Yotuel Romero

Yotuel Omar Manzanarez Romero is a Cuban singer, composer, actor, model and music producer born on October 6, 1976 in Havana, Cuba.

His beginnings in the world of music began at the age of 18 when he joinedHiram Riverí (Ruzzo) and Joel Pando (The Pioneer) to form the group Amenaza, a pioneering band of Cuban hip-hop that rescued and fused the Cuban oral tradition with rap, thus laying the foundations for what the group would later become. Orishas. The group performed in the 90s in several popular places such as the Café Cantante, a club in the gardens of the Mella Theater, the House of Music, the House of Culture in Centro Habana, among others.

In 1997 they were awarded First Prize at the Semi-clandestine Cuban Rap Festival of Alamar. By then they were already playing on the island's radio and television. Later, thanks to an exchange from a French solidarity association with the Cuban people, the members of Amenaza traveled to France where they finally settled to continue with their musical project, which they joined. Roldán González Rivero who sang traditional Cuban music in the group Rico Son. Under the name of Orishas, the new group signed with the EMI record label and in 1999 they released their first studio album A Lo Cubano, with which they became famous throughout the world, becoming the greatest exponents of Cuban hip hop. Emigrante came out in 2002, El Kilo in 2005, Antidiotico in 2007 and Cosita Buena in 2008. After 10 years in which each of the members went their separate ways, they reunited to launch Gourmet in 2018.

With Orishas, Yotuel toured stages around the world and sold more than 750,000 copies in Europe.

In 2003, "Time" magazine included Orishas among the 10 most important bands outside the United States.

Emigrantes obtained a nomination for the Grammy Awards, in the category of Best Rock/Alternative Latin Album, and won the award for best Hip Hop/Rap album

In 2005 El Kilo was nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards for Best Urban Music Album and for the Grammy Awards in the category of Best LatinRock/Alternative Album.

In 2008, the song Pal Norte, with the Puerto Rican group 13TH Street, won a Latin Grammy for Best Urban Song. Antidiotico were also nominated for Best Urban Music Album and the song Hay Un Son, for best video.

In addition, Orishas' music received awards in Spain where it achieved several gold and platinum sales records.

The Cuban theme is one of the most used as a background in series, contests and films where a character from the island is introduced.

In addition, his music has been part of different soundtracks such as Kubaner Küssen Besser Germany 2002, Fast Furius II, 2003, Bad Boys II, 2003, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights 2004, Perfecto Amor Equivocado Cuba-España 2004, El Benny Cuba 2006

On December 12, 2009, Orishas did their last concert as a group in Zurich, Switzerland, after which each member of the group went their separate ways to work on solo albums.

As an actor  Yotuel has participated in series and films such as the popular Un paso Adelante, where he met his partner, the Spanish actress, dancer, composer and singer. Beatriz Luengo. Also in Cuban cinema we could see him in "Color Habana", "Perfecto amor wrong" and "El Baile de San Juan".

As a soloist Yotuel has collaborated with singers such as Ricky Martin along with whom he joined in the single Una mordidita from the Puerto Rican album A Quiet Listen (2015). The song, with more than 1.2 billion views on YouTube, won the Lo Nuestro Award for video of the year.

In January 2021 together with Beatriz Then, released the video clip for his single Rebelde through the YouTube channel in collaboration with the popular Spanish singer and influencer Omar Montes.

In January 2020, together with Orishas and Beatriz Luengo, he releases ojapas, in which Luengo intervenes by singing exactly the chorus of the song oja, by Silvio Rodriguez. This generated a great controversy with Silvio and finally the song was removed from all platforms.

In 2021 Yotuel was in the news again for the use of the same letter to create the song Homeland and Life joining his voice in collaboration with that of Gente de Zona, Decemer Bueno and the rappers Maykel Osorbo and Funky, two of the most visible faces of the San Isidro Movement and the fight against repression on the island. Furthermore, in the audiovisual it appears Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, another member of the MSI.

With this song, which reaches more than 4 million views, the musicians have made history by creating a hymn of freedom with which all Cubans both inside and outside the island have felt identified and that has powerfully bothered the Cuban regime, increasing the repression against any citizen who sings or writes any of his verses publicly.

Yotuel himself was insulted by the Cuban government, which called him Jinetero for his relationship with the Spanish singer Beatriz Luengo.

In February with other Cuban artists and personalities spoke before the European Parliament to talk about the situation in Cuba as well as with members of Joe Biden's administration, regarding the impact the song has had.

In January he announced that he was working on a song with the Spanish singer-songwriter and composer Rosalen with the title "Indecent proposal"

Yotuel resides in Miami with his wife Beatriz Luengo, with whom he is expecting their second child together. A girl who will be born in 2021. She also has a third child from a previous relationship. It is common to see him sharing family pictures and always accompanied by his mother to whom the Cuban artist is very close.