When she was 18, Ivy Queen moved to San Juan, where she met rapper and producer DJ Negro. In 1995, Queen joined an all-male Puerto Rican group called the Noise, at the invitation of DJ Negro. The group became part of the emerging reggaeton scene. DJ Negro began producing a series of CDs centered around the Noise. Ivy Queen made her first appearance on the fifth installment of the CD series on a track called “Somos Raperos Pero No Delincuentes”. She became tired of the violent and sexual themes often used in reggaeton, and wished to write about a wider variety of subjects.

DJ Negro convinced Queen to go solo, and in 1997 she recorded her first solo album, En Mi Imperio—which featured the hit single “Como Mujer”—for Sony Discos. In 1998, Queen launched her second album, The Original Rude Girl—which featured Don Chezina, Alex D’Castro, and Domingo Quiñones— and worked with Wyclef Jean on her debut single “In the Zone”. The album is bilingual and features hip hop music, a departure from the reggaeton featured on her debut album. The Original Rude Girl was commercially unsuccessful but “In The Zone” charted at number 38 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40.

In 1999, after a lack of commercial success with her first two studio albums, Sony dropped Queen and she took a break from her musical career. In 2001 and 2002, Queen’s music began appearing on reggaeton compilation albums, spawning hits like “Quiero Bailar” from The Majestic 2 and “Quiero Saber” from Kilates. With songs like “Quire Bailar”, Ivy Queen represented women “In a movement that took off commercially [and dominantly was led by men] with aggressively lyrics and a “doggiestyle perreo dance”. Ivy Queen established herself as reggaeton’s no-nonsense female conscience. (Her anthem “Quiero Baliar” warned her dance partner not to misinterpret those moves.)”. In 2003, Queen and her then-husband Gran Omar signed with independent, Miami-based label Real Music, established by Jorge Guadalupe and Anthony Pérez. They appeared on the label’s first album Jams Vol. 1. Queen frequently appeared and performed on the reggaeton television show “The Roof”, which featured urban music and lifestyle, and was produced by Pérez.

In 2003, Ivy Queen released Diva, her third studio album. It spawned hit singles including “Quiero Bailar”. The album is considered to have been important for exposing reggaeton to a mainstream audience in 2004. After the success of the album—which was certified platinum by the RIAA, Ivy Queen released a platinum edition of Diva in 2004. The platinum edition was nominated for “Reggaeton Album of the Year” at the 2005 Billboard Latin Music Awards. “Quiero Bailar”, the album’s lead single, became the first Spanish-language track to reach number one on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart of Miami’s WPOW—an American radio station that does not usually play Spanish music.

Queen’s fourth studio album, Real, was originally planned to be her first full-length English language album after she received contract offers from several record labels—including Sony. Queen said that it was a good opportunity to reach other markets, and in particular the competitive market of English rap. Sony’s offer to record an English-language album came after they noticed that her previous Sony albums were being heard in London, thanks to the success of Diva. The album included collaborations with artists including Fat Joe, La India, Héctor Delgado, and Getto & Gastam. American hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz produced the track “Soldados”. The album was released on November 16, 2004, and spawneed the Top 10 single “Dile” which was nominated for “Tropical Airplay Track of the Year, Female”.

In 2005, Ivy Queen partnered with José Guadalupe—co-founder of Perfect Image Records—to form the record label Filtro Musik. Later that year, Univision Records signed Filtro Musik to promote Ivy Queen’s fifth studio album Flashback (2005). This ensured that the album was positioned in Latin and mainstream accounts that would normally not carry Latin product. Queen’s first compilation album The Best of Ivy Queen, consisting of tracks from Diva and Real, was released the same year. On October 29, 2005, she released Flashback, which contained the singles “Cuéntale”, “Libertad”, and “Te He Querido, Te He Llorado”. At the 2006 Billboard Latin Music Awards, Flashback was nominated for “Reggaeton Album of the Year” for a second consecutive year. The following year, Ivy Queen, and Gran Omar presented the reggaeton and hip hop compilation album Cosa Nostra: Hip Hop. She later appeared on the Spanish-language recording of the Star-Spangled Banner, “Nuestro Himno”. She then received the first Premio Juventud “Diva Award”, which honored Queen for her musical career.

Queen has also recorded salsa tracks, beginning in 2005 with “Amiga No Pienses” and “Yo Lamento”, and in 2007 with “Si Eres Tú” which she recorded in a “big-band Salsa” style. She worked with salsa singers La India on “Cuando Hieres A Una Mujer” and Víctoria Sanabría on “No Te Quiero”. Ivy Queen cites Celia Cruz, La Lupe, and other “classic Salsa singers” as inspirations for her style of hip-hop music. Her main influence is Selena, to whom she pays tribute on her fifth studio album Flashback with a “reggaeton-ed up twist” on “Si Una Vez”. She also said she enjoyed the songs “Como La Flor” and “La Carcacha”. Queen told Ramiro Burr of the Houston Chronicle, “I admired Selena because she had that famous crossover success, but sadly she never got to enjoy it,” she said. According to Allmusic, she takes influences from Jennifer Lopez, Queen Latifah, Gloria Estefan, Madonna and Salt-N-Pepa. Queen cites American rapper Missy Elliott as an influence as well. Reggaetón duo Jowell & Randy cite Queen as one of their musical influences. Queen is also a musical influence for Colombian singer Farina Dominican singer Natti Natasha, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny and American rappers Bia and Cardi B.

Ivy Queen was married to fellow reggaeton singer Omar Navarro, known by his stage name Gran Omar. They were divorced in 2005. Queen said she never found Omar in the act of adultery, and said that if she had, she would be in La Vega Alta—a women’s prison in Puerto Rico. She also said she had not physically assaulted Omar’s alleged mistress. She stated they had not lived together for two months, citing the “extensive travels of her husband and his workload of being a producer” as causes of the end of the nine-year marriage. A year after their separation, Omar said that Queen had tricked him, and that she owed him money from the sales and production of the album Cosa Nostra: Hip-Hop, which they presented together because of their obligations and contract with Univision. Jorge Guadalupe—Ivy Queen’s manager—invited Omar to take legal action. Guadalupe called Omar “someone who misses the money and the high-life” he had while he was married to Queen. No legal action was taken, however. Omar appeared on television station Telefutura’s program Escándalo TV and accused Queen of being unfaithful in their marriage. Queen however, denied the claims.

In 2006, Puerto Rican singer Don Omar referenced Queen on the track “Jangueo” from his second studio album, King of Kings. Also in 2006, Dominican rapper Redimi2 mentioned Queen on “Declaró”, featured on the reloaded edition of Omar’s 2005 album Los Bandoleros. Later in 2009, Omar mentioned Queen on “Hasta Abajo,” a promotional single for his 2010 album, Meet the Orphans. In 2017, American rapper Travis Scott referenced Queen on the remix of Puerto Rican singer Farruko’s “Krippy Kush,” which also features American rapper Nicki Minaj and Puerto Rican rappers Rvssian and Bad Bunny.

In April 2007, Ivy Queen released her sixth studio album entitled Sentimiento. She began working on the album in 2006 after Cosa Nostra became a commercial failure. As a part of her evolution in reggaetón, Sentimiento includes “solo turns” instead of duets with guest artists. The solo tracks include; “Pobre Corazón” by Divino, “Manaña Al Despertar” by Baby Rasta and Noriega—none of which feature Queen’s vocals. She said she wanted to give a 180-degree turn to what people think of reggaetón. She said, “[m]any think reggaetón is just nice rhythms to dance to. And they forget there are song-writers and composers, who, like everyone else, also suffer and aspire in love … Love is what makes us write things, what keeps us alive. If we did not have love, we would have nothing”. The album spawned a Top 10 hit “Que Lloren” and the moderately successful singles “En Que Fallamos” and “Sentimientos”. At the Latin Grammy Awards of 2007, Calle 13 won the Best Urban Music Album award for their album Residente o Visitante Queen’s Sentimiento was nominated in the same category.

According to Jon Pareles of the New York Times, Queen is the “only significant female reggaeton rapper”. She is known as the “Queen of Reggaeton” in the traditionally male-dominated genre. She is also known “La Diva”, “La Potra”, “La Caballota”, and “La Reina”. She has become the “indisputable lead female voice of Latin urban and reggaeton music [and] an international icon for Latin music itself.” She has been referred to as a “trailblazer” within the genre of Reggaetón. About.com named Queen one of the ten most influential women in Latin music in the category Reggaeton/Hip-Hop while selecting Sentimiento as Queen’s best album. In 2007, a book about Queen’s success and rise to success as a hip hop artist was released. In 2013, Latina named Queen the best Latina rapper of all time. In 2016, the magazine listed Queen as one of the best reggaeton artists of all time. In 2017, Queen was nominated to be inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Queen is a spokeswoman for the cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure because her mother is a cancer survivor. Queen was involved in a charity marathon run in Puerto Rico called “Carrera por una Cura” (“Run for a Cure”). The marathon in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in which celebrities such as Puerto Rican actress Adamari López, and Puerto Rican singer Kany Garcia among others, ran for the prevention and cure of cancer. The marathon was dedicated to Adamari López, who suffered from breast cancer in 2007.

Calle 13’s 2008 album “Los de Atrás Vienen Conmigo” included a song entitled “Que Lloren” which criticized Queen and asked her “to cut herself with a razor”. She responded stating “I’m the queen of this genre, a genre that contains male rappers such as Don Omar, Wisin & Yandel and Tego Calderón who respect me a lot for an idiot to have my name in his mouth.” After Calle 13 had won various awards in the urban music category, Queen called the duo to let them know publicly how she felt about them. She was unhappy because despite the abundance of awards and nominees, only Calle 13 received awards explaining “they dedicated the night to Calle 13.” The duo called Queen a hypocrite.

In 2008, Queen released the single “Dime”, which was featured on her first live album Ivy Queen 2008 World Tour LIVE!. In April 2010, she was signed to Machete Music. The signing, described as a 360 deal, includes profit sharing in tours, sponsorships and merchandising. Univision Records, was acquired by Machete’s parent company Universal Music Latin Entertainment in 2008. Walter Kolm, president of Universal Music Latino and Machete, said in a press release, “[i]t’s a privilege to have Ivy Queen a part of our artistic roster. Ivy is an extraordinary woman with incomparable talent, and she’s number one in her genre. We’re happy to be able to work with her on her new album as well as future projects”. Queen said of the partnership, “I’m very proud to be a part of Machete Music. They are a young, vibrant company that has created a name for itself in Latin music in the United States and the world. They are a strong and important company that has been recognized for nurturing their artists’ creative talents … “.

In December 2009, Ivy Queen launched a reggaeton doll. It was named “Queenie” and featured Queen’s signature, long fingernails, and was manufactured by Global Trading Partners. The doll came with a recording device containing remixes of Queen’s songs including “Menor Que Yo”, “Que Lloren”, and “Cuéntale”. A case with accessories was also included. Queen made her acting debut in February 2012 in the Spanish-language production of Eve Ensler’s play “The Vagina Monologues” staged in Orlando, Florida.

Drama Queen (2010), released on July 10, 2010, was originally intended to be released after her third compilation album Cosa Nostra: Hip-Hop (2006) as a concept album on which Ivy Queen would performing duets with female singers from different genres. Sentimiento was released instead. Queen told EFE that she started writing for the album while she was heartbroken at home. Her emotions then burst out in the recording studio. She added the album contains 16 of 26 songs she wrote during this period. When Latina Magazine asked her about the drama between the release of Sentimiento and Drama Queen, Queen said:

Queen was in a relationship with DJ Urba from mid-2006 to the end of 2007. In 2010, after Queen invited American actor Vin Diesel to attend 2010 Premios Juventud, it was rumored they were in a relationship together. She told Escándalo TV that there was no romance between them and that they were just good friends.

On August 21, 2012, Queen’s eighth studio album Musa was released. It debuted and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. She said that spending two years away from the media has helped her emotionally and mentally. She also said that the album is “very mature and complete,” because although her style is urban and reggaeton it also features fusions of rhythms and instruments with their own styles. The album managed a nomination for Best Urban Music Album at the Latin Grammy Awards of 2013.

Queen married Puerto Rican choreographer Xavier Sánchez in late 2012. She announced in June 2013 that the couple were expecting their first child. Before becoming naturally pregnant, Queen adopted two Latino children. She revealed her baby bump at the Calibash 2013 concert which was headlined by R&B singer Chris Brown. The baby was born in November 2013. In June 2016, Queen’s father died of pulmonary cancer.

It was announced in September 2013, that Queen had changed management and returned with Jorge “Goguito” Guadalupe, president and co-founder of Filtro Musik, to release her ninth studio album, entitled Vendetta in February 2014. Following the birth of her first biological child, Queen then announced that she would embark on a U.S. tour entitled the “Viva Puerto Rico Tour”. The tour, launched on January 29, 2014, included performances at various gay clubs in cities of the United States and Puerto Rico, such as New York, Orlando, Miami, Houston, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Atlanta, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Tampa, and Ponce.

Queen’s ninth studio album was released on February 3, 2015. An extended play version of the album was released on December 9, 2014. The studio album version was originally announced for a release in February 2014, and later some time in 2014.