Career
At the age of 13, William Reyna moved to New York as part of the Dominican diaspora. It was then, in the early 2000s, that he met Zawezo (Alex Garcia) on a basketball court. Discovering that they both shared a huge passion for street rap, they decided to join forces and form the duo Del Patio.
The group began to gain respect in the New York underground scene due to Sensato's versatility with fast rhymes and Zawezo's raw style. Signed by Tiburon Records, a major turning point in their early career occurred when they performed and won a talent competition on the legendary show "Sábado Gigante" with Don Francisco, broadcast on Univision. This massive television exposure opened doors for them internationally.
In 2009, they released their first and only album La Gran Mazana. In the same year, the group created a track originally in the Dominican Republic titled "Watagatapitusberry," a song with a catchy rhythm, purely Dominican slang, and a comedic-urban style that quickly went viral in the streets and nightclubs.The song's fame reached the ears of international rapper Pitbull and crunk producer Lil Jon. Seeing its massive potential, Sensato coordinated and recorded a global remix with Pitbull, Lil Jon, and Black Point. The track exploded on the Billboard charts in 2010, catapulting Sensato to worldwide fame.
The song's massive success also marked the end of the duo. Zawezo publicly stated that irreconcilable differences arose because Sensato put together and negotiated the international remix without notifying or fairly including him and other collaborators on the original concept. Following the remix's release, the relationship completely broke down, and the duo dissolved. Zawezo also claimed to be the creator of Del Patio's essence and to have invested his own money in financing their projects, which led to his separation from Sensato and Tiburon Records.
After the split, Sensato became Pitbull's protégé under his label, Mr. 305 Inc., and experienced his golden age as a solo artist in the international market, characterized by collaborations. He recorded global hits such as "Crazy People" with Pitbull and Sak Noel, "Tu No Lo Sabe" with Melymel and Padrino, "El Mari'o de tu Mujer" with Don Miguelo, "Oh Oh", with Shadow Blow and participated iconically in the massive remix of "El Teke Teke" by Crazy Design and Carlitos Wey. He also worked closely with artists like Fuego, Mozart La Para, and De La Ghetto. He released the album We Ain't Even Supposed 2 B Here (2012), which included hits like "Booty Booty" and "Plata o Plomo" experimenting not only with hip-hop but also with rhythms like street merengue, bachata, and salsa. To maintain his streetwise essence and please his underground audience, he simultaneously released the famous El 28 mixtape trilogy and another mixtapes. In the midst of his success and constant touring.
Sensato's career suffered a drastic pause due to serious health problems. Sensato had suffered from liver problems since his youth and, in 2016, had to undergo a delicate emergency liver transplant in New York, followed by a second surgery due to complications that kept him in critical condition for months. Despite doctors giving him little chance of survival, the rapper miraculously recovered. Although his activity in the industry slowed considerably after this event, he returned to music with more sporadic and nostalgic releases, embracing his status as a pioneering legend who helped globalize the sound of Dominican neighborhoods long before the current dembow and trap boom.
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