Zion

by Evan C. GutierrezPuerto Rican reggaeton vocalist Zion (Felix Ortiz) was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico. He and his neighbor/friend Gabriel Pizarro formed the duo Zion & Lennox, who would just a short time after their inception begin appearing on various compilations, a common proving ground for emerging reggaeton artists. Like contemporaries Wisin & Yandel, Zion & Lennox followed the vocalist plus MC pattern, with Zion handling the hooks and melodic side of their music. His vocal abilities earned many opportunities for collaborations and guest spots in a lyric-heavy genre where skilled vocalists are few and far between. Their appearances on well-known compilations such as MVP, Mas Flow, Desafio, and Blin Blin, Vol. 1 quickly won them notoriety on their home island, and began to gain the attention of U.S. audiences. Their first full-length record, Motivando a la Yal was a great success, winning awards such as Best Rap Duo and People's Choice Awards, easily achieving gold record status. Some time after, in 2006 the duo decided to split, leaving Zion, the more popular of the pair, his reputation for poor live performance notwithstanding, to pursue other avenues. He established Baby Records, to which he is both a signed artist and CEO. His interest in moguling has turned into opportunity for previously unsigned artists like Arcangel and De la Ghetto. Baby was also the label for Zion's solo debut, The Perfect Melody, which arrived in 2007.