In 2004, just before his twentieth birthday, Castillo met with another young reggaetón musician born in New York City by the name of Austin Santos—better known to the public as
Arcángel—and the two decided to form a duo,
Arcángel & De la Ghetto. The pair debuted with their single "Ven, Pégate", which was featured on
Naldo's mixtape
Sangre Nueva, in 2005. From there, Castillo was signed to
Zion's label, Baby Records, and immediately began to make music.
Masacre Musical was then released in 2008.
Masacre Musical peaked at #46 on the
Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in the U.S.; its lead single, "
Tú Te Imaginas", peaked at #33 on the
Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart. The 2018 album
Mi Movimiento (my movement) was nominated in 2019 for a
Latin Grammy Award for "Best Urban Music Album", and the track "Caliente" was also nominated for a
Latin Grammy for "Best Urban song". == Personal life ==