Beethoven Villaman is a Dominican MC from Santo Domingo, one of the durable names of the country’s underground rap since the late 1990s, best known for his long partnership with Ovni Exp.

«Los Crudos»

He started out in 1998 in the group «Los Crudos» with his friend and colleague Hitler Faraón, later moving through «Campamento» and «Lo Correcto» — the crew that also held Ovni Exp, Básico, Sin Fin, Faqundo González and Crooklyn, among others. He appears alongside that lineup on Faqundo González’s «El palo ta’ dao» (2009). When independent labels such as Charles Family and Complot Records began pulling the audience away from groups like Lo Correcto around 2003 and 2004, it was reportedly DJ Scuff who pushed Villaman to answer them publicly.

Going solo

After Hitler Faraón’s death, Villaman stepped out as a solo artist and became a fixture of Dominican underground rap, releasing tracks such as «Harto y cansao» on the Blues Urbano platform. Hitler Faraón’s son, Disian — billed as «El Príncipe de los Crudos» — has since recorded with Villaman in his own right, among them «La de Toni».

«Acción Rápida»

In 2025 Villaman and Ovni Exp recorded together for the first time in fifteen years, on the album «Acción Rápida», a record built, by the two rappers’ own account, as a direct response to the state of rap and of Dominican society. «A nivel», one of its singles, added Lápiz Conciente to the pairing.

«Grasa pesá»

A February 2026 bonus track, «Grasa pesá», extended the album’s reach by bringing in Lafontaine and Jotazei, two younger rappers from the Latin Guayza collective, in what the two veterans framed as a bridge between the movement’s legacy and its next generation.

Legacy

Villaman’s catalogue runs in a straight line from a 1998 crew in Santo Domingo to a 2026 single shared with rappers a generation younger, by way of Lo Correcto, a solo run built after losing his closest collaborator, and a reunion with Ovni Exp that both men have called a return to first principles.