With his allegiance to the streets coming through in his music, Puerto Rican singer, rapper, and songwriter Ñengo Flow earned himself the nickname “The Real G of Urban Music.” Known as much for his collaborations as his own recordings, he is a go-to for reggaetoneros and urbano musicians and producers for his percussive, gritty flow and compelling musicality. He burst onto the scene with his 2005 debut offering, Flow Callejero, which brought his anthemic party music to the masses. Flow has appeared on dozens of singles and albums as a collaborator, co-writer, and producer with artists ranging from Ivy Queen and Don Omar to Bad Bunny and De la Ghetto. Globally renowned for his numerous mixtapes, such as 2011′s Real G 4 Life (and three subsequent entries in the series), he established a rep as an old-school reggaetonero fully equipped with enough new-school chops to remain not only relevant but in demand. Ñengo Flow’s third (non-mixtape) studio long-player, The Goat, appeared in 2020, and he has continued releasing heavily streamed singles since, including 2022′s “Gato de Noche” with Bad Bunny.
Raised in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, Edwin Rosa first jumped on-stage as a young reggaeton and hip-hop singer in 1995 at the age of 14. In 2004, he joined a group of colleagues on a regional mixtape. A year later, he was on the Univision label with his debut album as Ñengo Flow, Flow Callejero, but the always-rebellious artist willingly returned to the underground and spent the next seven years releasing singles and mixtapes like La Verdadera Calle (2010). In 2011, Millones Récords began issuing his Real G 4 Life series of official mixtapes, including Real G 4 Life, Pt. 2 (2012), which landed on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart. That same year, he was a noted collaborator on Ivy Queen’s now-classic album Musa. In 2015, the mixtape series became the name of Ñengo’s own label when Real G 4 Life Records released the Los Reyes del Rap album along with the “Moving Kilos” single featuring French Montana. The third installment in Flow’s mixtape series, Real G4 Life, Vol. 3, appeared in 2017. That same year, he was a featured guest on Kiubbah Malon’s album El Final.
In 2018, Flow appeared as an actor in the first season of Nicky Jam’s autobiographical Netflix series El Ganador while also collaborating on the soundtrack. In 2019, his “Te Arrepentiste,” featuring Lyanno, also made the urbano charts. In March 2020, Flow appeared on Bad Bunny’s smash “Safaera” with Jowell & Randy and followed with his own charting long-player, The Goat, featuring guest spots from Jhay Cortez, Anuel AA, Jory Boy, and Myke Towers, among others.
Flow has released dozens of singles since The Goat. Some of his biggest tracks from 2020 include “Vive y Deja Vivir” (with Alejandra Guzmán), “Gatita Gangster” (with Cazzu), “Profecía,” and “Universitaria.” 2021 brought songs with Dvice, Gaona, Farruko, Myke Towers (“Burberry”), and others. “Chukiteo” (with Kiko El Crazy) appeared in 2022, as well as “Delincuente” (with Tokischa and Anuel AA), “Sufro” (with Kodak Black and Anuel AA), “Gato de Noche” (with Bad Bunny), and others. ~ David Jeffries