The Puerto Rican Literature Project

Jesús Sánchez Erazo, known as Chuíto el de Bayamón, was born in 1900 in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. His upbringing stressed the importance of music and working the land. Sánchez Erazo was a trovador and based his décimas (ten octosyllabic poetic stanzas) on everyday life and scenes from rural Puerto Rico. He began his career in a bolero duo with Beno, a guitarist and popular music singer. At the same time, he started performing décimas as a soloist and competing with troubadours at patron saint festivals in various municipalities. 

Due to his growing popularity, Sánchez Erazo was invited by Ladislao “Ladi” Martínez to join as a singer for the group Industrias Nativas (formerly Aurora), solidifying his status as a key figure in Puerto Rican folk music. In 1922, Industrias Nativas was invited to perform at the inauguration of Puerto Rico’s first radio station, WKAQ, making Sánchez Erazo the first folk trovador to sing on Puerto Rican radio. He was also a member of the group Los Madrugadores, with whom he performed in the United States, Spain, and Cuba.

Throughout his career, Sánchez Erazo performed on radio programs such as El suceso para mí, Controversias Colgate, La montaña canta, and Las Estampas de Teyo Gracia y su Mundo alongside Abelardo Díaz Alfaro. He recorded around forty albums with record labels such as RCA Victor and Ansonia Records. He cultivated the décima and is credited with creating various genres, including the seis Villarán, canto Serrano, Rigodón, seis del Dorado, seis de Bayamón, seis Antillano, and Aguinaldos. He also became the first troubadour to record folk music accompanied by a salsa orchestra, with Don Chú con Johnny el Bravo. His recognized songs include “Garata matrimonial,” “Taíno,” “La vieja voladora,” “Viva Borinquen,” “Vamos mulata,” and “Yo Me Tomo el Ron.” In 2025, the popular singer Benito Martínez, known as Bad Bunny, incorporated fragments of “Si Yo Fuera Alcalde” (Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, 1972) into his song “PIToRRO DE COCO” included on the album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (Rimas Entertainment, 2025).

Sánchez Erazo passed away in 1979, and his remains rest in the Braulio Dueño Colón municipal cemetery in his hometown of Bayamón.

Works Cited

Raygoza, Isabel. “Bad Bunny Announces New Album ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’ & Releases Surprise Single ‘Pitorro de Coco.’” Billboard, 26 Dec. 2024, https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/bad-bunny-new-album-debi-tirar-mas-fotos-release-date-surprise-single-pitorro-de-coco-1235865797/. 

Sánchez Erazo, Jesús. Colección de Jesús Sánchez Erazo [Chuíto el de Bayamón]. Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage.

Sánchez Violeta. “Borrador carta a Benito.” E-mail to Miriam Damaris Maldonado, 3 Feb. 2025.