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 his 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 managed to record with the biggest names in reggaeton and trap, steering a career that continues to rise towards 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 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 helped launch him to fame in his homeland. In 2019, he recorded the song "China" with Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, and Karol G (his current partner), for which he is a co-writer. The track reached number 2 on the Spotify Global Top 50, accumulating 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 contains a sample from "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 song La Bebe (Remix) featuring Black Jonas Point, Secreto, Liro Shaw, and Cardi B. That same day, he released the song Sur y norte alongside his collaborator 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 Calderon, Enrique Iglesias, Bad Bunny, among others. He also has another album from 2018 titled Real hasta la muerte.
In October 2019, at the fifth edition of the Latin American Music Awards held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, he was the big winner, taking home five awards in the most prominent categories: Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Favorite Male Artist, Urban Artist, and Urban Album.
In December 2019, alongside his partner Karol G, he provided entertainment with his music during the party that took place after the vow renewal ceremony of Uruguayan footballer Luis Suárez and his wife Sofia 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 song "Reggaetonera," which pays tribute to many Latin American countries through their flags and the dancers' outfits, there is also a reference to Cuba.
