Though he has been active in the music business for years,
Fuego came into his own with a several solo hits in the early 2010s, and became even more visible when he released a Spanish-language reworking of
Drake's "Hotline Bling." Signing on with
Pitbull's label Mr. 305, he released several more reworked versions of other artists' songs before coming out with his major-label debut Libre: Fireboy Forever in the summer of 2018.
Born Miguel Duran on September 24, 1981, in Washington, D.C.,
Fuego was raised by his father to appreciate tropical music legends such as
Frankie Ruiz,
Juan Luis Guerra, and
Héctor Lavoe. On his own, he developed an appreciation for American rappers such as
2Pac,
the Notorious B.I.G., and
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
Fuego began his musical performance career in 1998 as a member of 3-Men2 Tremendo. Nothing came of the group, but his experience helped him foster the skills that would later draw the attention of
Chencho from
Plan B, who in turn introduced him to
Boy Wonder. The C.E.O. of Chosen Few Emerald Entertainment,
Boy Wonder, saw promise in the young vocalist and featured him on the various-artists compilation El Draft 2005. As part of the
Chosen Few artist roster,
Fuego was featured on the subsequent compilations
El Documental II (2006) and Chosen Few III: The Movie (2008). Following the Amor y Fuego mixtape and the "Super Estrella" promotional single with Omega,
Fuego released "Que Buena Tu Ta" as his official solo debut single. A fusion of mambo and reggaeton that features Dominican-born Hindi vocalist Deevani, "Que Buena Tu Ta" was originally released in 2009 but didn't catch on until the following year, when it became one of the summer's biggest tropical hits. Meanwhile, as "Que Buena Tu Ta" was climbing the Billboard Tropical Songs chart,
Fuego made his full-length album debut with
La Música del Futuro (2010) and released the follow-up single "Ya Te Olvide." The years that followed were busy and successful for
Fuego, with non-stop touring and new singles coming at a rapid pace. After extensive touring he relocated from D.C. to Miami and in 2013 released his "Mala Mia" single and video. After several other singles, he released the Fireboy Forever mixtape in late 2014. The next year was a huge year for him, as he both joined the roster of
Pitbull's label Mr. 305 and scored a viral hit with "Cuanda Suena El Bling" his Spanish-language reworking of
Drake's monster single "Hotline Bling." Though it was his most visible track of this nature and some critics went so far as to rank it better than the original,
Fuego had actually reworked several other artists' hits in Spanish-language versions, including takes on songs by
Travis Scott,
Gyptian, and others. In early 2016, he released his second album, Fireboy Forever 2. He began working with producer DVLP (known for work on hits by
Lady Gaga,
Eminem and other stars) and the two worked diligently towards creating Libre: Fireboy Forever. The full-length album was
Fuego's first for a major label, and saw release on Universal Music Latino in the summer of 2018. ~ Jason Birchmeier