Gente de Zona

History

The group began in 2000 when several rappers met in Alamar, an urban area of Havana, known as the birthplace of Cuban hip-hop. The name of the group, Gente D' Zona, reflects their emergence from Alamar.

Alexander Delgado then met Michel Delgado, "El Karo," and both started playing at parties and official playrooms Guanabacoa, Regla and especially Alamar. The group quickly earned the support of the public in those areas, and soon started participating in international festivals. These were in addition to annual rap festivals in Cuba, where Alexander was responsible for the animation for three consecutive years.

They later formed part of the Hermanos Saiz Association, and it is not until the year 2002 that Alexander started his career in the company Antonio María Romeu appearing around the country. In July 2005 Gente D' Zona was still composed of Alexander and Michel, and became part of the catalogue of the Cuban Rap Agency. This led to a more mature genre of work, always mixing with Cuban rhythms, and considering market requirements.

In 2005, Michel left the group. With the departure of Michel, Alexander called Jacob Forever, director of the non-professional group Made in Cuba who had done important work with Pachito Alonso and Eddy K, among others. Nando Pro also came to join as a music producer and DJ, and Gente D'Zona increased their original format of two members to three: Jacob Forever, Alexander and Nando Pro. In March 2013, Gente D' Zona announced the separation of Alexander and Jacob Forever.

In 2014, Gente D'Zona joined Enrique Iglesias and Descemer Bueno to produce the outstanding successful theme, "Bailando", which catapulted the group to the international arena. The song stayed in first place on international hits lists; noteworthily, in the U.S. market, where it is typically difficult to get the music of Cuban artists living in Cuba. In June 2014 it was located at number one in the Top Latin Songs. The group has also been successful in Europe.

Back in 2015, Gente de Zona published two songs that instantly became popular, “La Gozadera” and “Traidora”, both were in collaboration with Marc Anthony.

On April 22 of 2016, their third album entitled “Visualízate” was published under the label Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC and Magnus Media, LLC. During the same year the group released their new single, “Más Macarena” in collaboration with Los Del Río. They introduced “Más Macarena” for the first time with a live presentation at Premios Juventud. The official video was released in September of the same year.

At Premios Juventud in 2015, the group earned an Award in the “Favorite Song Lyrics” category thanks to the song “Bailando” ft. Enrique Iglesias and Descember Bueno. They also won the Award for the “Best song to start a party” at Premios Tu Mundo for “Algo Contigo” in 2016. In that same year, they earned another Premio Juventud Award with Marc Anthony in the category “Perfect Combination”. Their album “Visualizate” won one Latin AMA’S award for “Best Tropical Album” and one Latin Grammy for “Best Tropical Fusion Album” in 2016.

New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes uses the song "El Animal" as his walk up song.