Short answers, pulled from the story.
Reggaeton quietly took root in Panama during the late 1980s before exploding across the Caribbean. The summer of 1995 marked a pivotal moment for the genre with a local duo from Residencial Luis Llorens Torres rapping at a club on the beach in Puerto Nuevo, Vega Baja.
One theory credits El General's representative Michael Ellis with coining the term by adding the suffix -ton to make the word big. Another account suggests Daddy Yankee mentioned it first while freestyling on the mixtape Playero 34 in 1994. A third version points to DJ Erick releasing an album titled Reggaetón Live Vol.1 the following year.
In February 1995, Puerto Rican police raided six record stores in San Juan and confiscated hundreds of cassette tapes under penal obscenity codes. These raids targeted music recorded in carports and public housing complexes like Villa Kennedy and Jurutungo using second-hand equipment.
Luis Fonsi's Despacito featuring Daddy Yankee reached one billion views in less than three months and became the most viewed YouTube video from January 2018 to November 2020. The song achieved 3.3 million certified sales plus track-equivalent streams making it one of the best-selling Latin singles in the United States.
The dembow riddim was created by Jamaican dancehall producers during the late 1980s and early 1990s using electronic keyboards and drum machines. Steely & Clevie are usually credited with creating the Poco Man Jam riddim which forms the heart of this percussion pattern.