembow The dembow beat or dembow riddim is a musical rhythm best known for its use as the core percussion element in reggaeton music, having taken its name from the 1990 dancehall song " Dem Bow" by Shabba Ranks. The rhythm, first developed by Jamaican ...

music, he is heavily influenced by

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

and afro-pop with his characteristic style influenced by the

rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

movement. Marte began his musical career in 1995 as a solo act, before finding underground success as part of

Dominican hip hop Dominican hip-hop is hip-hop music from the Dominican Republic or hip hop music performed by Dominican artists or artists of Dominican descent. Dominican hip hop employs a blend of Caribbean rhythms. Dominican hip hop musicians include DKano, Lápi ...

duo Perfecto Clan. From 2006 to 2008, Vakero was involved in a publicized feud with fellow Dominican rapper Lapiz Conciente, highlighted in the

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (an abbreviation of ''disrespect'' or ''disparage'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feu ...

, "Se Partio El Lapiz", along with his debut album "Pa ke te Mate", which gained international attention. By 2008, he was listed on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

's ''Top 5 Rising Latin Urban Act'', with the track "Se Partio El Lapiz" being used as part of CSI: Miami's soundtrack. In 2010, he gained international attention for his track "Que Mujer Tan Chula", and in 2011, he received the "Urban Artist of the Year" award from the

Soberano Awards The Soberano Awards (formerly Casandra Awards) are the Dominican music awards, which are awarded annually by the Asociación de Cronistas de Arte of the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo. Often referenced in music line-ups to delineate a music ...

. In 2014, along with Mozart La Para and Don Miguelo, he became the first Dominican urban artist to headline at the Festival Presidente De La Musica Latina. In 2015, he released his third studio album "Yo", and in 2017, his album "Mutuacion" was released to positive reception.

Early life

Manuel Varet Marte was born on July 21, 1979, in San Pedro de Macoris. His father was a tailor, and from an early age, he was interested in music, later highlighting the music of the Puerto Rican singer

Hector Lavoe In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

as particularly influential. His father's love of music inspired him as a child, with his favorite artists, and inspirations, being

Héctor Lavoe Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez (September 30, 1946 – June 29, 1993), better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican salsa music, salsa singer. Widely regarded as one of salsa’s most important and influential vocalist ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

Fernando Villalona Ramón Fernando Villalona Évora (born May 7, 1955), known professionally as Fernando Villalona, is a Dominican merengue singer. Considered to be one of the most important merengue artists in the genre's history, Villalona began singing in the ...

Ismael Rivera Ismael Rivera a.k.a. "Maelo" (October 5, 1931 – May 13, 1987), was a Puerto Rican composer and salsa singer. Early life Rivera was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, a sector of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was the first of five children born to ...

and Marino Pérez.

Career

1994–2006: Career beginnings

When Manuel was 16, he joined the group "One Play". He worked alongside Wilking for two years, before joining "Perfecto Clan, "La Rap Sonora", an urban band with more emphasis on rap. In 2005, he released his first solo project titled "Alante y Pico" and had his first local hit "Mujer Mala".

2006–2009: Feud with Lapiz and Pa ke te mate

By 2006, Vakero was a well known name in the Dominican Hip Hop Movement, and from 2006 to 2008, he was involved in a public feud with fellow rapper, Lapiz Conciente. In 2007, he released the diss track "Se Partio El Lapiz", gaining national attention. Following that, he released the remix of the track with

Arcángel Austin Agustín Santos (born December 23, 1985), better known by his stage name Arcángel, is an American rapper and singer. He is often described as one of the most influential artists in the Latin urban genre, as well in Latin music overall, ...

, which reached international audiences. On October 25, 2007, he released his first studio album "Pa Ke Te Mate" through Jeremy Records. By early 2008, the music videos of "Se Partio El Lapiz" and "Hasta Mañana Negra Linda" were being broadcast on mun2 and mtv3. On February 28, 2008, Vakero signed a distribution deal with Sunflower Entertainment and in September 2008,

ranked him as one of the ''Top 5 Rising Latin Urban Acts''. In the same year, the track "Se Partio El Lapiz" appeared in the soundtrack of CSI: Miami, and later on the soundtrack of Chosen Few III: The Movie. On November 18, 2008, he released his second studio album "Manuel: El Cantante de los Raperos" once again through Jeremy Records and distributed by

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based Sunflower Entertainment.

2010–2012: Que Mujer Tan Chula, marriage and Soberano Awards

In 2010, Vakero released the single "Que Mujer Tan Chula", which became one of the most-played tracks radio stations and nightclubs in the Dominican Republic following its release. The music video was the first Dominican urban track to gain regular rotation on HTV. He also released the EP "Ponte a Trabajar", with the titular track being featured on the Saints Row: The Third soundtrack. The same year, he married the American Latin Idol winner Martha Heredia, whilst touring New York, Europe and Venezuela. In 2011, he received the first "Urban Artist/Band of the Year" award at the 27th Annual

. The same year, he released "Ay Mami" and the EP "Tu pai", with the titular song being featured in the

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2013'' (''PES 2013'', known as ''World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2013'' in Japan and South Korea) is an association football video game, developed and published by Konami. The game was announced by Konami on April 18, 2012. For ...

soundtrack. He then debuted as an actor with a role in the movie Lotoman, the best-selling movie of in the Dominican Republic in 2011. In 2012, he was nominated for Urban Artist of the Year at the Casandra Awards.

2013–2022: Arrest, continued success, ''Yo'' and ''Mutuacion''

On January 17, 2013, Vakero was arrested on domestic violence charges against his then-wife

Martha Heredia Martha Heredia Rivas (born February 1, 1991) also known as La Baby (''The Baby'') is a Dominican singer and winner of the fourth and last season of the singing competition television series '' Latin American Idol''. History Martha Roseli Hered ...

, who on February 21, 2013, was arrested at the airport trying to transport heroin to New York. He was acquitted of the charges later that year. In 2014, Vakero won the "Urban Artist of the Year" award at the

. In the same year, he found success with the tracks "Hoy se va a Beber", "Los Zapatos" and "Demasiado" once again gaining national attention. He performed as a headline act in the 2014 Festival Presidente De La Musica Latina at the Felix Sanchez Olympic Stadium in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, along with Mozart La Para and Don Miguelo, becoming the first urban acts to perform at the festival. The presentation received positive reviews from local media and had an attendance of over 40,000 people. In 2015, Vakero released his third studio album titled ''Yo'', performing 16 shows along the east coast of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

following the release, with the shows being sold out. In 2017, Vakero Performed at the 2017 South by Southwest Festival in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

in front of 50,000 people. In 2018, he released his fourth studio album, ''Mutuacion'', which has a strong influences of

and

afropop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop, Afro pop or African pop) can be defined as any African music, regardless of genre, that uses Western pop musical instruments, such as the guitar, piano, trumpet, etc.Olabode, O. (2023, J ...

. The album received positive reviews from such as

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

and

, with music video for "Guateque" being ranked inside of the HTV Top 21 Hot Ranking. In the same year, his track "El Hombre Gris" was ranked in ''Top 11 Songs of Protest & Resistance by Latino Artists''. In May 2018, he was chosen to honor Black History Month as an Afro-Latino artist. On 27 September 2019 Vakero released his fifth album ''El Chulo del 23'', again with influences of reggae and afropop, and with his 2013 track, "Echale Agua" and a remix of "Demasiado". In 2020, he released his sixth studio album ''Cosa Notra'' with strong hip-hop themes. In the same year, he released his first

song "Tu Cojea", receiving positive reviews. In 2021, his music video "Varon" was nominated for Best Music Video, however, he rejected the nomination. In 2022, he was ranked 17th by Kulture Vulutrez in the Top 25 Best Dominican Rappers.

Discography

* ''Pa Ke Te Mate'' (2007) * ''El Cantante de los Raperos'' (2008) * ''Yo'' (2015) * ''Mutuacion'' (2018) * ''El Chulo del 23'' (2019) * ''Cosa Notra'' (2020) * ''Mamá Ika'' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vakero 1979 births Living people Dominican Republic male songwriters Dominican Republic male rappers