Ivy Queen

About Ivy Queen

Ivy Queen (born March 4, 1972) is a Latin Grammy and Billboard Latin-nominated, Lo Nuestro Award-winner composer and singer most commonly known as "La Reina del Reggaeton" (The Queen of Reggaeton). She is among the few female artists in the reggaeton genre.

Ivy Queen (birth name: Martha Ivelisse Pesante) was born in Añasco, Puerto Rico. When she was young, Ivy Queen's parents moved to New York City where she was raised. Her parents returned to their hometown of Añasco, Puerto Rico for about 2 years when Ivy was in her teens. When she was 18, Ivy Queen moved to San Juan where she met rapper and producer, DJ Negro; who introduced her to a group called "The Noise", with whom she wrote and performed her first song "Somos Rapperos Pero No Delincuentes" (We're Rappers, But Not Delinquents).

Soon, DJ Negro convinced Ivy Queen to go solo and in 1997, she made her debut with the recording of the album En Mi Imperio (In My Empire) for the Sony International Records label which sold over 100,000 copies.[citation needed] In the same year she traveled to Panama where she presented as The Queen of Reggaeton in "The Battle of Rap". She also did some presentations in the Dominican Republic, which were all sold out and later that year, she participated in "The First National Festival of Rap and Reggae". There, Ivy Queen was proclaimed the "Rap Singer of the Year". Also, in 1997, Ivy was awarded the "Artista '97" award, naming her "The Peoples Favorite Rap Singer", by Artista magazine.