Who is Guaynaa, the Puerto Rican rapper behind 2018 hit ‘Rebota’? The 32-year-old is married to YouTuber Lele Pons, previously struggled with drug addiction – and recently started an OnlyFans account
Latin Grammy nominated reggaeton star Guaynaa married YouTuber Lele Pons in a star-studded wedding last year where Paris Hilton was a bridesmaid and Camila Cabello, Diplo and Winnie Harlow were guests
Two-time Latin Grammy nominated Puerto Rican rapper Guaynaa, who is married to Venezuelan American YouTuber Lele Pons, recently made headlines when he started an OnlyFans account for his “gay fans”.
The 31-year-old is no stranger to showing off his toned physique on Instagram – and with fans being very receptive to his shirtless pics, he decided to take it a step further. “I feel comfortable showing myself to the world, and because I like reading fans’ reactions,” Guaynaa said in a recent interview with the Spanish outlet Shangay. “I wanted to have a different space to contribute to popular culture, mainly targeting women and people from the LGTBIQ+ community.”
The Puerto Rican reggaeton star is a mainstay of the Latin music scene. His most popular song, “Rebota”, has over 570 million views on YouTube, was certified 4x platinum by the RIAA and entered the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Big names in Latin music, including Becky G, Farruko, Nicky Jam and Sech, even hopped on the track’s remix in 2019. Guaynaa hasn’t looked back since. In fact, he even made moves to leave his mark on K-pop with his 2021 track “Demente” in collaboration with Chungha.
But what do we know about the personal life of the man who stole the heart of Venezuelan superstar Lele Pons?
His stage name has a tongue-in-cheek origin story
Jean Carlos Santiago Pérez took the stage name Guaynaa from the Puerto Rican slang “el Guaynabito”, which is what people around him called him as a joke. “Guaynabo is an area in Puerto Rico where – according to the island’s sayings – the rich people live”, Guaynaa explained to Popsugar. At the time, he hung out with rappers – and friends who dressed like rappers – and the nickname poked fun as his high-end, clean-cut image.
Contrary to his appearance, he doesn’t come from a wealthy background. “I come from a family that earned everything through a lot of sweat and tears. I don’t represent that I was raised in a golden cradle, but sometimes I look like that,” he continued. According to Billboard, both of his parents were troubadours who sang traditional Puerto Rican music.
He’s battled addiction and recovered from major injuries
Last year Guaynaa opened up about his struggles with drug addiction, which at one point got so bad he had to be hospitalised. It was after he met his wife, Lele Pons, that he decided to get clean, saying, “I knew that if I continued in that world I would lose her. Thanks to my parents, her, and my willpower, I am living my new life,” he explained on chat show El Hormiguero. The “Gran Día” singer went to rehab and has been clean for three years now.