JOE BATAAN - Rap-O Clap-O

Filipino-African American Latin soul singer Joe Bataan was born in Spanish harlem in 1942. He grew up on 103rd and Lexington in East Harlem, where he led a Puerto Rican street gang before ending up in prison. After he was released in 1965, Bataan started his first band, and by 1966 he was signed with New York-based Fania Records. In 1973, Bataan's first solo album - Salsoul - coined the name of the record label he co-founded in 1974. In 1979 he had a early hip-hop hit with the single Rap-O Clap-O, which was later featured on Mestizo, his second solo album on the Salsoul label. After his next album in 1981, Bataan retired from the music business until he recorded a final album in 2005. In 2009, he appeared in the film City Of God's Son, where he portrayed an older Nas narrating the experimental star-studded film. (see film HERE)