Born Rafael Castillo on September 17, 1982, in New York City, he later moved with his family to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and became involved with the city's burgeoning reggaetón scene. In 2004 he founded Arcangel y De la Ghetto, a duo with fellow New York City-born Puerto Rican artist Arcangel (born Austin Santos). The duo first established themselves with the song "Pégate," which is featured on the popular Hector El Father-hosted mixtape album Sangre Nueva (2005). Throughout 2005 and 2006, Arcangel y De la Ghetto were featured on a variety of reggaetón albums, including Luny Tunes' Mas Flow: Los Benjamins (2006), and were associated with Baby Records, the label of Zion (of the duo Zion & Lennox). However, Arcangel announced in December 2006 that he was embarking on a solo career and founding a label of his own. In the wake of Arcangel's announcement, De la Ghetto embarked on a solo career of his own and was subsequently featured on his biggest hit to date, the Tito El Bambino and Randy remix of "Siente el Boom" featured on the album Top of the Line: El Internacional (2007). Also in 2007 he scored his second major hit with "Sensación del Bloque," another of his collaborations with Randy. Following these mainstream breakthrough hits, De la Ghetto made his major-label full-length album debut with Masacre Musical (2008). ~ Jason Birchmeier