Introduction
David Sánchez Badillo (born September 25, 1977), better known as Tempo, is a Puerto Rican rapper and songwriter.
Early life
David Sanchez Badillo was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Tempo studied in the Escuela Libre de Música Juan Morel Campos of the municipality. At the age of five years moved to upstate Haverstraw, New York, Rockland County, with his family for a period of four years.
He returned to Puerto Rico and at the age of 11 began to write his first rap lyrics. He began his career by participating in talent shows.
Career
Beginnings–1998
Tempo first appeared in DJ Joe 3, which was released in 1995, with another appearance in DJ Joe 4 a year later. It was during this time that he met DJ Playerowhich led to him being added to his roster and recording his first major hit in the fledgling reggaeton genre with "Bailando Quiero Verlas" in 1998 on Playero 41: Past Present & Future. During this time, Tempo began working on recording his debut album "Game Over" with DJ Playero after becoming one of the first artists signed by Buddha's Productions in the late 1990s.
1999–2002
Under the label Buddha's Productions, his album Game Over was released in 1999 with appearances by Héctor & Tito and MC Ceja among others. New Game was released the next year with appearances by Baby Rasta & Gringo and Maicol & Manuel among others. Both albums were certified gold shortly after.
Tempo also acted as co-producer on the album Buddha's Family, which received a gold record certification. He produced the album Vida Eterna by Getto & Gastam in 2002. During this time he also recorded El que Tenia que Llegar for DJ Frank's Time to Kill, "Empiezo la Accion" for Boricuas NY vol 2, and "Tu y Quien Mas" for the compilation album from Alex Gárgolas titled Gargolas vol 3.
His album Éxitos is a compilation released by Sony, comprising mainly old material but also featuring new songs.
Incarceration and Free Tempo
On October 10, 2002, Tempo was detained and imprisoned for drug trafficking. While he was in prison, previously recorded songs were released in various compilation albums. In 2003 came "Quien Quiere Guerra" on Desafio (2004) and "Van A Ver Lo Que Es Muerte" on Las Plagas 2 (2003). In 2004, the song "Que Es Lo Que Quiere?" was released in DJ Nelson's Flow la Discoteka.
Free Tempo was released in June 2009. This production received a nomination under Best Long Form Music Video in the Latin Grammy Awards of 2009 for the video which featured The London Symphony Orchestra.
2013–present
Tempo was released on October 9, 2013, to a halfway house in Puerto Rico for 6 months to finish his sentence. During this time he was able to record his mixtape Free Music, which was released as a free download on his official website on December 21, 2013.
His first concert after his release was on May 17, 2014, in the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum.
Release of Tu Historia
The single "Tu Historia" was released on February 14, 2015.
Back To The Game
On September 25, 2018, Tempo released the album Back To The Game.
Discography
Studio
- 1999: Game Over
- 2000: New Game
- 2009: Free Tempo
- 2018: Back To The Game
Compilation
- 2002: Éxitos (greatest hits album)
- 2013: Free Music (mixtape)
Live
- 1995: Lirios del Sur Underground Live (with K-2 Young) (bootleg) (digital release)
- 2001: Unplugged (bootleg) (digital release)
Producer credits
- 2001: Buddha's Family
- 2002: Vida Eterna