For many, Arcángel needs no introduction. The Latin Music star, born in New York to Dominican parents and later raised in Puerto Rico, became a unique referent in the urban music industry, taking rap, trap and reggaeton to previously unreachable territories. After joining Bizarrap’s latest session, his voice rocked international charts, getting into the Spotify Global Top 50 most listened songs.
If you wanna learn a bit more of urban Latin music figures, here we compiled some curiosities you should know about Austin Agustín Santos, a.k.a Arcángel.
In 2005 Arcángel returned to the country where he grew up, Puerto Rico. There he was nourished by the reggaeton music culture from where many other artists such as Daddy Yanky, Bad Bunny, Myke Towers or Rauw Alejandro emerged. Then he joined urban rapper De La Ghetto in the duo Arcángel & De La Ghetto, and thanks to their talent, they became a key reference in the industry. The duo ended their career together in 2007, but both are very fond of each other.
One of the hardest moments in Arcángel’s life came with the passing of his brother Justin at the end of 2021 in a traffic accident. This marked a before and after in his life. As a tribute to Justin, Arcángel underwent general anesthesia for eight hours to tattoo his entire chest in honor of him. In addition, he released the album ‘St. Santos’ in his memory. One of the songs included is ‘La Jumpa’, his collaboration with Bad Bunny, which has been incredibly successful on the platforms.
As Austin revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone, the name Archangel captivated him after a story his grandmother told him. Once, he asked her why wherever he went he saw the picture of St. Michael the Archangel fighting with the Devil, to which she replied: «In heaven there is a daily battle between angels and demons, we do not see them, but all the time good is battling against evil. Those angels who are fighting against the demons and the forces of evil are called archangels, a legion of angels, warriors of Papa God”. He liked it so much that decided to merge his concept with that of Archangel.
Arcángel married Alejandra Pascual in 2006, whom he divorced in 2020. The following year, in 2021, he said «I do» to Janexsy Figueroa, with whom he has had his two children, Angélica Lucero and Austin Alejandro. In addition, Janexsy had a son with Nicky Minaj, Joe Martin, who spent much of his childhood with Arcángel, since he was only three years old when his mother and the artist began their relationship.
In the same interview with Rolling Stone, he revealed that he «may retire from stage soon», but from «fighting in music, never». «My heart beats for the rhythm of the music. I can’t imagine what my personal environment would be like without it”, he declared. There is still Arcángel for a while!