Puerto Rican rapper Vico C experienced a wave of success throughout the '90s in the United States while prevailing popular in Latin America. Born Luis Armando Lozada on September 8, 1971, in Brooklyn, NY, Vico grew up surrounded by the rough streets of New York, where he saw crime, violence, and drugs from an early age. He was interested in hip-hop when it first bloomed in the early '80s with such artists as Run-D.M.C. and, from there, he took the stage name Vico C to become a rapper himself.
Vico C was discovered by DJ Negro in 1985 whom saw the great potential of hip hop in Spanish and chose to record Vico's earliest demos. After the positive impact it had from the barrio, DJ Negro brought Vico to the most successful hip hop promoter in Puerto Rico, Jorge Oquendo (also known as 'El Sexy Boy'). Jorge Oquendo formed the record label 'Prime Records' with Vico C as the lead artist of the label.
Vico also developed production skills and launched a professional career at the end of the '80s. He produced singles for such Latin artists as Lisa M. ("El Pum Pum") and Francheska ("Menéalo") and began collaborating with Jossie Esteban on songs of his own in the early '90s. In particular, "La Recta Final" became a big hit for Vico, whose early-'90s work blended rap with merengue. Following a few early-'90s releases and much success in Puerto Rico and throughout Latin America, Vico suffered a life-threatening car accident that sidelined him for a large amount of time.
He returned in 1998 with Aquel Que Había Muerto, an album that found him renouncing his past vices and proclaiming a renewed faith in God, and his level of success grew massively again. Different albums flooded the market around this time in the late '90s and Vico spent successive years promoting his success.
