Erickson Rafael Fernández Paniagua, who records as Mozart La Para, is a Dominican rapper and singer. He came out of freestyle battling and has been recording since 2002, and in 2016 he became the first artist signed to the Latin division of Roc Nation.

Los Mina

He was born in 1988 in Los Mina, on the eastern side of Santo Domingo — the same barrio Lápiz Conciente comes from, which says something about how much of Dominican rap was made within a few streets of each other.

The stage name has two halves and two explanations. Mozart came from writing songs for other artists at the start, and La Para came from what happened when someone had to face him in a freestyle, which is that they stopped.

Vamo en Dauran

He paid for his first recordings in 2002 with the money he was given for school. By 2007 he was a name in Dominican rap, and in 2008 he took part in the Red Bull Batalla de los Gallos and released Vamo en Dauran, which is the record that moved him out of the battle circuit.

The touring started early. In 2009 he spent three months in Europe with more than thirty dates, then went to the United States and played forty-five in two months, appearing as a guest with Aventura at the Izod Center. He was also the first Dominican rapper to perform in Colombia, and went back three times.

Pueto pa’ Mi

Si Te Pego Cuerno, with the Puerto Rican Farruko, came next. In 2015 he released Pueto pa’ Mi, and a film of the same title was built around his life, with him playing the lead. That year he also appeared on Llegan los Montros Men by Shelow Shaq.

The film work kept going. He has appeared in Mi Angelito Favorito, No Hay Más Remedio, Los Paracaidistas, La Maravilla and Flow Calle, mostly as himself.

Roc Nation

He signed to Roc Nation in 2016, the first artist to join its Latin division, and released Juguete Enamorado with Sharlene and the Venezuelan Nacho. Bye Bye followed in 2017 with Chimbala and Liro Shaq, and in 2018 Mujeres with Justin Quiles, which was remixed with Farruko and Jowell y Randy.

Karma, Te Amé, Papá Candelo and Son Malas came after, and El Cumple de La Para and Soy Calle in 2020. His records have entered the Billboard charts on five occasions.

The battle

In 2020 he went into a rap battle against Lápiz Conciente, the other rapper from Los Mina and the one the scene treats as its founder. It was followed as an event in its own right, and both of them released singles out of it.

The awards

The Premios Soberano named him urban artist of the year in 2013, 2016 and 2018, and he took the Soberano del Pueblo — the award decided by public vote — six years running from 2013 to 2018, which is a record of popularity rather than of jury approval and worth keeping separate for that reason.