Dalmata

Fernando Mangual Vazquez, artistically known as Dálmata, was born on February 29, 1980. The youngest out of three brothers, Dalmata was raised in the place that has become part of his identity and style: Ponce, Puerto Rico. Dalmata demonstrated a passion for music at a very young age. He studied music theory and also belonged to the chorus at La Escuela de Ponce. Before being involved in reggaeton, his vision was to have a rock band because it was like the trend at the time. Although Dalmata had older brothers, since age 3, he was brought up as a single child, after his brothers were kidnapped. It was not until recently that Dalmata met his older brothers. Coming from a humble family and upbringing, Dalmata always had to struggle to make ends meet. If he wanted something, he would have to hussle to get what he desired. The fact that before pursuing a music career, he worked in places such as the local toll booth and Sams Club, demonstrates how down to earth Dalmatas character is in reality. As a young kid, Dalmata would spend hours drawing and putting his many ideas on paper. Schoolmates would even pay Dalmata to draw a picture of them, because his pictures were almost an identical replica of the real person. However, Dalmata knew that he had a unique talent as a musician and began experimenting with the keyboard, and before he knew it, he was mixing two music genres. He would take rock songs and sort of mimic what they were saying to create what he calls a rock parody. It was this rock parody that helped Dalmata breakthrough the reggaeton community with his first song No te Hagas la Dificil. Funny thing is that Dalmatas song was recorded because he lost a bet to reggaeton producer, DJ Negro. The beat for this song was originally made by DJ Rafi Mercenario, but for some reason the album was not released, and DJ Joe remade the beat and released the song in the production Fatal Fantasy. It was in his collaborating work in Fatal Fantasy 2, that Dalmata met his frequent artistic partner, Ñejo. Both of them being from the same vicinity in Ponce, they were familiar with each other, but were not really the best of friends. It was after collaborating on the same album, that Dalmata approached Nejo to perform in parties together. Luckily for them, their different, distinct styles complement each other and create an aggressive flow that the public keeps demanding. Dalmata also had the opportunity to appear in productions, such as MVP, The Score, and Da Flex. Most recently, and with the support of DJ Nelsons, Flow Music Corp., Ñejo and Dalmata have composed and performed songs, such as Esa Nena and are also featuring together in Ground Zero, another album to be released in 2006. Also in 2006, Dalmata appeared solo in Naldos, Sangre Nueva Special Edition. He also appeared in La Kalle , with the hit song Caliente. Dalmata takes his talent even further by personally creating the melody to his songs and then having someone else put the batteries and other effects that go with the beat. Dalmata is featured to appear in productions, such as The Jedays, One Team Music Da Hitmakers, Mundo Demente, and most important for him, he is working on his solo album. With 2006 proving to be a very promising year for this smooth lyricist, his flow and vision will reach la whole new level, because unlike many artists in the genre, his lyrics do have real meaning. Hopefully, this promising star will not be BROKE AND FAMOUS forever.