Chelo

b. José Oscar Mejías Hernandez, Puerto Rico. Latin pop singer Chelo joined the ranks of internationally successful Puerto Rican artists in the early 00s, when his solo debut 360o broke into the US mainstream charts in 2006. He began working in the music industry at an early age, signing up with reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee in his mid-teens as a choreographer. A potential career in choreography was put on the sidelines when, in 1998, he joined the Puerto Rican boy band Jyve V. The quintet enjoyed a series of Latin hits before splitting up at the start of 2002. Chelo moved on to the Puerto Rican/Mexican quintet ATM but solo ambitions quickly put paid to his membership of this group, with the singer landing a recording contract with the Sony subsidiary Norte. Freed of the constraints of being in a manufactured pop group, Chelo gave free rein to his musical sensibilities on his debut album, blending urban, rap and Latin rhythms with a keen pop sensibility. His pop nous was particularly apparent on the hit single ‘Cha Cha’, which preceded 360o into the US charts in summer 2006.