A musical melting pot, much like the cultural landscape he grew up in and drew inspiration from, singer/songwriter, Luis Armando is just beginning to embark on his artistic journey that is without a doubt, looking bright. Born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, but raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Luis Armando is blending the lines between Latin, hip-hop, and pop for a sound so unique it caught the attention of hip hop moguls and Cash Money Records co-founders, Birdman and Slim who went on to sign the young prodigy to the legendary label as the first Latin artist under the label’s iconic roster.
Raised in a musical household, Luis was exposed to many sounds and influences at a young age that helped shape his own unique tastes. As a child, Luis’ grandmother sang in the church choir and introduced him to different types of music especially Latin music. As Luis got older, he found an undying passion in sports as well as music and decided to actively pursue both. An unfortunate sporting injury soon led to Luis devoting more time to his music during his recovery and allowed him to learn to write and produce his own songs, opening up new horizons and opportunities for him. But it was his late uncle whom he proudly names his biggest musical influence and the reason he finds himself now following his artistic dreams.Luis soon became heavily involved in the underground music scene in Cleveland, working with local artists, writers and producers to create his own unique musical identity which is derived from his personal upbringing and influences as well as some of his favorite artists such as Drake, The Wknd, Big L, Daddy Yankee and soon began gaining an undeniable buzz. As they say, good news travels fast and soon Luis found a number of music industry heavyweights knocking on his door with interest to sign and help launch the career of this young artist on a global level.
At 17 years old, Luis Armando found himself in the center of a tug-of-war between various labels interested in signing him, but it was the opportunity with Taste Music Group and Cash Money Records/Republic Records in a joint venture which locked down the bilingual singer in an historic move as the first Latin artist signed to the legendary hip hop label which spawned the global careers of artists such as Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and more.In November 2020, Luis Armando made his official debut with the release of his first global single, “Chica Mala” which featured one of the pioneers of reggaetón, Puerto Rican heavy-hitter, Ñengo Flow. Luis revealed in an interview shortly after the release of the song that he had in fact written Chica Mala years before its release following the untimely death of his uncle and had always envisioned Ñengo Flow as the featured artist. In a major move for any new artist, the song and music video were exclusively debuted on Billboard.com and begin to catch the eyes and ears of fans, media, industry executives and fellow artists.In the weeks following the release of “Chica Mala”, the single has amassed over 3 millions streams across all digital streaming platforms, has found itself on some of the most listened to curated playlists including Spotify’s “New Music Friday” and Amazon Music’s “Reggaeton Hoy”, and the video has surpassed 1.3 million views on YouTube. In late December the song began to make waves internationally and soon found itself on Spain’s Viral 50 music chart.As Chica Mala continues to carve a path for Luis Armando, the 18 year old is gearing up to release more music in 2021. In collaboration with his creative director, Luieville (Natti Natasha, Daddy Yankee, Farruko), Luis Armando has filmed music videos for his follow up releases slated for early 2021 and hopes to release a full project later in the year.
