Vico C
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vico C (born Armando Lozada Cruz on September 8, 1971) is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer who is considered one of the founders of hip hop in Spanish or Latin hip hop. He was born in New York but raised in Puerto Rico. Nicknamed The Philosopher, he adopted the professional name Vico C, by which he is better known, to honor both the philosopher Giambattista Vico and his mother (by including the letter C in the name, Cruz is his mother's last name).
Vico C grew up in the Puerta de Tierra barrio in San Juan. He got enrolled in acting classes by the age of nine and began his professional rapping career in 1984. At first, he used to go to bodegas (grocery stores) or pharmacies, buy home recording tapes, record himself singing his songs and then sell the tapes to friends or family. His first production earned him a grand total of 20 dollars.
In 1989, Vico C finally got his first big break. Rap in Puerto Rico was at a popular high, and Ruben DJ had become extremely popular with his radio hit La Escuela (The School). Vico C entered the charts with his super hit La Recta Final (The Final Stretch). With La Recta Final, Vico C reached international fame. Vico C started touring frequently to places like New York, Chicago, Miami, Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and more places.
Vico C in 1992 came through with more major hits, his singles Saborealo (Taste it) and Maria became gold and platinum albums, respectively. In 1994 however, Vico C suffered a car accident while on tour in the Dominican Republic, and had to be hospitalized a considerable amount of time. At the same time, rumors of his alleged drug use became constant among the general public.
Also in 1994, he established his own record company, promoting such singers as Fransheska and Liza M.
Soon after, he became a born again Christian and went into a voluntary semi-retirement. In 1998, he resurfaced, with the Christian rap CD Aquel que Habia Muerto (He who had Died). The new CD went gold and in 1999, he returned to the touring scene with his concert Antes y despues (Before and After). Soon after, he released a sequel to Aquel que Habia Muerto. With that, he earned the Latino Rap of the year award by Billboard.
In 2003, Vico C entered a drug rehabilitation program because he had apparently fallen back to the drug world. However, he has stated publicly that he wants to get back into a Christian lifestyle.
In 2004, Vico C released an album titled "En Honor a La Verdad" (In Honor Of The Truth). While it was not a major hit it still sold well and one of the album's singles "El Bueno, El Malo y El Feo" (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), referring to Eddie Dee, Vico C and Tego Calderon respectively. The single was widely heard. The single was a great combination of the best "Conscience" sub-genre of reggeaton artists.
Vico C's latest album was "Desahogo" (Speaking Freely), in early 2005.
Desahogo was a good hit. By June 3, 2006 he came back with another concert, EL ENCUENTRO. The concert was in San Juan, PR, and the tickets were sold out. In this concert, Vico sang some of the songs in Desahogo as well as some of his classic songs like Explosion and Me Acuerdo.
