Tempo

Puerto Rican rapper Tempo made his first stage appearance in 1989, after which he committed fully to building a music career. In 1994 he became a member of the local collective El Escuadron del Panico (the Panic Squadron) and partnered with DJ Joe on his debut recording. He later added guest verses to DJ Frank’s Time to Kill and El Mexicano’s Entre El Bien y El Mal.

Tempo was among the earliest acts signed to the Puerto Rican independent imprint Buddha Productions, which issued the DJ Playero–produced Game Over in 1999 and followed it a year later with New Game. Sony Discos then put out his first international compilation, Exitos.