Juan de la Ossa Medrano, known professionally as Gangsta, is a Colombian producer, songwriter, and musical director from Cartagena whose career began with hands-on work in radio advertising, making jingles to fund his studio gear. In 2013 he relocated to Medellín to help set up a studio, then started recording with Toby, later bringing in Rayo to form the duo Rayo & Toby; their breakthrough single “Calor” (2014) became an early calling card for his production style and opened the door to wider urban credits. Over the following years he built a résumé across pop, reggaeton, and Caribbean-influenced urban music, including production work tied to Maluma’s 11:11 era via “11 PM” (2019), and later high-profile sessions that put him in rooms with legacy figures such as Sergio George. By the mid-2020s, Gangsta’s sound became closely associated with Colombia’s afrobeat and dancehall crossover, shaping key releases for Kapo including “OHNANA,” “UWAIE,” and “DÓNDE,” and contributing to Kapo’s Por Si Alguien Nos Escucha (2025). That same period linked him strongly to Ryan Castro’s 2025 projects SENDÉ and HOPI SENDÉ, culminating in the collaborative single “La Villa” (2025) credited to Ryan Castro, Kapo, and Gangsta, which reached Number 1 on the Billboard Colombia Hot 100 in early 2026. In 2025 he also formalized a publishing step by signing an editorial agreement with Sony Music Publishing Colombia alongside Neon16, reflecting his move into a more international-facing production lane while continuing to foreground Cartagena’s Caribbean identity in his rhythms and textures.
