Joseíto Mateo was the undisputed king of Dominican merengue, a singer and cultural icon whose voice and personality became so intertwined with the national music that separating the man from the genre is almost impossible. Born in Santo Domingo in 1920, Mateo grew up surrounded by the sounds of early Dominican popular music and began his performing career in an era when merengue was still primarily performed by small acoustic ensembles before its electrification and modernization.

He became the preeminent voice of merengue at its most festive and life-affirming, his recordings capturing the joy, humor, and communal energy that made the genre a cornerstone of Dominican identity. Mateo's longevity was extraordinary — he continued performing well into his later decades, his voice retaining remarkable power and expressiveness long after most singers would have retired.

He was a figure of enormous cultural significance, recognized by the Dominican state and by music lovers throughout the Spanish-speaking world as a living embodiment of Dominican musical heritage. Mateo passed away in 2018 at the age of ninety-seven, and his death prompted national mourning appropriate to the loss of someone who had given his country nearly a century of music and joy.