El Cata —born Edward Edwin Bello Pou in Barahona— is a Dominican singer, rapper, songwriter and producer whose merenrap crossed into global pop through hit collaborations with Shakira and Pitbull.

From Barahona to the Bronx

He left the Dominican Republic for Puerto Rico at five and, a year later, for Miami, where he lived until graduating from Miami Beach Senior High School. He then moved with his family to New York, studying music at Bronx Community College while working in a furniture store, a bank and a state Medicare office. After more than twenty years in the United States, he returned to the Dominican Republic to pursue music formally.

«El Malo» and an international crossover

He debuted independently in 1997 with the songs «El Nacu Nacu» and «Con la Lengua Afuera», and in 2009 released his official debut album, «El Malo», on Allegro/Planet Records, featuring the singles «Loca con su Tíguere», «Pa’ la Esquinita» and «El Que Brilla Brilla». That year he also earned a co-writing credit on Pitbull’s «I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)», and in 2010 he joined Lil Jon, Sensato del Patio and Black Point on the remix of Pitbull’s «Watagatapitusberry».

«Loca», Shakira, and a lawsuit over it

In 2010 Shakira adapted El Cata’s own «Loca con su Tíguere» into «Loca», the lead single of her album «Sale el Sol», with El Cata rapping on the track; he also appeared on the Spanish-language version of the album’s «Rabiosa». Both songs became international hits, but in 2014 the Dominican songwriter Ramón Arias Vásquez sued, claiming he had written the underlying song in the late 1990s, and a federal court initially sided with him. In August 2015, however, judge Alvin Hellerstein dismissed the claim after finding that Arias Vásquez had lied to the court and submitted falsified recordings as evidence, vindicating El Cata’s authorship.

Legacy

El Cata went on to collaborate widely, from Elvis Crespo on «Zombie» to Gente de Zona and Juan Magán, and remained a fixture of Dominican urban and merengue music into the following decade. In September 2022 he was sworn into the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano, seeking a seat in Congress representing Santo Domingo Oeste, without stepping away from music.