Yes, and the credits are unusually clear about it. Every album track listing of his that carries writer credits on Wikipedia, meaning Emmanuel, Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren and LLNM2, names Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago on every single song, and on a large share of them he is the only writer listed at all: Somo o No Somos, Narcos, El Manual, El Problema and Tocándote on Emmanuel; Rick Flair, Pin, McGregor, Esa Cruz, Exit and Leyenda on Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren; Brrr, Las Jordan, Mintiendo, Monstruo and Mercedes Tintia on LLNM2. Where a second writer appears it is usually the artist featured on the track, such as Bad Bunny on Hasta Que Dios Diga, Tego Calderón on Jangueo, Lil Wayne on Ferrari or Enrique Iglesias on Fútbol y Rumba. He also did it under the hardest possible conditions, writing and recording his entire debut album while serving a federal prison sentence for illegal firearm possession, putting his vocals down over the phone. The producer lists on his records run very long. The writer column rarely does.
By the Numbers
4
Studio Albums
83
Tracks Credited
100%
Self-Written
16
Years Active
319
Collaborators
Authorship Breakdown 83 / 83 self-written
Who wrote the songs?
Across all 83 tracks: how many Anuel AA wrote alone, how many they co-wrote, and how many were written by others. The bracket marks every track they hold any writing credit on.
Anuel AA has a writing credit100%
18%
82%
Sole author15tracks18%
Co-written68tracks82%
Outside writers0tracks0%
Role Fingerprint how they contribute
Anuel AA's roles across the catalogue
Share of all 83 tracks where they are personally credited, by role.
Lyricist (words)100%
Composer (music)100%
Producer0%
Performer100%
Authorship Over Time writing credit per album
Anuel AA's writing credit per album, in release order. Hover any bar for the album.
avg 100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
2018Real Hasta la Muerte
2020Emmanuel
2021Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren
2022LLNM2
Early · 100% written
Late · 100% written
Authorship by Decade track-weighted
100%
2010s
Real Hasta la Muerte
100%
2020s
Emmanuel, Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren +1 more
Authorship Spectrum pure performer to complete author
Where Anuel AA sits on the scale from a pure performer (0%, sings songs written by others) to a complete author (100%, writes everything). The bright marker is their catalogue authorship score, plotted against other artists on the site.
Anuel AA
Other artists on the site
Reference artists spread across the scale, closest by genre and era.
Written by Joantony, Gaby Music, Chris Jedi, Wichi, Anuel AA, Juan G. Rivera Vasquez, Carlos Enrique Ortiz Rivera, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago
Co-wrote
Brindemos
Real Hasta la Muerte
Written by Gaby Music, Chris Jedi, Ozuna, Anuel AA, Juan G. Rivera Vasquez, Carlos Enrique Ortiz Rivera, Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago
Co-wrote
Hipócrita
Real Hasta la Muerte
Written by Gaby Music, Chris Jedi, Anuel AA, Juan G. Rivera Vasquez, Carlos Enrique Ortiz Rivera, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago
Co-wrote
Yeezy
Real Hasta la Muerte
Written by Gaby Music, Chris Jedi, Mando Fresh, Anuel AA, Ñengo Flow, Juan G. Rivera Vasquez, Carlos Enrique Ortiz Rivera, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Edwin Laureano Rosa Vázquez Ortiz
Co-wrote
Secreto
Emmanuel
Written by Anuel AA, Karol G, Prida, EZ Made Da Beat, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Carolina Giraldo Navarro, Henry Prida, Ezequiel Rivera
Co-wrote
China
Emmanuel
Written by Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, Karol G, Ozuna, J Balvin, Tainy, Gaby Music, Shaggy, Rikrok, Sting International, Marcia Griffiths, Brian Gold, Lonnie Jordan, Lee Oskar, Papa Dee Allen, Howard Scott, B. B. Dickerson, Charles Miller, Harold Brown, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, Carolina Giraldo Navarro, Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado, José Álvaro Osorio Balvín
Co-wrote
Dictadura
Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren
Written by Anuel AA, Mora, Cromo X, Machael, Phantom Neo, Freddy el Syntethyzer, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Gabriel Armando Mora Quintero, Machael Angelo Cole, Freddy Montalvo, José Carlos Cruz, Martín Rodríguez Vicente
Co-wrote
Leyenda
Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren
Written by Anuel AA, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago
Wrote it
Súbelo
Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren
Written by Anuel AA, Myke Towers, Jhayco, Ovy on the Drums, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Michael Anthony Torres Monge, Jesús Manuel Nieves Cortez, Daniel Echavarría Oviedo
Co-wrote
Malo
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, Zion, Randy, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Felix Gerardo Ortiz Torres, Randy Ariel Ortiz Acevedo
Co-wrote
Mercedes Tintia
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, Freddy El Syntethyzer, Phantom Neo, Mora, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Freddy Montalvo Jr., José Carlos Cruz, Gabriel Armando Mora Quintero
Co-wrote
Nosotros
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, White Bear, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Misael De La Cruz Reynoso
Co-wrote
Brother
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, Halfway, Dim Crux, Jason Garcia, EQ el Equalizer, Hide Miyabi, Steven Shaeffer, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago
Co-wrote
La 2blea
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, Feli Ciano, Foreign Teck, Cesar Americo, Aki The Producer, Luz The Producer, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago
Co-wrote
El Nene
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, Foreign Teck, Beam, Rozo, Frank Polonia, EQ el Equalizer, Spiff TV, Corte Ellis, Nik Dean, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Michael Hernández, Carlos Suárez, Dejan Nikolic, Ervin Quiroz, Jorge Luis Pérez Jr, Tyshane Thompson
Co-wrote
Diamantes en Mis Dientes
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, YovngChimi, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Ángel Javier Avilés Monzón
Co-wrote
Si Yo Me Muero
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, Mvsis, AndoConJon, RMAND, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago
Co-wrote
La Máquina
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, Jowell, Randy, De La Ghetto, Yailin La Más Viral, Yaviah, Melymel, Mista Greenzz, DJ Blass, Phantom Neo, Yartzi, Freddy El Syntethyzer, JS Beatz, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Joel A. Muñoz Martínez, Randy Ariel Ortiz Acevedo, Rafael Castillo Torres, Georgina Guillermo Díaz, Carlos R. Pérez Calderón, Félix John Rivera Pérez, Freddy Montalvo Jr., Javier Alexis Marcano Rodríguez, Vladimir Corporan, José Carlos Cruz, Julián I. Sánchez Leal, Mélony Nathalie Redondo, Mervin Maldonado Arce, Nickala Brian Turner, Vladimir Félix Velásquez, William Giovanni Manzano Serrano
Co-wrote
Brrr
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago
Wrote it
Sufro
LLNM2
Written by Anuel AA, Kodak Black, Ñengo Flow, Mora, Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, Bill Kahan Kapri, Edwin Laureano Rosa Vázquez Ortiz, Michael Hernández, Giencarlos Rivera, Jonathan Rivera, Edgar Ferrera, Omar Alfano, Gabriel Armando Mora Quintero
Co-wrote
None of the signature songs above fall in this category.
Discography 4 albums
Los Dioses, his 2021 collaborative album with Ozuna, is catalogued on Ozuna's page rather than repeated here, following the site convention of listing a shared album once.
Bubble size = tracks worked on together. Showing the 150 most frequent of 311. GM Gaby Music · CJ Chris Jedi · EE EQ el Equalizer · JG Juan G. Rivera Vasquez · CE Carlos Enrique Ortiz Rivera · DN Dímelo Ninow
The Authorship Story
Data Insight
Anuel AA holds a writing credit on all 83 tracks across four albums, so the question is never whether he wrote but who else was in the room. Sixty-eight of those tracks add outside names and only fifteen are his alone. The balance shifts over time: one solo credit on Real Hasta la Muerte, none at all across the 22 tracks of Emmanuel, then eight on the 33-track LLNM2. Chris Jedi and Gaby Music are the fixed points, 21 tracks each, a producer-writer arrangement that is standard for Puerto Rican trap rather than a sign of anything unusual.
Quick Facts
Signature ad-libBRRR, meant to mimic the sound of an automatic firearm
Own labelReal Hasta la Muerte, the imprint that put out his debut album
First label dealSigned by Rick Ross to the Latin division of Maybach Music Group
Family in the businessHis father, Jose Gazmey, was vice president of A&R at Sony Music's Puerto Rico division
First Billboard Hot 100 entryBebe with 6ix9ine, in August 2018
Catalog sizeFive studio albums, one mixtape and eighty one singles
Creative Fingerprint
Latin trap hits normally carry a room full of co-writers, but Anuel AA is credited alone on a large share of his own album tracks, and when a second name joins his it is almost always the guest singing on the song rather than a hired lyricist, so the crowding on his records happens in the producer column instead of the writing one.
The Story
Anuel AA is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter and producer, born Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago in Carolina in 1992. He started recording at fourteen and began posting music online in 2014, signing to the Latin arm of Rick Ross's Maybach Music Group. A 30-month sentence for illegal firearm possession interrupted his rise in 2016, and he recorded his entire debut album while incarcerated, releasing it as Real Hasta la Muerte on the day he walked out in July 2018. He calls himself the God of Latin trap, and his records lean on samples and interpolations of the music he grew up on. He remains a divisive figure in the scene because of his legal history and his feuds with other Puerto Rican rappers.
Awards & Recognition
New Artist of the Year at the Billboard Latin Music Awards (2019)
Artist of the Year at the Latin American Music Awards (2019)
Favorite Male Artist at the Latin American Music Awards (2019)
Favorite Urban Artist at the Latin American Music Awards (2019)
Album of the Year for Real Hasta la Muerte at the Latin American Music Awards (2019)
Favorite Urban Album for Real Hasta la Muerte at the Latin American Music Awards (2019)
Revelation Artist of the Year at Premios Lo Nuestro (2019)
Best New Artist at the Heat Latin Music Awards (2019)
Best Caribbean Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards (2019)
Social Artist of the Year at Premios Lo Nuestro (2020)
Winning Songs honors for Adictiva, Amanece, Bubalu, China and Secreto at the ASCAP Latin Music Awards (2020)
Most-Performed Songs honors for Adictiva, Bebe, Culpables and Ella Quiere Beber at the BMI Latin Awards (2020)
Top Artist - Trap at Premios Tu Música Urbano (2023)
Frequently Asked Questions Anuel AA
Does Anuel AA write his own songs?
Yes, and the credits are unusually clear about it. Every album track listing of his that carries writer credits on Wikipedia, meaning Emmanuel, Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren and LLNM2, names Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago on every single song, and on a large share of them he is the only writer listed at all: Somo o No Somos, Narcos, El Manual, El Problema and Tocándote on Emmanuel; Rick Flair, Pin, McGregor, Esa Cruz, Exit and Leyenda on Las Leyendas Nunca Mueren; Brrr, Las Jordan, Mintiendo, Monstruo and Mercedes Tintia on LLNM2. Where a second writer appears it is usually the artist featured on the track, such as Bad Bunny on Hasta Que Dios Diga, Tego Calderón on Jangueo, Lil Wayne on Ferrari or Enrique Iglesias on Fútbol y Rumba. He also did it under the hardest possible conditions, writing and recording his entire debut album while serving a federal prison sentence for illegal firearm possession, putting his vocals down over the phone. The producer lists on his records run very long. The writer column rarely does.
Is it true he wrote and recorded his debut album in prison?
Yes. He was arrested in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, in April 2016 and signed a plea deal accepting a 30-month federal sentence on gun possession charges. Wikipedia's article on Real Hasta la Muerte says he conceived and recorded the entire album while he was in prison, working with a collaborator known as Joshi, and coverage of the record describes him putting his vocals down over the phone and finishing the album during a mandatory stay at a Miami halfway house. It came out on July 17, 2018, the day he was released.
Who does he actually write with?
The repeat names in his credits are producers, not lyricists. Chris Jedi and Gaby Music run through much of Emmanuel and come back across LLNM2, and Foreign Teck, Mvsis, Misael de la Cruz, Súbelo NEO and Dímelo Ninow turn up again and again on the later albums. On the writing side he works alone or with whoever is featured on the song.
How does his authorship compare with the way Latin trap is normally written?
Reggaeton and Latin trap records are often built inside producer camps, with several pens passing through a single song and a long writer list to show for it. His credits go the other way. His albums pile up producers, sometimes a whole row of them on one track, while the writer field stays down to him and the guest. Tiene Novio on LLNM2, plus Nubes Negras and Llorando en un Ferrari, which do carry big writing teams, read as exceptions on his own albums rather than the house pattern.
Did he write China?
He is one of the credited writers. The Emmanuel track listing names Gazmey alongside Ramón Ayala (Daddy Yankee), Carolina Giraldo (Karol G), Juan Carlos Ozuna and José Osorio (J Balvin), with Tainy producing. The song leans on a sample of Shaggy's It Wasn't Me, which he has said he pulled from the old songs he grew up hearing because he wanted to redo a classic.
Does he produce his own records?
Producer is listed among his occupations, but the board work on his albums almost always goes to other people. The opening track of Emmanuel, No Llores Mujer, credits José Gazmey and Travis Barker as its producers, and from there the production is handed off to camps like Chris Jedi and Gaby Music, Ovy on the Drums, Tainy and Foreign Teck.
What does he write about?
Sex, crime and life on the streets, in AllMusic's summary, whose reviewer called the lyrics too risqué to be played on the radio and pointed to streaming and a very active social media presence as the reason they traveled anyway. His sentence is a recurring subject in the writing. 3 de Abril is built around the date of his arrest, and Rolling Stone described that track as a sobering commemoration.
Why is he a divisive songwriter?
The lyrics have cost him. His diss track aimed at Cosculluela, Intocable, drew heavy criticism for its remarks about homosexuality and about a television host's HIV status; a scheduled concert at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico was canceled and he apologized publicly, calling it the worst mistake of his career. He has also traded diss records with Arcángel and argued with Ivy Queen over who counts as the Queen of Reggaeton. At his own trial he told the court that the lyrics in his music did not represent his true character.
What is his signature move as a writer?
The BRRR ad-lib, meant to imitate an automatic firearm, is the tag listeners recognize first. Underneath it he writes homage into his hooks. China samples both Shaggy's It Wasn't Me and Daddy Yankee's Ella Me Levantó, Delincuente interpolates Bandoleros by Don Omar and Tego Calderón, and Me Gusta with Shakira interpolates Inner Circle's Sweat (A La La La La Long).
Has the publishing side recognized his songwriting?
Yes. ASCAP gave him Winning Songs honors for Adictiva, Amanece, Bubalu, China and Secreto at its Latin Music Awards (2020), then again for Adicto, La Jeepeta (Remix), Me Gusta and Te Quemaste (2021). BMI listed Adictiva, Bebe, Culpables and Ella Quiere Beber among its Most-Performed Songs at the BMI Latin Awards (2020). He was also nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the Billboard Latin Music Awards (2021).
Anuel AA