Manny Montes.

Emmanuel Rodríguez was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and grew up in the Tamarindo neighborhood, where he began writing songs at a very young age. Under the name Manny Montes he has appeared on collective productions since 2000, and in 2002 he released his solo debut: Realidades, the album that paved the way for reggaeton with faith-driven lyrics.

His breakthrough came with United Kingdom (2003), a project that brought together Christian rappers from the island and ended in a massive concert from which came the live album En Vivo (2004). In 2006 he released Presenta los Inmortales, with dozens of guest voices, and in 2010 El Escenario, the production with which he won the Arpa Award for Best Urban/Alternative Album in 2011. His way of working is that of someone who builds a platform for others: a good part of his catalog is made up of collective albums.

Then came Corazón Abierto (2012), Línea de Fuego and Sugar Free (2015) and Amor Real (2016), along with a trilogy that organizes his sonic map: Solo Rap (2018), Solo Trap Edition (2020) and Solo Reggaetón (2021). The EPs Intervalo (2022), Intervalo II and Inevitable (2023) and the album Envero (2024) kept the consistency, and in September 2026 he released Divergente, a six-track EP.

His catalog has traveled with other voices: «Ganas de Vivir (Remix)», alongside Alex Zurdo (2017), and «Todo Estará Bien», with Ingrid Rosario (2018), a song tied to an initiative for children with autism in Puerto Rico. On Spotify he has around 370,000 monthly listeners, and his YouTube channel surpasses 500,000 subscribers and 136 million views. He again appears on the pre-nomination list of the Arpa Awards, now in the Urban Vocal category with «Su Atención».

Anyone who grew up hearing that the urban genre had no place in the church finds in his discography a simple answer: faith can also be sung with a beat.