Rafa Arcaute

Rafael “Rafa” Arcaute, is an Argentine songwriter, record producer and recording engineer. He has worked with several Latin American artists including Luis Alberto Spinetta, Shakira, C Tangana, Nathy Peluso, Illya Kuryaki & The Valderramas, Calle 13, Christina Aguilera, Babasónicos and Andrés Calamaro. He has received eighteen Latin Grammy Awards, including two wins for Producer of the Year, and he has also won two American Grammys.

Rafa Arcaute
Origin	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Occupation(s)	Producer, songwriter, engineer
Years active	2002-present

Career

Arcaute studied at the Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini in Buenos Aires, Argentina and later studied a Degree in Electroacoustic Composition at the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes.^[1][2]

He began working as a touring member of Luis Alberto Spinetta's band Spinetta and as keyboardist and engineer for several of Spinetta's albums including Argentina Sorgo Films Presenta: Spinetta Obras (2002), Para los Árboles (2003) and Camalotus (2004). He then worked in the production of two albums by Puerto Rican band Calle 13, Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo (2008) and Entren Los Que Quieran (2010).^[3]

Arcaute produced two albums by Argentine singer Diego Torres, Distinto (2010) and Buena Vida (2015). In 2011, he worked in Babasónicos's tenth album A Propósito.^[4] In 2016, he served as manager for Illya Kuryaki & The Valderramas's tour L.H.O.N. Tour after working in the production of their 2012 album Chances, he also produced Colombian band Aterciopelados's first live album Reluciente, Rechinante y Aterciopelado the same year.^[5]

Since 2018, he resides in Miami, United States and works as a part of Sony Music alongside Afo Verde.^[3] After working in some of her previous singles, Arcaute produced Argentine singer Nathy Peluso's debut album Calambre, released in 2020, he also worked in Spanish singer C. Tangana's El Madrileño, which was released in 2021.^[6][7]

Discography

Year	Title	Artist	Production	Writing & Arrangements	Instruments	Technical
2002	Argentina Sorgo Films Presenta: Spinetta Obras (A)	Luis Alberto Spinetta			Y
2003	Para los Árboles (A)			Y	Y	Y
2004	Camalotus (A)					Y
	Onyx (A)	Javier Malosetti			Y	Y
2006	"Rompéme" (S)	Emme		Y
	Pan (A)	Luis Alberto Spinetta				Y
2007	Mordisco (A)	Emmanuel Horvilleur	Y
2008	Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo (A)	Calle 13	Y	Y
2009	C'est comme ça (A)	Florent Pagny				Y
2010	Distinto (A)	Diego Torres	Y	Y	Y	Y
	On the Rock (A)	Andrés Calamaro	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Entren Los Que Quieran (A)	Calle 13	Y	Y
2011	Pecados y Milagros (A)	Lila Downs			Y
2012	Chances (A)	Illya Kuryaki & The Valderramas	Y		Y
2013	Aliados (A)	Aliados	Y	Y	Y	Y
2014	Verte Nacer (A)	Noel Schajris	Y	Y	Y	Y
2015	Buena Vida (A)	Diego Torres	Y	Y	Y	Y
2016	Reluciente, Rechinante y Aterciopelado	Aterciopelados	Y
2017	"La Cátedra" (S)	Residente				Y
2018	Ahora o Nunca (A)	La Pegatina	Y	Y	Y	Y
2019	"Copa Glasé" (S)	Nathy Peluso	Y	Y
	Xavier (A)	Emmanuel Horvilleur	Y
	"Tutu (Remix)"	Camilo, Pedro Capó and Shakira	Y
2020	Lo que me dé la Gana (A)	Dani Martín	Y	Y		Y
	"Los Huesos" (S)		Y	Y
	"La Mentira" (S)		Y
	"Business Woman" (S)	Nathy Peluso	Y
	Libra (A)	Lali	Y	Y
	Cumbiana (A)	Carlos Vives		Y
	"Favorito" (S)	Camilo		Y
	Por Primera Vez		Y	Y
2021	El Madrileño (A)	C. Tangana	Y	Y	Y	Y
	Calambre	Nathy Peluso	Y	Y
	"Canción Bonita" (S)	Carlos Vives and Ricky Martin	Y	Y	Y	Y
	"La Fuerza" (A)	Christina Aguilera	Y	Y	Y	Y
2022	Nunca más (F)			Y

(A) Album, (F) Film, (S), Single^[8]

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Artist	Result	Ref.
2010	Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album	Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo (as producer)	Calle 13	Won	[9]

Gardel Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Artist	Result	Ref.
2019	Record of the Year	"Best Seller" (as engineer)	Juan Ingaramo	Nominated
2021	Producer of the Year	Calambre	Nathy Peluso	Nominated	[10]

Latin Grammy Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Artist	Result	Ref.
2009	Album of the Year	Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo (as producer)	Calle 13	Won	[11]
	Best Urban Music Album			Won
2010	Best Engineered Album	Distinto	Diego Torres	Won
	Producer of the Year	Rafael Arcaute and Diego Torres		Nominated
2011	Album of the Year	Entren Los Que Quieran (as producer)	Calle 13	Won
	Best Urban Music Album			Won
	Song of the Year	"Latinoamérica" (as songwriter)		Won
	Record of the Year			Won
	Best Alternative Song	"Calma Pueblo" (as songwriter)		Won
	Best Urban Song	"El Baile de los Pobres" (as songwriter)		Won
	Producer of the Year	Rafael Arcaute & Calle 13		Won
2013		Rafael Arcaute		Nominated
2014				Nominated
2016	Album of the Year	Buena Vida (as producer)	Diego Torres	Nominated
	Record of the Year	"Iguales" (as producer)		Nominated
	Producer of the Year	Rafael Arcaute		Won
2017	Record of the Year	"Guerra" (as producer)	Residente	Nominated
	Album of the Year	Residente (as producer)		Nominated
	Best Urban Music Album			Won
	Best Urban Song	"Somos Anormales" (as songwriter)		Won
	Best Alternative Song	"Apocaliptico" (as songwriter)		Nominated
2018	Producer of the Year	Rafael Arcaute		Nominated	[12]
2019	Record of the Year	"Querer Mejor" (as producer)	Juanes and Alessia Cara	Nominated	[13]
	Song of the Year			Nominated
2020	Best Alternative Song	"BUENOS AIRES" (as songwriter)	Nathy Peluso	Nominated	[14]
	Producer of the Year	Rafael Arcaute		Nominated
2021	Song of the Year	"Canción Bonita" (as songwriter)	Carlos Vives and Ricky Martin	Nominated	[15]
	Best Pop Song			Nominated
	Record of the Year	"Te Olvidaste" (as producer/songwriter)	C. Tangana & Omar Apollo	Nominated
	Best Alternative Song			Nominated
		"AGARRATE" (as songwriter)	Nathy Peluso	Nominated
	Best Rap/Hip Hop Song	"SANA SANA" (as songwriter)		Nominated
	Best Alternative Music Album	Calambre (as producer)		Won
	Best Engineered Album	El Madrileño (as mastering engineer)	C. Tangana	Won
2022	Record of the Year	"Pa Mis Muchachas" (as producer/engineer)	Christina Aguilera, Nicki Nicole, Becky G & Nathy Peluso	Nominated	[16]
	Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album	Aguilera (as producer/engineer/songwriter)	Christina Aguilera	Won
	Album of the Year			Nominated
		Tinta y Tiempo (as producer)	Jorge Drexler	Nominated
	Best Alternative Song	"El Día Que Estrenaste el Mundo" (as songwriter)		Won
	Best Regional Mexican Song	"Cuando Me Dé la Gana" (as songwriter)	Christina Aguilera & Christian Nodal	Nominated
2023	Record of the Year	"No Es Que Te Extrañe" (as producer)	Christina Aguilera	Nominated	[17]

References

1. "Rafa Arcaute: "Creo en la idea y su concepto por sobre la técnica"". RecorPlay (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2021.
2. "Rafa Arcaute: El arte y el método". La Nación (in Spanish). 16 November 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
3. Apicella, Mauro (15 November 2020). "Rafa Arcaute, el productor musical del momento: "Spinetta me firmó un cheque en blanco"". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2021.
4. Ortega, Rubén (17 May 2021). "A 10 AÑOS DE 'A PROPÓSITO' DE BABASÓNICOS". indierocks (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2021.
5. "Rafael Arcaute". Bienal (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 July 2021.
6. "Nathy Peluso: "PORFIN CALAMBRE IS OUT. Para el goce de mi gente Porque si no hago música me muero!!!!"". Billboard. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
7. "'El Hormiguero': C. Tangana explica por qué estuvo dos años sin hacer música". MundoDeportivo. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
8. "Rafa Arcaute". Discogs. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
9. "Rafael Arcaute". Grammys. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
10. "Los Premios Gardel dan a conocer a sus nominados". Billboard Argentina (in Spanish). 7 May 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
11. "Conoce a los nominados a los Grammy Latinos" (in Spanish). Terra Networks México. September 19, 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
12. "19th Latin Grammy Awards Nominations" (PDF). latingrammy.com. 21 September 2018.
13. Ryan, Patrick. "Latin Grammys: Camila Cabello, Alejandro Sanz, Rosalía, Luis Fonsi score 2019 nominations". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
14. Huston, Marysabel. "Latin Grammy: J Balvin lidera la lista de nominaciones con 13, le sigue Bad Bunny con 9". CNN (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-22.
15. "Los 2021 Latin Grammys Nominees Announced: See The Complete List". Grammy Awards. September 28, 2021. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
16. "23rd Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards Final Nominations" (PDF). The Latin Recording Academy. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
17. Ratner-Arias, Sigal (19 September 2023). "Edgar Barrera Tops 2023 Latin Grammys Nominees: Complete List". Billboard. Retrieved 19 September 2023.