Career
Mendez started his career in Merengue Music in 1988 as one of the Company-founders of the popular Merengue band "Louisiana Cocoband", along with Alfonzo "Pochy" Vásquez and Bobby Rafael. Mendez wrote and arranged many of Louisiana Cocoband"s hit songs including "Louisiana Manito" "El Boche" "Louisiana Seca" "El Cacu" and "Mujer Malvada". With Rokabanda, Mendez continued his success producing hits such as "el bacano", "Rechenche", "el Ńońito" and "los hombres maduro".
Mendez recorded three hit albums with Rokabanda.
In 1995 Mendez decided to go solo and released his much anticipated solo album "El Hombre Merengue" which sold 1.5 million copies, a rare feat for a Tropical Artist. Mendez was responsible for the 1997 song "Flight 587," which pays tribute to American Airlines Flight 587, an early morning departure flight from New York City to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Mendez partially wrote the lyrics, and he and Johnny Ventura sung the song, which was one of the songs in "Merenboom, Volume 2." Méndez himself had been a passenger on the flight before the November 12, 2001 accident flight had occurred.
The song was later re-released as "The Plane," or "El Avion" in Spanish.
Méndez said that originally the song was intended to be about happiness while traveling to the Dominican Republic for the holidays. The aircraft on the flight crashed in 2001. Papi LaFontaine, who once served as Méndez"s manager, died in the 2001 accident flight.
Méndez said that he was considering writing a new song about the flight, "ut it would be a slower song in tribute to all those who died." Cachamba 96: The Unreleased Versions (1996) Los Éxitos de Kinito Méndez (1997) Solo Éxitos 20th Anniversary (1999) 12 Éxitos (2001) 20 Éxitos (2002) Éxitos de Kinito Méndez (2005) Vida (2009) El Hombre Merengue (1996) Vale la Pena The Record Label for all Kinito Recordings throughout the 90s was J & North RECORDS and never Pa" Ti" Pa" Mi Records.
Any authorized uses of the masters on Kinito"s album were MASTER LICENSES and not that this, or any other label, had the rights. (1999) Ayer y Hoy (2005) Kinito Méndez at the Internet Movie Database.
