Crooked Stilo
Encyclopedia
Early years
The duo spent their early years in El SalvadorEl Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, a Central American nation that was torn apart by civil war. In their youth, they immigrated with their parents to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in search of a new beginning and a better future. They settled in a housing project in East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles, California
East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
, a new environment that came with its own unique challenges.
In East Los Angeles, the brothers faced difficulties of gang warfare, drugs
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
, alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, and criminal
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
elements. They focused on their music as a protection from the gangs and fights that occurred outside of their home. The confrontations between other young immigrants and the police turned into music and the stories of their lives became their lyrics.
The boys were ambitious and planned a future for themselves that would help them get out of their poor neighborhood. They wanted to become music stars, so the brothers began to toy with a musical style of their own. They quickly found that their musical interests differed; Victor had always preferred the music of his roots, with lyrics in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
while Johnny loved American rap music. Representing their new reality as Salvadorans living in Los Angeles, they developed a fusion of their two musical interests.
Influences
The brothers combined the Latin music that they heard from their parents with the new sounds they encountered in Los Angeles. They combined the sounds of Celia CruzCelia Cruz
Celia Cruz was a Cuban-American salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, having earned twenty-three gold albums...
, Willy Chirino
Willy Chirino
Willy Chirino, born April 5, 1947 in Consolación del Sur, Pinar del Río, Cuba, is an entertainer and singer in the salsa style.-Early Family Life:...
, Vico C
Vico C
Vico C is an Puerto Rican rapper and rap artist. He is considered one of the founding fathers of rap and has played an influential role in the development of Latin American hip hop....
, Gilberto Santa Rosa
Gilberto Santa Rosa
Gilberto Santa Rosa, also known as "El Caballero de la Salsa" , is a Puerto Rican bandleader and singer of salsa and bolero.-Early years:...
, NWA, Gangstarr, EPMD
EPMD
EPMD is an American hip hop group from Brentwood, New York. The group's name is a concatenation of the members' name "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referencing its members, emcees Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith...
, Big Daddy Kane
Big Daddy Kane
Antonio Hardy better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap group the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MC's in Hip Hop...
, Mellow Man Ace
Mellow Man Ace
Ulpiano Sergio Reyes , better known as Mellow Man Ace, is an American rapper. He is best known for his hit single "Mentirosa"...
, Biz Markie
Biz Markie
Marcel Theo Hall better known by his stage name, Biz Markie, is an American rapper, beatboxer, DJ, comedian, singer, reality television personality, and commercial spokesperson. He is best known for his single "Just a Friend", an American Top 10 hit in 1989...
, Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
, A.L.T.
A.L.T.
A.L.T. is a Mexican-American rapper known for the 1992 hit song "Tequila" . He is of Mexican and French descent. A.L.T. joined the rap supergroup, Latin Alliance in 1991. After their first and only album, A.L.T. went solo and released his debut album, Another Latin Timebomb in 1992...
, Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, Tupac
Tupac
Tupac is a relatively uncommon male name. Notable people with the name include:*Túpac Inca Yupanqui , tenth Sapa Inca of the Incan Empire*Túpac Amaru , last indigenous leader of the Inca people in Peru...
, and Notorious BIG.
Band history
They christened their new style as "crooked" because "it consists of combining the old Spanish music and new hip hop music," stated Johnny. After defining their sound and style, the group began recording in 19931993 in music
This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....
.
They initially recorded their work independently, and discovered an audience for their music, becoming popular in the urban regional music scene. Crooked Stilo has worked and performed with artists such as P. Diddy, Daddy Yankee
Daddy Yankee
Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez , known artistically as Daddy Yankee, is a Latin Grammy Award winning Puerto Rican Reggaeton recording artist. Ayala was born in Río Piedras, the largest district of San Juan, where he became interested in music at a young age. In his youth he was interested in baseball,...
("Salud y Vida" from the 2004 multi-platinum album "Barrio Fino
Barrio Fino
Barrio Fino is the third studio album and first commercially released album by Puerto Rican rapper performer Daddy Yankee, released on 13 July 2004, by Machete Music and El Cartel Records....
"), Don Chezina
Don Chezina
Don Chezina is a singer, producer, and talent scout of reggaeton music. He is known for his high, nasal voice and fast rapping style , along with his most famous song "Tra Tra Tra", which in 1998 became one of the first reggaeton songs to become popular in the US...
, Dyablo, and others.
They have released four albums with Univision Music Group
Univision Music Group
For the successor to this company, go to Universal Music Latin Entertainment.Univision Music Group was a Latin music company in the United States with approximately 45% market share...
and Fonovisa Records
Fonovisa Records
Fonovisa Records is an American Spanish language record label. Fonovisa mainly produces Mexican style music. It is well known for its signing with artists such as Cristian Castro, Enrique Iglesias, and Thalía....
: "Puro Escandalo", "Retrasalo", "Malhablados" and "Cumbia Urbana".