2002: Debut album After graduating from high school Dangond stayed dedicated to his music. He grouped with amateur accordion player Ramón López and after performing in some parties and gigs they recorded their first album in 2002, called
Tanto para Tí, which included 12 songs: "Nada te conmueve" composed by Fabian Corrales, "Necesito verte" by Juan Manuel Perez, "No te escondas mas" by Felipe Pelaez, "Mi encantadora egoista" by Alberto Murgas, "Quien me mando" of his own authorship, "Un amor tan grande" by Freddy Carrillo, "Muñeca de porcelana" by Luis Alonso, "Que no me roben tu corazón" by Antonio Meriño, "Lloraras un amor" by Jaime Bayona, "La flor mas linda" by Armando Moscote, "El extorcionista" by Carlos Ramirez and "Tanto para ti" by Freddy Carrillo. During this time he met his friend and vallenato singer
Kaleth Morales.
2003–2013: Rise to national prominence performing live on stage. By coincidence and through a mutual friend, manager and promoter Carlos Blum, Dangond officially met accordionist
Juancho De la Espriella during a
serenata (De la Espriella was grouped with singer Peter Manjarrez). Both of them knew who the other was but had never crossed paths. Since that day they became good friends. Blum convinced them to become a musical duo and arranged their first gig together at the Alfonso López Michelsen Building in a celebration of the
Cesar Department foundation.
Lo mejor para los dos (The best for the two of us – Album) Their musical union created great buzz within the vallenato critics and fans, and shortly they recorded their first album together,
Lo mejor para los dos (2003), containing 13 tracks: "La pinta chevere" of Dangond's authorship, "Nuestra vida" by Jose Hernandez, "Detalles y recuerdos" by Enrique Carrascal, "Mi amor por ella" by
Omar Geles, "Ni en pintura" by Dagoberto Osorio, "El ring ring" by Luis Alonso, "Sabroso" by Hernando Marin, "Dejame quererte" by Alejandro Sarmiento, "No se, me equivoque" by Rafael Manjarrez, "La razon de mi vivir" by Ivan Calderon, "El chinchorrito" by
Alejo Duran, "Me vuelve loquito" by Josue Rodriguez and "Lo mejor para los dos" by
Kaleth Morales. Dangond and De la Espriella performed in more than 250 shows throughout 2003, most of them in December with 28 presentations.
Mas unidos que nunca (More united than ever – Album) performing. Their following album was
Mas unidos que nunca, released on June 13, 2004, containing 14 songs which included one unplugged bonus track: "Cautico mi canto" of Dangond's authorship, "El vaiven" by Hernando Bustos, "A blanco y negro" by Omar Geles, "La Colegiala" of Dangond's authorship, "Yo no me como ese cuento" by Dagoberto Osorio, "Acepto el reto" by Luis Egurrola, "Pa Barranquilla" of Dangond's authorship, "Me la juego toda" by
Kaleth Morales, "Baila Vallenato" by Leo Duran, "La Mentira" by Wilfran Castillo, "Cuando llego en temple" by Armando Romero, "Celos y que" by Luis Alonso, "La mujer de mis sueños" by an unknown author and "La colegiala" unplugged version. With this album Dangond and De la Espriella consolidated as one of the most successful vallenato groups in this genre thanks to the acceptance of their hit song "La colegiala".
Ponte a la moda (Put up your style – Album) In 2005 Dangond and De la Espriella released their third album together, titled
Ponte a la moda, which also became a great success in
Colombia and outside Colombia, especially within the Latin American community in the United States. The album included the songs "Ahi viene ahi va" of Dangond's authorship, "Pa una mujer bonita" by Omar Geles, "Dile" by Alberto Mercado, "El tao tao" by Lucho Perez, "Mi seguidora y yo" by Kaleth Morales, "Esa mirada" by Enrique Araujo, "La pareja del momento" by Jeiner Lopez, "La misteriosa" by Isaac Calvo, "Ponte a la moda" by Luis Alonso, "Silvetre en Carnaval" by various artists, "Una vez mas" by Luis Egurrola, "El enredo" by Manuel Julian, "Por ser machista" of Dangond's authorship and "La indiferencia (live unplugged)" by Luis Alonso. ==Personal life==