Rigo Luna

Mexican-American recording artist Rigo Luna spent his formative years in Compton, CA, the notorious section of Los Angeles County renowned for producing gangsta rappers including N.W.A, Ice Cube, DJ Quik, Dr. Dre, Compton's Most Wanted and the late Eric "Eazy-E" Wright (Snoop Dogg hails from the adjacent city of Long Beach immediately to the south). Despite absorbing hip-hop's rhythmic approach, Luna never pursued gangsta rap; instead he focused on singing and distinguished himself through convincing Spanish-language R&B performances. The bilingual vocalist has not limited himself to Spanish exclusively, yet he has worked extensively in that language and drawn notice in both the Latin pop and urban contemporary fields. His R&B influences encompass Bobby Brown, Michael Jackson, Prince, R. Kelly and Babyface, among others.

Luna began appearing as a solo performer at musical events throughout junior high, middle school and high school, then sustained his singing activities into young adulthood. In 1994 he became a member of the Latin-flavored urban contemporary and teen-pop vocal group Nu Flavor alongside Frank Pangelinan, Jacob Ceniceros and Anthony DaCosta. The ensemble, which performs in both English and Spanish, prepared a demo featuring a cover of Journey's "Open Arms"; the recording reached Reprise Records executive Howie Klein, who offered the group a contract after they delivered an a cappella audition in his office. Reprise issued Nu Flavor's self-titled debut album in 1997, which yielded the hits "Heaven" and "Sweet Sexy Thing" (distinct from the Ohio Players' 1975 recording). The label followed with the group's second album, It's On, in 1999; its singles comprised "Sprung," "Beautiful Girl" and "3 Little Words." Luna's tenure with Nu Flavor concluded when he departed in 2000 to resume solo work.

Several years passed without a recording contract until 2006, when Universal Music's Latin-oriented imprint Machete Music signed him. That same year the label released Luna's self-titled debut solo album and selected the Spanish-language slow jam "Nunca" ("Never") as its lead single.