Luis Figueroa

Luis Figueroa blends his Puerto Rican background with his inborn musical abilities, emerging as a distinctive voice in Latin popular music. Equally comfortable across pop, tropical, plena, cumbia, bomba, and reggaeton, his smooth, sultry tenor navigates each style with ease. As a teenager he displayed those gifts on Star Search, Sábado Gigante, and American Idol, a taste of the industry that led him to Berklee College of Music. While uploading covers to YouTube, among them Marc Anthony’s “Flor Palida,” he drew the salsero’s notice and secured a contract with Anthony’s Magnus Media imprint. Figueroa supplied the hit “Por Perro” to Sebastian Yatra and Lary Over and joined them in the accompanying video. He also supplied Spanish lyrics for the adaptation of Sabrina Claudio’s “Cross Your Mind,” the featured single on the 50 Shades Freed soundtrack. His own 2019 release “La Especialista” reached number 27 on Latin Pop Airplay.

Born in North Philadelphia in 1989, Figueroa received early encouragement from his mother after she recognized his gifts for singing and songwriting. He later credited music with steering him clear of trouble in his challenging neighborhood. His choice to speak and sing almost exclusively in Spanish among peers who viewed the language as outdated provoked occasional friction, yet he persisted. He began sharing covers of tracks by Elijah Blake, Trey Songz, Omarion, and others on YouTube, a practice he continues for his audience. A late-2015 clip of “Flor Palida” reached Marc Anthony, who phoned him directly with the words “Luis, this is Marc Anthony and I’m your fan!” Anthony immediately directed Magnus Media to sign the singer. The cover became Figueroa’s first single for the label in 2016. The following year he performed it alongside Anthony and pianist Sergio George at the Premios Juventud Awards, where he received the honor for Favorite Hispanic YouTube Cover Artist. A subsequent single, “Hopeless,” attracted Romeo Santos, who invited Figueroa to serve as a backing vocalist on three consecutive tours.

Although most of 2018 was spent on the road with Santos, Figueroa still wrote “Por Perro” for Sebastian Yatra and Lary Over and appeared in its video; the track climbed to number 16 on Yatra’s chart. He also released the Latin-pop single “Pa Las Babies,” which reached number 20 on the Latin Pop charts and number 16 on Latin streaming in 2019. After another Santos tour, Figueroa moved to Sony Music Latin and delivered the pop-reggaeton track “La Especialista” late that year. In February 2020 he issued the cumbia single “Te Deseo” as the official preview of his debut album; it peaked at number 24 on Latin Pop Airplay and number 19 on Latin Pop Streaming.