* En anglais uniquement
Mangu was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in the Bronx, but he moved to Miami Beach to begin recording what he called fonquette, a Latin-based hip-hop style with some modern rap influences (including
A Tribe Called Quest and
KRS-One). His debut single, "La Playa," was produced by
Joe Galdo and
Cesar Sogbe; it featured the montuno piano-playing of Cuban
Paquito Hechevarria. "La Playa" appeared in 1994, but
Mangu didn't deliver his full-length debut until the spring of 1998, when Calle Luna Calle Sol was released by Island Records. ~ John Bush