Visitante

Eduardo José Cabra Martínez (born September 10, 1979, in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico), better known by his stage name "Visitante Calle 13", "Visitante", or more recently, "Cabra" is a Puerto Rican producer, musician, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.

He rose to fame due to the Puerto Rican band Calle 13, which he co-founded with his step brother René Pérez Joglar ("Residente").

Visitante, was born on September 10, 1979, in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

His father was also a musician.

Visitante met his stepbrother Residente when they were both two years old, when Residente's mother married Visitante's father.

The family developed strong ties to the Puerto Rican arts community; his stepmother, Flor Joglar de Gracia, was an actress in Teatro del Sesenta, a local acting troupe, while his father was still a musician at the time.

His stepbrother Residente asserts that he and his family lived a relatively comfortable lifestyle growing up, placing them in a group of Puerto Ricans who are "too poor to be rich and too rich to be poor".

Although their parents later divorced, the stepbrothers remained close.

When he was at the seventh grade, he was once reprimanded and taken to the school principal's office for refusing to sing the American national anthem—he would later become a supporter of the Puerto Rican independence, just like Residente.

Residente attended the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia, where he obtained a master's degree in art, while Visitante continued refining his skills as a musician, directing bands Kampo Viejo and Bayanga.

When Residente returned to Puerto Rico the band Calle 13 was almost immediately put together.

Visitante has been a musician most of his life, but it was not until 2004 that he began making music with his stepbrother Residente, giving the band the name Calle 13 (band).

The stepbrothers hosted their music on a website, and began searching for a record label in order to release their music commercially.

After sending demo tapes to White Lion Records, the duo was offered a record deal.

The duo gained recognition for their controversial song "Querido FBI", which responded to the killing of Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, a key figure for the Puerto Rican independence movement.

Cabra chose his stage name "Visitante" because that is how he had to identify himself to the guard every time he returned to his brother's house in Trujillo Alto.

Visitante's influences come from numerous musical genres.

Artists that were influential on him included salsa master Rubén Blades, singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez and writer Tite Curet Alonso.

In January 2006, their first album, Calle 13, is released and results in incredible success.

The band wins its first three Latin Grammys, and becomes in the band with most wins that year.

This album was made with the intention of giving it away for free and making it viral.

The musical proposal is a search of different musical styles and genres that mirrored a trend within the urban genre at the time which was based on the search of new rhythms and beats.

After the unexpected success of the initial album and after traveling around Latin America looking for inspiration, they released their second album Residente o Visitante in 2007.

For this album Eduardo manages to infuse even more musicality and global fusions to the band's music, collaborating for the first time with international artists such as La Mala Rodríguez, Vicentico and Bajofondo Tangoclub, among others.

This was the band's first album to reach number 1 on the Billboard charts and for which they won their first Grammy Awards for Best Latin Urban Album.

Now an international band, Calle 13 enters a stage of musical expansion at more complex and broad levels.

From this stage, the song Latin America stands out, as well as their collaborations with, Café Tacvba, Rubén Blades, Silvio Rodríguez and Tom Morello.

Entren Los Que Quieran is the album with the most Latin Grammy Awards in history, and Eduardo was nominated for the first time as best individual producer by the Grammys Awards.

After the band became known world-wide, and obtained multiple recognitions, Multi Viral was released, an ambitious album that took a year to record and whose production was made almost entirely in La Casa del Sombrero, Eduardo's production label.

The record was produced by his own record label and was mixed by Michael Brower and Ritch Costey.

For this album, Eduardo was nominated for the second time as the best producer of the year at the Latin Grammy Awards.

In late 2010 Visitante married Cuban singer Diana Fuentes.

Eduardo currently holds a record for 28 awards and 44 Latin Grammy nominations, being the big winner in the 2011 ceremony with 9 awards.

He also has special recognitions such as the ASCAP Vanguard Award for his contribution to the development of new genres in Latin America.

As part of Calle 13, Eduardo collaborated with high-calibre artists such as Shakira, Tom Morello, Silvio Rodríguez and Rubén Blades, among others.

As musical producer, Eduardo is characterized by giving a global stamp to the music he creates, bringing musical influences from all over the world without losing the essence of the artist he records.

Eduardo has produced incredible international artists, including Silvina Moreno, Diana Fuentes, La Vida Bohème, Chambao, Gustavo Cordera and Jorge Drexler.

As musical director of Calle 13 (band), he created several of the most popular rhythms of the 21st century and catapulted the group to levels never before seen in the genre.

Eduardo functioned as multi-instrumentalist, musical directos, arranger, and producer of every album the band released during their 10 years of career.

All together, Visitante and his band Calle 13 have won 19 Latin Grammy Awards and 3 Grammys, the most by any group.