Reggaeton
The summer of 1995 found a local duo from Residencial Luis Llorens Torres in San Juan rapping at a club on the beach in Puerto Nuevo, Vega Baja. This scene marked a pivotal moment for a genre that had quietly taken root in Panama during the late 1980s before exploding across the Caribbean. The word reggaeton itself remains a subject of debate among historians and musicians. 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, abbreviating the words reggae and maratón or marathon. Prescriptivist sources like the Fundéu BBVA recommend the spelling reguetón to align with traditional Spanish rules, yet both versions persist in common usage.
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. The Department of Education subsequently banned baggy clothing and underground music from schools to quell its influence. Local media demonized rappers as irresponsible corrupters of the public order for months after the crackdown. Despite these efforts, bootleg recordings and word-of-mouth distribution kept the genre alive until 1998 when it began to coalesce into modern reggaeton. By mid-1995, DJ Negro released The Noise 3 with a mockup label reading Non-explicit lyrics, which became a hit despite containing no cursing until the final song. Senator Velda González led public hearings in 2002 to regulate sexual slackness in reggaeton lyrics while politicians eventually began using the music in election campaigns to appeal to younger voters by 2003.
Daddy Yankee's Barrio Fino album and its hit single Gasolina opened doors for global recognition in late 2004 and early 2005. That same year, Shakira collaborated with Alejandro Sanz on La Tortura and its remix version for her album Fijación Oral Vol.1. Four reggaeton songs were performed at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards including Dile by Don Omar and tracks by Tego Calderón and Daddy Yankee. In May 2006, Don Omar's King of Kings debuted atop the Top Latin Albums chart and peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200. He broke Britney Spears' in-store appearance sales record at Downtown Disney's Virgin music store. Daddy Yankee's El Cartel III: The Big Boss set a first-week sales record in June 2007 with 88,000 copies sold. By 2017 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. Dembow consists of a kick drum, kickdown drum, palito, snare drum, timbal, timballroll and sometimes a high-hat cymbal arranged in a 3+3+2 rhythm complemented by a bass drum in 4/4 time. Elements of Shabba Ranks' 1991 album Just Reality remain found in over 80% of all reggaeton productions today. Since 2018 a new variation called minimalist dembow has emerged starting with Te Bote allowing for more syncopated rhythmic experiments. Artists incorporate identical Jamaican riddims such as Bam Bam Hot This Year Fever Pitch Red Alert Trailer Reloaded and Big Up riddims while some hits use lighter electrified versions like Pa' Que la Pases Bien which utilizes the Liquid riddim.
Sandungueo or perreo is a dance associated with reggaeton that emerged during the early 1990s in Puerto Rico focusing on grinding with one partner facing the back of the other. Another way to describe this movement is back-to-front where the woman presses her rear into the pelvis of her partner to create sexual stimulation. Traditional couple dancing typically occurs face-to-face so reggaeton dancing initially shocked observers with its sensuality but was featured in several music videos. It is also known as daggering grinding or juking in English-speaking areas of the United States. The New York-based rapper N.O.R.E produced Nina Sky's 2004 hit Oye Mi Canto featuring Tego Calderón and Daddy Yankee helping popularize the genre in the U.S. Reggaeton became the foundation of hurban, a commercial-radio term combining Hispanic and urban to evoke influences from hip hop and Latin American music.
In Cuba reggaeton incorporated elements of traditional Cuban music leading to the hybrid Cubaton pioneered by bands like Máxima Alerta founded in 1999 and Cubanito 20.02. The government imposed restrictions on reggaeton in public places in 2012 before banning aggressive sexually explicit and obscene messages from radio television and street performances in March 2019. Brazil saw early success through Señores Cafetões group who became known in 2007 with Piriguete mistaken for hip hop and Brazilian funk. The genre reached reasonable popularity around the middle of the 2010s decade when Anitta partnered with Maluma on Yes or no overcoming language barriers as a Portuguese-speaking country. In the Philippines artists use Filipino language instead of Spanish or English exemplified by Zamboangueño duo Dos Fuertes whose 2007 dance hit Tarat Tat primarily uses Chavacano. Malaysian rapper Namewee released China Reggaeton in 2020 featuring Anthony Wong singing in Mandarin and Hakka accompanied by traditional Chinese instruments like erhu pipa and guzheng creating fusion styles.
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Common questions
When did the genre reggaeton originate in Panama and when did it explode across the Caribbean?
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.
Who is credited with coining the word reggaeton according to historical accounts?
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.
What happened to reggaeton music stores and artists in San Juan in February 1995?
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.
Which song became the most viewed YouTube video from January 2018 to November 2020?
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.
Who created the dembow riddim that forms the heart of reggaeton percussion patterns?
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.