Magic Juan

by David JeffriesProducer, songwriter, and bilingual rapper Magic Juan was born in Washington Heights, New York City, but was raised in Teaneck, NJ. At the age of ten he joined the school choir and started taking piano, guitar, and drum lessons outside of school. His parents were skeptical that he would stick with music, but after Juan had won some talent contests, they were sure he was serious. To keep him off the streets, they bought some recording equipment, and Juan would spend his days after school recording, writing songs, rapping, and sampling. After high school he played with the idea of studying marketing, but an offer to join Proyecto Uno -- a merengue band with heavy urban and hip-hop influences -- kept him from going to college. His bilingual rapping was featured on the cut "Brinca," a single that went to number one in over eight countries in South America. Proyecto Uno went on to sell over three million albums worldwide, but Juan wanted a record that was his own. In 2002 he released his solo debut, La Prueba, and became the New York correspondent for Telemundo's Latin hip-hop show, The Roof. In 2004 he released Libertad: The Magic Juan Mix.