His nickname
came to be as the result of an accident. Before
joining Karel, he worked as an electrician. One
day, he stuck his hand in the wrong place and
got shocked. Everyone then called him "Bombillo"
(Light Bulb) and "Corto Circuito" (Short
Circuit), until eventually giving him a nickname
that stuck: "Voltio" (Spanish word for
volt)
One of the
most noteworthy reggaeton voices of the mid-2000s,
Voltio worked his way up the ranks over the course
of several years, expanding his reach with each
successive release. Born Julio Ramos in Santurce,
Puerto Rico, Voltio grew up in the Parque Ecuestre
section of Carolina. Along with Hector Bambino
and Rey 29, as a teenager he formed Masters of
Funk, a rap group that never recorded any albums
but one that helped plant the seeds for the impending
reggaeton movement. When the members of that trio
went their separate ways, Voltio partnered with
Karel, and the duo billed itself as Karel y Voltio,
appearing on some stray compilation albums and
garnering label interest in the process.
The guys
made their album debut in 2003, when New Records
released Los Dueños del Estilo. The album
languished, however, and the duo's enthusiasm
dwindled. Elías de León -- the owner
and founder of White Lion Records, the home of
Tego Calderón -- liked what he heard, regardless
of the album's poor performance, and he presciently
offered Voltio a solo contract. The resulting
album, Voltage/AC, was quite a breakthrough, spawning
a big club hit ("Bumper") and "Julito
Maraña," a popular song for which
White Lion released an extended-form DVD video.
In late
2005 Voltio returned with his next album, a self-titled
release issued by White Lion in partnership with
Sony Norte. While Voltio included a few songs
that had appeared on Voltage/AC, including the
aforementioned "Bumper" and "Julito
Maraña," it did feature mostly new
songs, "Chulin Culin Chunfly" standing
out among them. The album elevated Voltio's profile
noticeably, ranking him up there among reggaeton's
leading voices in terms of influence as well as
popularity.
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.JPG)
