Pirate Ruff Ryders 1,106
About Pirate Ruff Ryders
Referred to professionally as Pirate,
or Pirate Ruff Ryders, Alejandro “Pirata” Cintron is a Puerto Rican-American, bilingual rapper born in Brooklyn, New York, that later migrated to the borough of the Bronx. Inheriting much of his musical ambitions from his father – Alejandro Cintron Sr. – at a very young age, Pirate would sometimes accompany him during his on-stage performances throughout the course of the elder, would-be star’s, Salsa career as a lead singer, percussionist, and band leader. https://pin.it/4ktN8h2
Rapping since his early teenage years, throughout the projects in Fort Greene, where he grew up, https://pin.it/1GpbNbf
Pirate unfortunately, got a late start in the music industry, mostly due to his many run-ins with the law, which were followed by several years of incarceration, throughout much of his teenage and young adult life.
But even behind penitentiary walls, Pirate found ways to involve himself in inmate music programs that would allow him to perform and rap at prison festivals, held yearly between prisoners and their families. https://pin.it/4kwmU9f
Once out on the streets, Pirate would seek management and promotion under Strong Arm Entertainment in Brooklyn, https://pin.it/1OkrcAV
throughout the mid to late 1990s, and performed at various venues under their auspices. https://pin.it/2jMhxKk
He would later move back to the Bronx, and in the early 2000s, just as Puerto Rico’s new wave of Reggaeton was beginning to reach some of the bigger cities on the U.S. mainland like New York, Pirate had several underground, mix-cd DJs in the Bronx, spinning a number of his Spanish Hip-Hop and Reggaeton demo-tracks, and had begun generating a buzz. https://pin.it/2s2kNLx
Eventually, through a close Ruff Ryders biker friend from the Bronx, named Ben,
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his music made its way to the ears of Ruff Ryders C.E.O.’s and siblings Dee and Waah, and a meeting was set. Shortly after that, in December of 2004, Pirate became the first Latino added to their musical roster and was officially signed to Ruff Ryder’s Entertainment. Arriving just in time for their next compilation, he was showcased on the upcoming Ruff Ryders Volume 4, titled The Redemption, and debuted with 2 songs, titled Dale Poppi Dale and Dame Reggaeton, which featured Hip-Hop superstar N.O.R.E., and Pirate’s spouse – Gypsy Lisette – on the hook as additional vocals. https://www.discogs.com/artist/1883175-Gypsy-Lizette
https://www.discogs.com/artist/343411-Pirate-3 The album/cd would hit the shelves in July of 2005, under Artemis Records and Ruff Ryders Entertainment. A year prior however, Pirate had also appeared on Puerto Rican rapper Enemigo’s album/cd, titled “Caminando”, as a featured artist on the song titled “Que Se Peguen Fuego”, which also features Puerto Rican raperos Bimbo and Chyno Nyno. https://www.discogs.com/release/13760100-Enemigo-Caminando The cd was released in late 2004 under Univision Records. Pirate Ruff Ryders also appeared courtesy of the label on a series of Ruff Ryders – themed, mix cd’s, hosted by DJ Big Mike, leading up to The Redemption’s release, where on one track he dropped a Spanglish, Hip-Hop single titled “Double R Wit Us”, that was produced by none other than platinum beat producer – Neo Da Matrix. https://youtu.be/HsfwA77ZkM0?t=2728 Also within that 3-disc series, he would record and release a freestyle track dubbed “Pirate’s Comin' Hard”, which includes the features of fellow Ruff Ryders veteran Drag-On and at the time, L.A. newcomer Kartoon. https://youtu.be/4BOqo8_ZVMI Unsuccessful in acheiving the rap-stardom he pursued, and after a disappointing debut of The Redemption compilation upon it’s release, where his 2 “breakout” Reggaeton songs received mixed reviews, Pirate left the label in 2007 after 3 years, and remained essentially inactive with his music thereafter. No stranger to the spotlight however, and long before he was seemingly discovered on the rough streets of the Bronx, for his musical talents or what have you; as a teen in the mean streets of 1980s Brooklyn, Pirate apparently caught the eye of a New York City street photographer named Jamel Shabazz, when he still went by the name Taliek. (An attribute he adopted at the age of 13 when he entered the 5% Nation of Gods and Earths). Consequently, as a result of several ensuing encounters between Shabazz and Taliek, – Pirate’s images would appear in a number of Hip Hop culture-themed, books, magazines, cds, and cassettes in the years to follow. Such as:
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Unfortunately, Pirate would graduate from fashion to felonies, and in his mid-20s, he would end up in the Bronx, where he formed part of the violent drug organization known as the C&C Gang during
the 1990s. https://pin.it/7ikkhpJ
https://pin.it/7yobKGF Years later Pirate would also become, a full-patched member of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, the Ching-A-Ling Nomads – also from the Bronx.
https://pin.it/bABG26t Click on photo below: https://images.app.goo.gl/DjaxB4a6L4Nv3j1f9 https://pin.it/6kIW6Bm
But long-retired from the negative aspects of his life, and moving forward in a positive direction, Pirate recently teamed up with award-winning actor and HBO star Meeko Gattuso, who played the character Mouse in the hit series Euphoria, and with 2 others in 2020, to perform a reality-based play titled “Feel My Pain”, about their troubled past and prison experiences, at the Off-Broadway theater The Tank. https://thetanknyc.org/calendar-1/feelmypain#:~:text=TO%20ALL%20EVENTS-,FEEL%20MY%20PAIN,-Tuesday%2C%20January%2014
Moreover, in moving back down to Florida in recent years , the once rising Ruff Ryders Reggaeton recording artist, has partnered up with Tampa independent label, Ape Gang Entertainment – https://pirate-ruff-ryders.blogspot.com/2023/02/former-latino-artist-pirate-ruff-ryders.html – in a joint-endeavor to kickstart the careers of a host of young, promising rap artists signed to the label.
[Other known aliases of Pirate are i. e. Taliek and i. e. Pirata].
