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Reggaeton and Latin trap artist Arcángel has a trademark cool yet expressive tenor singing voice, which contrasts with a certain melodic sweetness and gritty lyrics in Spanish and English. As a rapper, his smooth, slow delivery is grainy and expressive. Before going solo, he established his identity as a member of the duo Arcángel y De la Ghetto during the mid-2000s. Their hits, including "Agresivo" and "El Pistolón," established his reputation sufficiently to warrant a solo career. Arcángel is as well-known a collaborator as he is a solo artist, and among the most ubiquitous guests on reggaeton and Latin trap recordings. That said, his own recordings, including 2008's Top 100 entry El Fenómeno, are also successful. 2013's Sentimiento, Eleganza, & Maldad (SEM) was certified gold in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Two years later, the official release of his Los Favoritos mixtape with DJ Luian topped the Latin Album charts and was also certified gold. 2018's Ares delivered the hit "Original" (feat. Bad Bunny) on its way to a Top Five finish, while 2019 saw the release of no less than a dozen singles including the streaming hit "Traficante" (feat. King Goyi). Over the next few years, he built on his previous established platform with releases like Los Favoritos 2 (2020), Sr. Santos (2022), Sentimiento, Elegancia y Más Maldad (2023), and Papi Arca (2024).

Born Austin Santos on December 23, 1986, in New York City, Arcángel established himself in tandem with De la Ghetto and the song "Ven y Pegate" on the popular Hector el Father-hosted compilation album Sangre Nueva. Throughout 2005 and 2006, Arcángel y De la Ghetto were featured on a variety of reggaeton albums, including Luny Tunes' Mas Flow: Los Benjamins, and were associated with Baby Records, Zion's (of the duo Zion & Lennox) label. Arcángel announced that he was embarking on a solo career and starting a label of his own in December 2006.

Arcángel's solo releases began appearing sporadically. While "Chica Virtual," his guest feature on DJ Nelson's Flow la Discoteka, Vol. 2 (2007), was a minor hit, his full-length solo debut, La Maravilla, went unreleased after it was leaked to the internet in 2008. At the end of the year, Arcángel was able to release El Fenómeno. It was produced by some of reggaeton's top beatmakers including Luny Tunes, Mambo Kingz, Tainy, and Noriega. The album featured mostly new material, though it also included a handful of songs originally planned for La Maravilla. The lead single for El Fenómeno, "Por Amar a Ciegas," peaked inside the Top 40 at Latin Airplay and drove the album into the Top 20 on the Latin Albums chart. He also enlisted his mother to manage him and founded his own production company.

Despite the chart success, Arcángel didn't rush another recording. Instead, he toured Europe and released the mixtape The Problem Child in the spring of 2010. Upon his return from the road, he released a second mixtape, Optimus A.R.C.A., and began assembling tracks for a proper follow-up album. He also contributed a pair of tunes to the popular El Imperio Nazza compilation series.

Sophomore long-player Sentimiento, Elegancia y Maldad didn't appear until three years later. Its first single, "Hace Mucho Tiempo" (feat. Daddy Yankee and Baby Johnny), did well at radio and streaming before peaking at 13 on the Tropical Songs chart. The album, however, managed to hit the top spot on the Latin Albums chart. Over the next 18 months, Arcángel spent the majority of his time collaborating with and contributing to recordings by others, including a prestigious appearance on Maluma's smash hit Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy.

The notion of collaboration -- so important in reggaeton -- became the motivating factor behind 2015's now-classic mixtape, Los Favoritos. Enlisting DJ Luian as a co-billed conspirator, Arcángel set about recording tracks with his favorite genre artists from two generations, including J Balvin, Maluma, Nicky Jam, Ñejo Flow, Farruko, J Alvarez, and Wisin; there were 20 in all. The single "Tu Cuerpo Me Hace Bien" landed inside the Top Ten on the Latin Rhythm chart and topped the Tropical Songs list. The full-length spent 13 weeks in the Latin Top 40. Over the next three years, Arcángel focused his attention on frontloading singles and videos, among them, "Cula en la Clara" (featuring Tali), "Zum Zum," and "Original" (feat. Bad Bunny). They all charted. In 2018, he dropped the full-length Ares, which all but abandoned reggaeton and dembow rhythms in favor of trap beats and Latin pop. The set entered the Latin Albums chart at number five. In 2019, Arcángel released his next studio set, the deeply personal Historias de un Capricornio; it featured appearances from Bad Bunny and Ozuna, among others.

Over the next year, Arcángel issued a dozen singles and videos, including the charting remixes of "Sigues con El," (feat. Sech and Romeo Santos) and "Wow" (feat. Bryant Myers, Nicky Jam, Darrell, and El Alfa). Arcángel also revisited the mixtape concept explored on 2015's platinum-selling Los Favoritos with DJ Luian. Titled Los Favoritos 2, its 18 tracks included some 25 collaborations with male artists who included Rauw Alejandro, Ozuna, Wisin & Yandel, Maluma, and Farruko. There were only two solo appearances from Arcángel on the set: The opener "Payaso" and the title track "El Favorito." Issued in late October, Los Favoritos 2, debuted at the top of several charts, including Latin Albums. Pleased with the success of the formula, he kept the project going in 2021 with Los Favoritos 2.5, another guest-heavy project with nearly as many tracks as the previous volume. Among Arcángel's numerous 2022 singles were "JS4E" and the Bad Bunny-assisted hit "La Jumpa," both of which anchored his next album, Sr. Santos, released that December. A typically lengthy set, it featured guests like Myke Towers, Eladio Carrion, and YOVNGCHIMI and made a strong mainstream showing on the U.S. pop charts at number 37. 2023 was another prolific year for Arcángel. He released numerous tracks including "Kame Hame," the Jay Wheeler collaboration "TRAPPii," and "La Chamba" with Peso Pluma, the latter of which heralded his 2023 full-length, Sentimiento, Elegancia y Más Maldad. Anchored by other guest spots from Grupo Frontera, Quevedo, and Rauw Alejandro, the album cracked the top 10 of the Latin charts. A surprise EP, Papi Arca, arrived in December 2024 and featured the single "BFF" with Eladio Carrion. ~ Jason Birchmeier & Thom Jurek

On the romantic side for the 2010s Latin hitmaker, Puerto Rican singer Jay Wheeler uses his lush, crooning vocals to deliver melodic and catchy ballads across styles from Latin pop to reggaeton. 2020's Myke Towers-assisted "La Curiosidad" became Wheeler's most dominant hit, peaking at number five on the Billboard Latin charts and racking up over a billion streams in just two years. A prolific string of albums and EPs followed including 2022's El Amor y Yo and Emociones, and 2023's TRAPPii.

Born José Ángel López Martínez to a working-class family in Salinas, Puerto Rico, Wheeler began learning the piano at a young age before transitioning to beatmaking once he got a computer. After a breakup in his teenage years, a close friend persuaded him to post his first material online: 2015's "Ahora Estoy Mejor," a fusion of singing and rapping styles, racked up half-a-million views as it became an overnight sensation. A subsequent million-viewed cover of Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself" gave López Martínez confidence in his future career. Taking the first part of his stage name from his first initial, he crowdsourced a surname from his fans, settling on Wheeler in 2017.

The conflicted "No Me Engañas" and dismissive "Equivocada" built Wheeler's fan base ahead of the breakout track "Por Tu Culpa" (2018), which brought him to the attention -- and onto the roster -- of Dynamic Records. Live performances afforded by his new label, alongside major singles like "Te Soñé" and "Mensaje de Voz," led to his discovery by legendary reggaeton producer DJ Nelson, who offered to host and produce his debut album. Titled Platónico, his DJ Nelson-produced debut featured a slowed-down, ballad-like take on reggaeton, finding particular success with the faster-paced "Dime Que Sí" and Farruko-assisted "Otra Noche Más Remix" alongside sentimental closer "Me Enamoré."

After an Unplugged live album, which demonstrated his raw vocal talent, Wheeler moved into 2020 with a collaborative run of singles, working with the likes of Lenny Tavárez, Nio Garcia, Darell, Lary Over, Javiielo, and Noriel. Among the year's highlights were the Brytiago-assisted remix to "Sin Ti," the tropical "Quiereme Mientras Se Pueda (Remix)" (with Manuel Turizo and Miky Woodz), and an appearance on Cauty's 100-million-streamed "Lloras Remix." Wheeler's sophomore studio album, produced once again by Nelson, arrived that summer. Titled Platónicos, the project fell a little closer to Nelson's reggaeton roots and took a more collaborative approach with features including Brytiago, Nio Garcia, Miky Woodz, and Casper Magico. The album's fourth track, the Myke Towers-assisted "La Curiosidad," soon eclipsed Wheeler's hits thus far -- peaking at number five on the Billboard Latin charts, the more seductive smash hit eventually surpassed a billion streams online.

Now regarded as one of reggaeton's most promising new voices, Wheeler returned to collaboration through 2021. As well as two star-studded remixes to "La Curiosidad" (with appearances from Jhay Cortez, Arcángel, Zion & Lennox, Becky G, etc.), he issued successful collaborations with the likes of J Balvin ("Otro Fili"), Juhn ("Fragancia"), Brytiago ("Desnudarte"), and Arcángel ("Si Te Veo"), alongside the strong solo tracks "Viendo el Techo" and "Dos Tragos." In early 2022, Wheeler issued the De Mí Para Ti EP, which contained his first forays into English-language music ("Take My Life," "Can't Figure U Out"). It proved to be a productive period for the artist who released two more full-length albums, El Amor y Yo and Emociones, before the year was out. Wheeler kicked off 2023 with the heartfelt, '80s pop-leaning "SOS," then scored another hit with "Pacto (Remix)" featuring Anuel AA, Bryant Myers, Hades66, and Dei V. It anchored his next album, TRAPPii, released that October. ~ John D. Buchanan & David Crone

A rapper who dips into reggaeton and Latin trap, Miky Woodz built a substantial following through YouTube and guest appearances on his way to scoring a Top Ten Billboard Latin Albums hit with El OG (2018).

The Puerto Rico native gained commercial ground in the mid-2010s with featured roles on tracks by artists such as Farruko, Benny Benni, and Juhn. Signed to the Miami, Florida-based label Gold2 Latin Music, Woodz eventually stood out with his own singles accompanied by videos, such as "Alcoba [Remix]," "En Lo Oscuro Sin Perse," and "Tarde o Temprano," all three of which amassed streams and YouTube views in the millions. Tracks such as these were released steadily from 2015 through 2017, the last year of which also brought the full-length Before Famous. Woodz made much more progress in May 2018 with El OG. Highlighted by the Bad Bunny collaboration "Estamos Clear," the set debuted at number six on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart. ~ Andy Kellman