Amenazzy — José Daniel Betances Espinal, born in Santiago de los Caballeros on 4 August 1995 — is a Dominican singer and songwriter working across reggaeton, trap and R&B, one of the first urbano artists of his generation to build his name on melody rather than aggression.

El Nene

At eleven he quit the baseball team he had travelled to Mexico with, telling People en Español years later that he simply did not like being out in the sun. That same year he started freestyling in tiraderas on the streets of Santiago, the smallest of the group in age and size — which is where El Nene came from. As his lyrics sharpened he was calling himself Amenazza, «the threat», until his mentor Alex Gárgolas suggested the softer Amenazzy, better suited to reaching urbano’s women listeners.

From «La Chanty» to «Baby»

He first appeared on a 2013 single by the production duo Los Mellos on the Track, and «Después del party», also with Los Mellos, went viral and opened the industry’s doors to him. His own breakthrough came with «La Chanty» (2015), the title track of his self-titled album the following year; the song was remixed with Arcángel in 2016. Gárgolas, who also produced his collaboration with Don Omar, «Desierto», brought him into a run of features with Bryant Myers, Lary Over, Arcángel, Farruko and El Alfa, among them «Sin maquillaje» with Don Miguelo and, later, «Como Ali» with Eklectico. His 2020 single «Baby» was recorded with Nicky Jam and Farruko.

From La Plaza to Madison Square Garden

In April 2018 he opened for Bad Bunny at Madison Square Garden, a year after the two had recorded «Lean» together, and that November he headlined the 9,000-seat Arena del Cibao in his native Santiago — a homecoming he called, in the days before it, a source of pride for the city and everyone who had worked with him — before performing at the 72,000-seat Estadio Olímpico Félix Sánchez alongside Daddy Yankee a few days later. «Solo», with Lary Over, and «Baby» went on to RIAA Platinum certifications, and in 2019 he won Nueva Generación Urbana at the Premios Juventud.

Legacy

Amenazzy has said he has no five-year plan and wants whatever happens next to surprise even him. Signed to Rimas Entertainment, he released his debut studio album, «Santo Niño», in 2021 and «Triple Equis» in 2023, carrying the loverboy strand of Dominican urbano that he helped define from the tiraderas of Santiago onto some of Latin music’s largest stages.