Guatemalan singer/songwriter Ricardo Arjona is now perhaps known as much for his social conscience as he is for his music. It was a long road to the top for Arjona, who was born in Antigua. Although he was always interested in music, Arjona became a rural school teacher and played basketball for the Guatemalan national team, all the while putting his songwriting and love for music on the backburner. Eventually Arjona decided to see if he could make a career out of what had long since been a hobby and moved to Mexico City to seek a record contract.In Mexico City Arjona played at countless student music festivals and made a name for himself as a social and political protest singer. He got the record contract he desired with PolyGram, but the label molded him into the quintessential Latin crooner. His debut album, Dejame Decir Que Te Amo, which translates to "Let Me Say I Love You" in English, was very different than Arjona's message as a musician. The artificially manufactured album flopped and Arjona resumed teaching and writing songs for other artists to record and perform.About five years later Arjona moved to Buenos Aires to give music one last shot. He began recording music more similar to what he performed as a protest singer when he lived in Mexico City. One of his first singles, a controversial song about his experience in Catholic school as a young boy titled "Jesus Verbo No Sustantivo", was a far cry from his short stint as a Latin heartthrob. Arjona's deeply personal music was more successful than when forced to be something he was not; he signed a record contract with Sony while in Buenos Aires. Under his new supportive label, Arjona released many of what would become popular albums, such as Animal Nocturno in 1993.