Tego Calderón facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tego Calderón
Calderón performing in the Canary Islands, September 15, 2004
Background information
Birth name	Tegui Calderón Rosario
Born	(1972-02-01) February 1, 1972 (age 53) Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Origin	Río Grande, Puerto Rico
Genres	Latin hip hop reggaeton alternative reggaeton
Occupation(s)	Rapper singer actor
Instruments	Vocals bongos timbales drums
Years active	1996–present
Labels	White Lion BMG U.S. Latin Jiggiri Atlantic Warner Latina Siente Universal Latino Paz y Esperanza
Associated acts	Don Omar Wisin & Yandel Eddie Dee

Tegui Calderón Rosario (born February 1, 1972), known as Tego Calderón, is a famous rapper, singer, and actor from Puerto Rico. He started his music journey in 1996. A well-known rapper named Eddie Dee helped him early on. Eddie Dee invited Tego to be on his album El Terrorista de la Lírica in 2000.

Tego Calderón became famous around the world in 2003 with his first album, El Abayarde. This album sold 300,000 copies and was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award. Because he was so important in reggaeton music, he joined Eddie Dee's 12 Discípulos album in 2004. He released three more studio albums between 2006 and 2015. These albums explored different music styles. For example, The Underdog/El Subestimado (2006) and El Abayarde Contraataca (2007) focused more on hip hop and African music than reggaeton. His fourth album, El Que Sabe, Sabe, came out in 2015. It won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album.

Tego Calderón's music often talks about important social and political topics. His songs sometimes speak out against corruption in the Puerto Rican government. He also sings about dancing, love, thinking about yourself, and his own life experiences.

His acting career began in 2007. He had a supporting role in the movie Illegal Tender. In 2009, he played a main role in a short film called Los Bandoleros. This short film is part of the Fast & Furious movie series. In the same year, he had a small appearance in the fourth Fast & Furious movie. In 2011, he played his character again in Fast Five, working with his friend Don Omar.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Tego Calderón was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico. His mother, Pilar Rosario Parrilla, was a schoolteacher. His father, Esteban Calderón Ilarraza, worked for Puerto Rico's Department of Health. When he was young, Tego moved from Puerto Rico to Miami, Florida. He went to Miami Beach Senior High. There, he learned about many different cultures. He also studied percussion and played drums in a rock band. His band played songs by artists like Ozzy Osbourne and Led Zeppelin.

Tego has shared that both his parents loved the music of Ismael Rivera. His father also enjoyed jazz. Tego was influenced by these music styles. He used them in his own songs, like "Minnie the Moocher". Over time, he created a unique music style. It mixed parts of salsa, plena, dancehall, and hip-hop. His lyrics often focused on everyday life in cities.

Starting His Music Career

Tego Calderón's career started in the 1990s. He took part in Puerto Rican hip hop contests on TV. He met Eddie Dee and DJ Adam, who became important friends and helpers. However, many music producers and DJs didn't want to work with Tego at first. DJ Adam once said that Tego was supposed to be on his album Mad Jam. But Tego's style was too unusual back then, so he was not included.

In 2000, Tego Calderón signed with Eddie Dee's music label. He worked with Eddie Dee on his first big hit on Puerto Rican radio. This was the hip hop song "En Peligro de Extinción" from Dee's album El Terrorista de la Lírica.

Between 2001 and 2002, Tego worked on many music collections. These included popular albums like "Kilates" and "Boricuas NY" volumes 1 and 2. He also had his first worldwide hit song, 'Cosa Buena'. This song was part of the "Planet Reggae" album.

Thanks to 'Cosa Buena', Tego Calderón became famous worldwide. The song's music video was played a lot on TV channels like Telemundo. This created a lot of excitement for his first album, "El Abayarde", which came out in November 2002. Even though it was only available in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and parts of the United States, 'El Abayarde' was a huge success. It was the first hip hop/reggaeton album by a solo artist to sell over 75,000 copies in just one week. This happened without a major record label helping to distribute it.

This success led Tego Calderón and White Lion Records to sign a deal with Sony Music Latin. Tego also started his own music label called Jiggiri Records. It was part of White Lion Records and distributed by Sony Music Latin. Jiggiri Records later signed and released successful albums from artists like Zion & Lennox and Voltio. From 2003 to 2005, Tego Calderón became one of the most popular touring artists in Latin music. This helped make reggaeton a very respected music style.

In August 2003, Tego Calderón performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The New York Times newspaper wrote that he showed how reggaeton could grow and change. They called him a "forward-looking performer." He performed there again in October 2004 for an event called Megatón 2004. The concert sold out, with 20,000 people attending. The audience included both Latino and non-Latino fans.

Tego Calderón also traveled to Miami. There, he added dancehall music elements to his style. In 2004, his album El Enemy de los Guasíbiri was released. This album mixed different city music styles. Tego said he liked these other styles because he felt salsa had become "too corporate and too safe." Years later, Tego said he never approved the release of the Guasibiri album. He claimed it was just a collection of old songs and should not be considered part of his official music.

After this album, reggaeton became more popular with hip-hop producers in New York. Tego continued to work on many mixtapes. He was featured in remixes of songs like Usher's "Yeah" and Fat Joe's "Lean Back". He also worked with Aventura on their song "We Got the Crown".

Music Career: 2005 to Today

Calderón performing in Laredo, Texas, in 2015

Tego Calderón took part in New York's Puerto Rican Day parade in 2004 and 2005. During this time, he became the first Latin American artist to be played on New York's Power-105 radio station. A newspaper called the Village Voice wrote about Tego's influence on young Latin Americans. They said he "almost single-handedly... steered his country's dominant youth culture out of the island and Latino neighborhoods, and into the American stream of pop consciousness.” Tego remained a big name in Latin music. This was thanks to international hits like "Bandoleros" with Don Omar. This song was even included in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift movie soundtrack. He also had the song "Quítate Tú Pa Ponerme Yo" from Eddie Dee's 12 Discípulos album.

In mid-2005, Tego Calderón signed a big deal with Atlantic Records and his own label, Jiggiri Records. In 2006, he released The Underdog/El Subestimado. This was his second album, and it had more hip hop music and less reggaeton. Many artists appeared on this album, including Buju Banton, Voltio, and Don Omar. Many producers also helped create the album.

In 2023, Tego Calderón released a new song called "La Receta." It was released through Paz y Esperanza and Universal Music Latino.

Tego's Music Style and Messages

Even though Tego Calderón is a reggaeton artist, he says he enjoys "all types of music." This is clear from his past; he started in a heavy metal band and studied drums. His music also shows this, as it includes "several musical tendencies." These include sounds and rhythms from places like Africa, Colombia, and the Caribbean. He creates his popular reggaeton sound by mixing an experimental reggaeton style with classic salsa and a strong amount of hip-hop. This style is deeply connected to the working-class culture of the Caribbean.

Tego Calderón is also praised for his song lyrics. They are meaningful and inspiring, often showing his awareness of social issues. He has been called "the reggaeton champion of an Afro-Caribbean working-class aesthetic." He is known for lyrics that are both poetic and political. A common theme in all his albums is his focus on social topics and his strong, confident artistic style. According to Tony Touch, a famous hip hop DJ, "Tego is someone who represents struggle, an underdog... He's more of an MC, a product of late-'80s hip-hop."

The most important messages in his music, videos, and interviews are celebrating black identity and showing how racism affects Latino and Latin American people. His essay, "Black Pride," was published in the New York Post. It talks about the unfair treatment Black Latinos face in Latin America. He shares his own experiences growing up in Puerto Rico. The essay reminds readers of the history of African enslavement and the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. It encourages Black Latinos to stand up for their rights and challenge racism and colorism in society. He wrote: "This is not about rejecting whiteness rather; it’s about learning to love our blackness – to love ourselves. We have to say basta ya, it’s enough, and find a way to love our blackness. They have confused us – and taught us to hate each other – to self-hate and create divisions on shades and features."

Film and Other Projects

Tego Calderón started acting in the movie Illegal Tender. This film was produced by John Singleton. Tego played a Puerto Rican character named Choco. The director, Franc. Reyes, wrote this character specifically for Tego.

Tego Calderón turned down roles in other movies to be in Illegal Tender. He did this out of respect for the producer, John Singleton. After Tego told John Singleton he wanted to be in a comedy, he was set to appear in another Singleton film. In that movie, he would have played the coach of a baseball team, but the movie was never made.

Tego Calderón traveled to Sierra Leone with artists Raekwon and Paul Wall. They filmed a VH1 documentary about diamond mining called "Bling'd: Blood, Diamonds, and Hip-Hop." The documentary looked at how hip hop was connected to the diamond trade. After filming, Tego publicly announced that he would no longer wear jewelry. His experience in Africa also changed how he saw life. This influenced his song "Alegria," which encourages fans not to complain and to remember that others have bigger problems.

Tego Calderón and Don Omar are featured in Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and The Fate of the Furious. These are the fourth, fifth, and eighth movies in The Fast and the Furious series.

Tego Calderón's Music Albums

Studio Albums

• El Abayarde (2002)
• The Underdog/El Subestimado (2006)
• El Abayarde Contraataca (2007)
• El Que Sabe, Sabe (2015)

Mixtapes

• The Original Gallo Del País - O.G. El Mixtape (2012)

Compilation Albums

• El Enemy de los Guasíbiri (2004)

Awards and Nominations

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Latin Music Awards

Grammy Awards

Latin Grammy Awards

Filmography

Video Games

See also

In Spanish: Tego Calderón para niños