King Africa

Emerging from Argentina during the opening years of the 1990s, the dance-pop project King Africa made its first appearance on a domestic compilation through the track "E-O-E" in 1992, soon followed by "Pontelo, Ponselo." The album El Africano arrived in 1993 bearing the hit single "Salta," which quickly secured platinum certification in both Argentina and Chile. A cover of the longstanding tropical number "Mama Yo Quiero" appeared on 1994's Al Palo and advanced steadily on Latin charts across the Americas. King Africa achieved major status in Spain during 2001 upon releasing "La Bomba," the infectious track already familiar to U.S. audiences through Bolivian Azul Azul. In a bold promotional maneuver, he publicly positioned the forthcoming 2002 single "El Humahuaqueno" as America's next major novelty dance sensation and entered a cross-promotional arrangement with Burger King to pursue wider commercial reach.