Aventura

Formed in The Bronx by four Dominican friends, boy band Aventura rose to fame in the late 1990s fusing hip-hop with bachata - a popular genre originally emanating from rural parts of the Dominican Republic and is a kind of South American blues. Aventura wanted to explore their cultural roots and combine it with contemporary popular American music. Modelling themselves loosely on the then popular Backstreet Boys, the four teenagers wrote their own material and, upon the release of their second album 'We Broke the Rules' in 2002, the formula appeared to have paid off. The single 'Obsesión' lifted from the album became a strong favourite with Latin audiences and crossed over into the mainstream hip-hop charts. The album was critically acclaimed and the band accomplished what they initially set out to do; combining traditional Dominican music with a new genre which was acceptable to a mass market.

Through constant touring they managed to break out of the US market and found appeal with European audiences. By the time the group split in 2011 the boy band image had disappeared and Aventura were seen as a credible, mature band with a unique sound. The band has since reformed and has continued to do sporadic performances though their most recent studio album 'The Last' was released in 2009.

After a ten year break, in 2019 the band returned with single 'Inmortal' which went in at number five on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs Chart. The single features on singer Romeo Santos's solo album 'Utopia' (2019) which debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums Chart.