Noreaga

N.O.R.E. (formerly known as Noreaga, born Victor Santiago) is an American rapper and member of the hip hop group C-N-N (formerly known as "Capone-N-Noreaga"). N.O.R.E. stands for "Niggaz On (the) Run Eatin&#039

N.O.R.E. (formerly known as Noreaga, born Victor Santiago) is an American rapper and member of the hip hop group C-N-N (formerly known as "Capone-N-Noreaga"). N.O.R.E. stands for "Niggaz On (the) Run Eatin'". Half African American and half Puerto Rican, N.O.R.E. is currently signed to Def Jam Records via Roc-A-Fella Records, and has released reggaeton records in addition to his traditional hip hop fare. Featured in the hit song 'Oye mi Canto' with Nina Sky.Originally one-half of the underground hip-hop duo Capone-N-Noreaga (CNN), Nore launched his first solo disc, N.O.R.E. (N***as on the Run Eatin’) in the summer of 1998. This solo effort was arguably the first time a thugged-out rapper made an album that pleased both the hard-core gate keeping hip-hop fans and the mainstream audience. Today hip-hop is the mainstream, so limited friction exists between the two worlds. But Nore’s existence has always been about a duality. Born Victor Santiago in Queens, New York to a Puerto Rican father and an African-American mother, Nore eventually released two more critically acclaimed albums, Melvyn Flynt the Hustla, and Grimey … God’s Favorite. On December 21 he dropped his fourth album, One Fan a Day.

Like many of his former albums, on One Fan a Day he worked with superstars like Mariah Carey, Kanye West, deceased mentor Big Pun, and producers The Neptunes and Timbaland. But what’s different this time is that unlike his former catchy singles such as “Superthug,” “Oh No!” and “Grimey,” he has decided to make his first single off the album a reggeaton one — complete with raps and hooks in Spanish. The single, “Oye Mi Canto,” with its reggeaton flavor and hip-hop bravado is tightened with the assistance of the up-and-coming GemStar, one of reggeaton’s biggest stars Big Mato, Daddy Yankee, and the Latina sirens of Nina Sky. Working with the ladies, he says, “was real fun and real easy. They rode with me.” The success of a reggeaton record relies heavily on the necessary timely delivery of the rap, the gritty posturings of the hip-hop culture, and the innate connection to Afro-Caribbean instrumentation (largely those from Puerto Rico) — all of which Nore unquestionably embodies. His attempt to bring reggeaton to his rap fold may raise eyebrows for some, particularly Latinos, because Nore, although being half Puerto Rican, never truly repped musically for Latinos.