Fulanito

The late ’90s saw the emergence of several outfits that expanded upon and updated merengue’s classic dance rhythms, such as the multi-membered Fulanito (Rafael Vargas, José Fuentes, Elvin Ovalles, Marino Paredes, Wellinghton Belen, Winston Rosa, and José Arsenio Rosa), who added elements of rap, reggae, and drum’n’bass to the proceedings. The group has scored several hit singles on both Billboard’s tropical/salsa and hot Latin tracks charts, including such toe-tappers as “Guallando,” “El Cepillo,” and “La Novela,” while their full-length albums Hombre Mas Famoso de la Tierra (1997) and El Padrino (1999) have also fared well with the Latin dance crowd. Fulanito has been the recipient of the prestigious Premio ACE 1999 (Association of Entertainment Critics of New York) for Outstanding Band, as well as receiving the Premio ACE 1998 for Impact Band of the Year, Premio ACE 1997 for Outstanding Latin Group; Premio GLOBO 1999 for Tropical Merengue Best Tipico-House Group. In 1999, Fulanito received a nomination for Tropical Salsa Revelation of the Year New Artist by Premio Lo Nuestro à la Música Latina. 2001 saw their third release, The Remixes. ~ Greg Prato