Neutro Shorty

Though initially aligned with boom-bap traditions, Venezuelan MC Neutro Shorty achieved widespread international recognition amid the trap wave of the late 2010s. Tracks such as "The World Is Mine," "Lastima," "Soy Yo," and "Bad Boy" each accumulated tens of millions of streams.

Liomar Ricardo Acosta Orta first surfaced as a skilled narrator in early 2012 via the five-track release 5 Historias: The Mixtape. The concise project paired soulful, boom-bap beats with emotionally charged storytelling. He followed quickly with his debut album 19 Puntos (2013), which highlighted his brisk delivery and lyrical skill while expanding into themes of pleasure-seeking and romantic tension. In 2014 he placed his career under the guidance of producer Dr Martínez; the pair then joined Treizy for the more aggressive, street-oriented joint album Buena Mierda. After exploring lighter, pop-leaning hedonism on Deseos: The Mixtape, Neutro Shorty established his own imprint, Los Vatos Inc, and issued the second and third studio albums El Negocio Sucio and El Rey de Los Pobres in 2015.

Although Acosta Orta’s subject matter had grown less heavy through the middle of the decade, the latter half brought a pronounced artistic shift. The 2017 album Calígulas marked the first major move in this new direction; after previewing it with a performance of "El Reloj" at the fifth Pepsi Music Awards in Venezuela, the rapper adopted boast-driven writing and an accelerated trap aesthetic. Joint work with Micro TDH, Jon Z, and Juhn reinforced the change, while the 2019 mixtape Apokalypsis featured swaggering exchanges with fellow Venezuelan trap artist Big Soto. Songs including "Bad Boy," "Camino Solo," and "The World Is Mine" each surpassed twenty million streams, and he sustained his trap momentum through the 2020 mixtape Hay Vida en Venus plus the albums Humble Boyz (2020) and The World Is Mine (2021).