Porta (Christian Jiménez Bundo) born July 2, 1988 in Sarrià, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain is a hip-hop and rap artist. His artistic name coming from the nickname “El Portador” which over time was shortened to become only Porta.
First making contact with rap and hip-hop culture when he was nine, he began to record rap songs when he was thirteen, compiling his demos and releasing his first album, No Es Cuestión De Edades, in 2006. This was followed in 2007 with No hay truco. An animated video for Dragon Ball Rap attracted over 5 million internet views worldwide. He describes himself as an Internet product, as most of his fame has been spread through internet sites such as MySpace and YouTube. His songs are spread through downloads from the internet, and he has beaten many records in internet downloads.
He was given a recording contract by Universal, who released his major-label debut album, En Boca De Tantos, February 19, 2008, the album reaching the top ten in the Spanish chart. During 2008, a series of nine video-chapters dedicated to Porta were published on MySpace, being the first Spanish production of this kind to air in the site. A biographical book of Porta was also published in June of the same year. Trastorno Bipolar, Porta’s second studio album was released on Universal Records on October 6, 2009.
Porta has been the object of much contoversy during his career. His song Las niñas de hoy en día son todas unas guarras sparked controversy due to its heavy criticism of the social and sexual habits of modern-day women. This caused the song to be censored and criticized by Spanish media, including the “National Women’s Institute”, from which the artist claims he received a protest letter. He has also been constantly labeled as a “toyaco”, a Spanish derrogatory term which refers to artists who only exploit the aesthetic and lyrical form of rap and hip-hop for the sole purpose of becoming mainstream and comercial. Porta’s fame has spread quickly, as both internet sites like YouTube and MySpace and extensive touring have helped him become known in many other Spanish-speaking countries around the world.
