Franklin the Boss —José Altagracia de León Corcino, born on 21 October 1980 in Guayabal, Azua, and died on 11 May 2025— was a Dominican merengue singer whose songs «La mantequilla», «El loco», «No me quiero enamorar» and «Tu vigilante enamorado» made him a figure of the street-merengue wave of the 2000s.

Groups and orchestras

He began in music at thirteen, singing in a string of groups that included «Cherry Banda», «Choboys», «Los Trotamundos», «Karina La Jefa», Rikarena, the orchestra of Kinito Méndez, «Merengada», «Árabe Manía», «Rico Mambo» and «Swing Divino». In 2005 he launched his own solo project.

Solo career

As a soloist he recorded the compilations «El Concepto» and «El Concepto 2.0» and, at the end of 2024, «El Concepto, Vol. 3», seven songs of merengue and bachata released under the label «JAB Latin Music». He lived in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he played events, and in 2025 he was recording new songs for his YouTube channel, among them «Aventura».

The 2012 case

In 2012 he was detained in Santo Domingo at the request of the United States, where a federal court in North Carolina had opened a case against him. He was released after eleven months, and the American authorities did not continue the proceeding.

Death

He died in the early hours of 11 May 2025, at 44, in a head-on collision on a highway in North Carolina.

Legacy

Colleagues reacted publicly to the news; Kinito Méndez, in whose orchestra he had worked, lamented his death.