Danny Ocean

Venezuelan singer/producer Danny Ocean blends Latin rhythms, EDM production, and pop hooks. He slowly rose to global fame with his record-breaking song “Me Rehúso,” which eventually amassed over a billion streams, while other tracks from his 2019 album 54+1 also did numbers in the hundreds of millions. 2020 and 2021 saw hitmaking collaborations with Karol G (“Miedito o Qué?“) and Tokischa (“Dorito & Coca Cola”), and in 2022, he issued his genre-bending second LP, @dannocean. The more electronic-influenced Reflexa appeared in 2024. Ocean was born Daniel Morales in Caracas, Venezuela. He worked for a time under the moniker Danny O.C.T., beginning a music career around 2009 and producing several EPs before relocating to Miami, Florida around 2015 to escape the bleak political and economic landscape of Venezuela. Working low-paying jobs and feeling generally lonely and displaced, Morales wrote the song “Me Rehúso” in 2016, thinking of his girlfriend back in Venezuela. He uploaded the song to his video channel, and while it was slow to catch on, the track eventually became a viral hit, streamed hundreds of millions of times online, and even went so far as to demand a relaunch and an English-language version, “Baby I Won’t.” Ocean signed to an interesting partnership of major labels in 2017, with Warner Music Latina handling his Spanish-language recordings while Atlantic released his English-language material. In 2018, he teamed up with Skrillex for the single “Epa Wei.” His full-length debut, 54+1, was released in March 2019. Ocean continued to issue stand-alone tracks, including songs of his own, like “Dime Tú,” and collaborations with other artists, as on the summery 2020 single “Miedito o Qué?” with Karol G and 2021′s sensuous “Dorito & Coca Cola” with Dominican rapper Tokischa. The following year saw the release of Ocean’s wide-ranging sophomore long-player, @dannocean, which included collaborations with TINI, Tokischa, Guaynaa, and Justin Quiles. The companion release @dannocean2 was issued later in the year. In 2023, Ocean released heavily streamed collaborations with 3AM (“Emeycé“), Rawayana (“Binikini”), and Alejandro Sanz (“Correcaminos”), among others. Solo single “No Te Enamores de Él” rounded out the year. Third full-length Reflexa arrived in 2024, sporting a more overt club music influence than earlier releases. ~ Fred Thomas