walking upstream…
Anuel AA
photo: erik drost · cc by 2.0 ↗Anuel AA
Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago was born in 1992 in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the son of a former Sony Music Latin executive, and grew up around recording studios before building an early following through SoundCloud and mixtape releases. A weapons-possession conviction sent him to prison from 2016 to 2018, and he dropped his debut album 'Real Hasta la Muerte' the same month he was released in July 2018, turning his outlaw persona into a brand. As one of Latin trap's defining figures, he fused hard-edged Spanish-language rapping with reggaeton hooks on global hits like 'China' and 'Secreto,' helping push the genre into the mainstream.
the sound in question
2019
ChinaAnuel AA
walk the tributaries ↓
Daddy Yankee2000s · Reggaeton / Latin pop
Anuel idolized Daddy Yankee before he ever met him — he got an introduction through a friend of his sister who trained with him, then spent long hours at the same gym hoping to cross paths, and copied the older man's way of dressing, some of it literally hand-me-downs from Daddy Yankee's own closet. Musically he's the reggaeton foundation Anuel builds his crossover pop moments on: Anuel has drawn on his material as a sample source, and the two share the mic directly on 'China.' When Anuel leaves pure trap for radio-ready perreo, he leans on the dembow pulse Daddy Yankee took global.
listen: upstream & heresource: Urbans History ↗
2004
GasolinaDaddy Yankee
2019
ChinaAnuel AA
listen forCue Daddy Yankee's 'Gasolina' and lock onto that relentless boom-ch-boom dembow kick that made reggaeton a worldwide sound, then play 'China' — the beat rides the same dembow backbone under a glossy singalong hook, Anuel trading his trap grit for Daddy Yankee's dancefloor bounce.
Tupac Shakur1990s · West Coast hip-hop / Conscious hip-hop
Anuel has put this one on the record himself: 'Yo siempre escuchaba a Tupac. Yo quería ser como él.' His older sister and brother played Tupac and Biggie around the house and he picked Tupac, naming 'Ambitionz Az a Ridah' his favorite. That model surfaces in his whole ride-or-die outlaw persona — down to the jewelry-heavy styling — and in the motto 'Real Hasta la Muerte' (Real Until Death), which echoes Tupac's thug-loyalty ethos.
listen: upstream & heresource: Moda ↗
1996
Ambitionz Az a RidahTupac Shakur
2018
Real Hasta la MuerteAnuel AA
listen forThrow on 'Ambitionz Az a Ridah' — the Tupac track Anuel names as his favorite — and sit with that snarling, chin-up opening verse where he dares the world to come at him, then cue Anuel's 'Real Hasta la Muerte' title track. Hear the same defiant, I-was-built-for-this menace carried over into Spanish, loyalty-to-the-grave turned into a personal creed.
Gucci Mane2000s–10s · Trap / Southern hip hop / Gangsta rap
Anuel has named Gucci Mane among the rappers he admires, part of a stated affinity for artists who, like him, rapped through incarceration. The Atlanta trap template Gucci helped define — booming 808s, skittering hi-hats, and a flat, menacing deadpan delivery — is the sonic scaffolding Anuel rebuilt in Spanish as Latin trap.
listen: upstream & here
2009
LemonadeGucci Mane
2016
SolaAnuel AA
listen forPlay Gucci Mane's 'Lemonade' for that unhurried, ice-cold flow riding a heavy 808 and rattling hats, then drop into Anuel's early breakout 'Sola' — same dark, minimal trap architecture and deadpan swagger, just carried on a Spanish cadence.