Emmanuel Rodríguez, better known as Manny Montes, is a Puerto Rican singer of Christian Rap and reguetón, known one of the major Christian artists in Puerto Rico. He has more than 10 collaborative albums, where hundreds of different artists have participated, including Funky, Redimi2, Alex Zurdo, Indiomar, Farruko, Mexicano 777, etc. He has been nominated multiple times for the Premios Arpa and recently, at the Tu Música Urbana Awards for "Mejor canción cristiana".
Biography
Emmanuel Rodríguez was born on December 16, 1981 in the town of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. He grew up in the Tamarindo neighborhood, specifically in the Callejón del Fuerte and the La Vía Sector, where he began to compose music from a very young age. In 2002, he released his first solo album called Realidades, under the stage name "Manny Montes", with the singles "La vida que nace de muerte", "Te equivocaste" and "Ricky y Manuel". He participated in productions of various exponents of the urban Christian genre, and with the release in 2003 of the collaborative album United Kingdom and United Kingdom: En Vivo in 2004, an important collaboration was achieved with a large number of Christian rappers such as Funky, V.I.P., Triple Seven, Dr. P, Vito and Santito, among others. The recording took place at a large open-air concert in Puerto Rico, United Kingdom: El Concierto. Montes's fourth album, Los Inmortales, was released in 2006; and it was based on the contributions of some 35 rappers and musicians such as Triple Seven, Vito, Redimi2, Bengie, Dr. P, among others. In this record production, a composition by Manny Montes called "El Inmortal" stands out, considered one of the best songs on the album and in the urban Christian genre. In 2007, Afueguember Live and Los Violentos were published, in which several Christian rappers like Vito, Dr. P, Redimi2 and Alex Zurdo, among others, collaborated. That same year, together with Funky, they held the Cara a Cara Tour. New Beginning in 2008, Los Violentos 2, in 2009 and El Escenario, in 2010, are memorable productions of the exponent, where the songs "Cielo" stand out, together with Juan Carlos Rodríguez from the duo Tercer Cielo, "Mil Razones" in collaboration with Alex and Yenza, and "Entre Dos Mundos" with the participation of Alex Zurdo and Redimi2. The album El Escenario was the winner of an Arpa Award for "Mejor Álbum Urbano" and was nominated for "Mejor Diseño de Portada" in 2011. With the production Corazón Abierto, published in 2012, Manny celebrates 10 years of musical career. This includes new versions of his best-known songs, such as "La chica que yo amo" and "Poco a poco", as well as new songs like "De fiesta" with Alex Zurdo, "Mira pal lao" with Sugar Baby and "UK2", a prelude to the United Kingdom 2 album, where Michael Pratts, Musiko, Leo El Poeta, Memo and Ungido participate. With the participation of several rappers such as Michael Pratts, Musiko, Ivan2Filoz, Dwayne, Alwin Vazquez, Indiomar, Baby Nory, Jaydan, among others, in 2013 United Kingdom 2: A La Reconquista was published, an album with 25 songs where it is presented internationally to many new Christian rappers. In the same year, Intrumentales Vol. 1 and Intrumentales Vol. 2 arrives. In addition, Manny Montes plays "Victor", an important role in the movie Reggaeton The Movie along with Natalia Rivera, Jhonny Ou, Che Robotic and Kendo Kaponi, among others. In 2014, he released United Kingdom 2.5 with the participation of Funky, Triple Seven, El Novato, Samally, De La Fe, among others. Later in 2015, "Línea de Fuego", which had the participation of Michael Pratts, Divino, Farruko, J King, J Quiles, among others. In this album, the song "Manso pero no menso" is found, which generated controversy with the exponent Christian Ponce, previously called El Sica, for his statements about urban Christian music. Likewise, although in 2016, Rodríguez defended Christian urban music again, this time, before statements by Julio Voltio. In 2017, Manny surprises with a couple of productions with a romantic approach titled Amor Real, distinguished by its two versions, Gold Edition and Platinum Edition, with appearances by Michael Pratts, Indiomar, the group Ekos, Mikey A, Jay Kalyl, Musiko, Baby Nory, among others. Subsequently, he released Amor Real EP, with six remixed tracks. After a decade of the Funky vs. Manny Montes Cara a Cara Tour, the two exponents make a documentary about what happened, where they also express the need to raise new exponents and support them, just as others did with them. Manny Montes presents Solo Rap in 2018, where the single "Era yo" stands out along with Harold and Elena, who, due to his music video, was considered "Inappropriate" on the YouTube platform. In 2019, he released Amor Real International Edition, and announced that he was working on his production "Solo Trap".
