Gente de Zona are a Cuban duo who have become one of Latin music’s biggest success stories, fusing reggaetón with traditional Cuban rhythms like son and mambo. The group is made up of Alexander Delgado Hernández and Randy Malcom Martínez. They formed in Havana, Cuba in 2000, coming out of Alamar, a neighbourhood with deep hip-hop and urban roots.

For the first decade or so, Gente de Zona’s music was mainly local to Cuba, building popularity at home with mixtapes, festivals, and performances across Havana. They experimented with Cuban rap and urban beats, gradually creating a signature sound built on dance, horns, percussion, and vocal interplay.

Their international career skyrocketed overnight in 2014 when they teamed up with Enrique Iglesias and Descemer Bueno on Bailando. The track became a global smash, winning awards, dominating charts, and propelling them into the international spotlight. What followed were more collaborations and hits: La Gozadera and Traidora with Marc Anthony, Ni Tú Ni Yo with Jennifer López, Muchacha with Becky G, 3AM with Jesse & Joy and many others.

In recent years, Gente de Zona have expanded their message beyond pure party music. Their songs continue to celebrate Cuban identity, but at times they also echo the social struggles of the island. One striking example is Patria y Vida, created with fellow Cuban artists Yotuel, Descemer Bueno and Maykel Osorbo. The track flipped the state slogan Patria o Muerte (“Homeland or Death”) into Patria y Vida (“Homeland and Life”), and quickly became an anthem for political change and freedom during the 2021 protests in Cuba.