He’s not your usual urban artist. In fact, Rigo Luna isn’t even your usual up-and-coming Latino wonder. What’s so uncommon about him is his simplicity and his way of keeping it real with every situation he encounters. He’s the kind of guy who will give you a ride if he sees you out in the cold, will give you a hand if you’re down, and will give you a hug when you’re on the low. Even Mexican-born Leticia Ascencio, one of his album’s songwriters, talks about getting to know him and writing songs that absorb his personality.

“Rigo Luna is such a great guy. He’s so loving,” Leticia tells Batanga on the phone. “Es bien amoroso — he’s so caring, he’s amazing.”

When Rigo Luna was given the option between choosing sports or music as an extracurricular activity in elementary school, he chose choir. While remembering the days when most of his classmates were rowdy in the classroom, he describes himself as always keeping still and watching the world go by in slow motion. Back then, he won the girls over by singing, “Hello, is it me you’re looking for…” Every 7^th and 8^th grader who heard him that day on the school bleachers started to give him what he calls a "Your Highness treatment:’ “After that I was a celebrity and all the girls would come up and give me a kiss on the cheek.”

Then in 1997 he joined NuFlavor, the R&B quartet from Long Beach, California where he sang alto until 2000. “It was great. I saw a lot of change, a lot of love, a lot of fans — just the experience of being in a group was awesome,” says Rigo, who grew up in Compton, California and is also of Mexican descent. After a few years, he decided to go at it on his own, releasing his self-titled album last summer. “It’s something totally new for our people, our generation. I’m a pioneer as much as I am a trendsetter, so I love being innovative for my people and for everyone with my music.”

It’s R&B en español with a dash of Spanglish, and among the twelve tracks on the CD you’ll even find a little bit of reggaetón. His first single, “Nunca,” was co-written by Leticia and Javier Ceja. Rigo collaborated with a number of musical artists who helped make the production a reality.

“When the time came to record the album in the studio, I contributed in regards to the vocal production,” says 37 year-old Leticia, who has also produced lyrics for Daniela Romo and Eden’s Crush. “But when I submitted “Nunca,” I submitted it with my longtime partner Jeeve who produced the music, and they loved the song so much the managers ended up taking me around to meet different producers to help pick the music I liked for Rigo.”

Being Leticia’s first time writing R&B for a male singer, she found the experience to be different, as she describes herself as being more used to writing “woman-empowerment songs.”

Says Leticia, who was raised in Long Beach, California, “In Rigo Luna’s case it was very different. ‘Si Tú Te Vas’ is a great example of who he is; it’s a story about a girl who leaves him and he’s totally devastated. Then there’s ‘Entrégate’ — As much as Rigo Luna is loving, he is flirtatious and so ‘Entrégate’ is about that, being flirtatious and wanting to be with someone. He’s so sweet and humble. I was really inspired by him.”

When you think of urban as a musical genre, you usually picture the bling, the fancy wheels and an army of hot chicks, but when it comes to Latin R&B’s newest face, you’ll be surprised to know he doesn’t currently drive a car and his favorite pastime is to exercise in the park.

“I’m very different from everybody else,” says Rigo, who loves to keep his age a mystery. “I’m very lovable. I talk to my fans, and I chat with them through email. The Internet is a place where people come together, and I give them a little piece of me.”

Keeping things low-key while planning for the future, Rigo has many projects in the works.

“I don’t really go out looking for the limelight. I let it come to me,” he says. “Good things are coming for me, and I’m waiting for them to happen.”