Mr. Paradise

Latin rapper, singer and guitarist Mr. Paradise fuses age-old flamenco traditions with raw, streetwise hip-hop and wistful pop hooks, creating a singular style that earned him a contract with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. Angel Ariel Batista entered the world in 1991 in Villa Duarte, Dominican Republic, then relocated at age two to Madrid, Spain, where an international boarding school instilled ideals of tolerance and cultural respect that nurtured his optimistic worldview. At ten he joined his mother in West New York, New Jersey; four years later he and three classmates launched the reggaeton outfit 3men2, which cultivated a devoted Dominican audience through a mixtape, multiple singles and appearances at events such as Miami’s Calle 8 festival. Batista wrote much of the group’s material and, during his late teens, mastered classical guitar on his own to enrich his compositional range. Going solo in 2015 under the name Mr. Paradise, he issued the introspective, downcast track “Forastero,” an exploration of immigrant life, then unveiled “Cirugía” the following year. Those recordings drew Roc Nation’s interest, making him the inaugural act on its fresh Latin division; the label reissued “Forastero” in early 2017, propelling it past one million streams. After joining Romeo Santos on tour throughout 2018, Batista devoted 2020 to shaping his first full-length project, Transatlantic, which yielded the sparse, guitar-led single “Curiosidad.” In 2021 he teamed with Rubinsky RBK and Rubiera for “Class Apart” and with Medicensanto for “Villana.”