Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, whose stage name is Anuel AA, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton and Latin trap singer born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, on November 27, 1992.
Despite its popularity being just five years old and having been interrupted by several legal issues that led the singer to serve time in prison, pausing his artistic activities, Anuel AA has found time to collaborate with the most prominent figures in reggaeton and trap, steering a career that continues to rise toward fame.
In 2015, he released his single "Nacimos pa' morir" alongside Jory Boy, and in 2016, he gained worldwide recognition with the song "La ocasión," which featured collaborations with Ozuna, Arcángel, and De La Ghetto.
On April 3, 2016, he was arrested and sentenced to 30 months in prison for possession of firearms. He resumed his career in 2018.
He has shared stages with Puerto Ricans Ozuna and Ñengo Flow, who propelled him to fame in his homeland. He collaborated with Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, and Karol G (his current partner) on the track "China" in 2019, which he co-wrote and that debuted at number 2 on the Global Top 50 on Spotify, amassing over 5,000,000 streams.
In Spain, the song reached number 1 on the Top 50, breaking the record for listens in 24 hours (724,000), and became the most successful song of the genre in that country in 2019.
In January 2020, he released "Me Gusta" alongside Shakira through Ace Entertainment and Sony Music Latin. The song features a sample of "Sweat (A La La La La Long)" by the Jamaican band Inner Circle. Anuel is a co-writer of the track, which currently has over 100 million views on YouTube.
On May 13, 2020, he released the track La Bebe (Remix) featuring Black Jonas Point, Secreto, Liro Shaw, and Cardi B. On the same day, he launched the song Sur y norte alongside his partner Ñengo Flow for his album The Goat.
For his second album "Emmanuel," released in 2020, he features collaborations with Karol G, Daddy Yankee, Kendo Kaponi, Tego Calderón, Enrique Iglesias, Bad Bunny, among others. He also has another album from 2018 titled Real hasta la muerte.
En octubre de 2019, en la quinta edición de los Latin American Music Awards celebrada en el Dolby Theatre de Hollywood, fue el gran ganador adjudicándose cinco galardones en las categorías más destacadas: Artista del Año, Álbum del Año, Artista Masculino Favorito, Artista Urbano y Álbum Urbano.
In December 2019, along with his partner Karol G, he was responsible for entertaining the evening with his music during the party that took place after the vow renewal ceremony of Uruguayan footballer Luis Suárez and his wife Sofía Balbi. There, he crossed paths with Leo Messi, Neymar Jr., Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, among others.
In June 2020, in the music video for the reggaeton song that pays tribute to many Latin American countries through their flags and the dancers' outfits, there is also a reference to Cuba.
