Daddy Yankee - Photo courtesy El Cartel
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Reggaeton: The Latin Fusion of Rap and Reggae
By Paula Davis
Reggae what? Some say that it's a new genre in music, others, a fad that will pass. But the Reggaeton movement continues to grow together with a new generation of Puerto Rican musicians.
Reggaeton is a new genre of music that arrived in the mid 1980's in Panama and Puerto Rico that has risen to surprising heights in the last few years and continues to grow Internationally.
A sign of it's soon to be explosive popularity began in October 2004 at Madison Square Gardens, in New York City when Daddy Yankee performed in front of more than 15,000 fans.
Puerto Rico has produced the most popular Reggaeton artists. Some of them being Tego Calderon, Don Omar, Wisin & Yadel, Hector & Tito, Daddy Yankee, Zion & Lennox, Baby Rasta & Gringo, Ivy Queen, Nicky Jim and Vico C. All of these artists have had massive concerts in Puerto Rico and were the most likely candidates to lead the Reggaeton movement outside of the island. Reggaeton is already popular in Boston, Florida, New York, Chicago and other states with large Latin populations.
The Reggaeton movement can be traced back to Puerto Rico in 1993-1994 to a nightclub called "The Noise". As a Hip Hop and Reggae discotheque, The Noise was a major hangout for a generation that grew up listening to old school rap, like that of Vico C. but who experimented by putting their own lyrics over Jamaican reggae songs and well known rap songs from the U.S.
By the end of 1994, two of the first Spanish reggae + rap productions came to life: "The Noise" and "Playero 37". These were the first examples of the fusion between rap and reggae with original lyrics in Spanish.
Reggaeton Night at Roxys - Photo courtesy Puro Imaging |
Among the first contributors to this musical experiment were Baby Rasta & Gringo, Guanabanas, Maicol & Manuel, Polaco, Don Chezima, and Daddy Yankee (from Playero). A frequent theme in these songs were topics of street violence, as in the song "Bien guillo de gangster" by Chezina or "blam yo le doy" (Blam, I hit'm) by Baby Rasta & Gringo. "Maldita Puta" (Damn Whore) by the Guanabanas touched on topics of drugs and sexual violence.
This same musical style appeared in "The Noise2 but the next major change occurred in "The Noise3" where slow reggae songs were sampled and combined with lyrics that conveyed positive and romantic messages.
It is at this stage that many say Reggaeton was born. They created original songs with samples mixed from rap and reggae.
Puerto Ricans followed the example of Panamanians who combined reggae songs with original lyrics in Spanish but took it a step further and applied it to rap.
This musical style is followed by the new generation of Puerto Rican musicians who are now responsible for taking this genre to the next level. - The Art News Network
Billboard Magazine has nominated Daddy Yankee for Reggaeton Album Of The Year - "Barrio Fino" (El Cartel/VI Music) http://daddyyankee.com
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