Reggaeton
Outline about Reggaeton
Reggaeton (pronounced /ˌrɛɡeɪˈtoʊn/; also spelled reggaetón, and known as reguetón and
reggaetón in Spanish) is a form of predominantly Latin urban music. After its mainstream
exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences.
Reggaeton's predecessor originated in Panama as reggae en español. After the music's
gradual exposure and commercial packaging in Puerto Rico, it eventually evolved into a
new musical style known as reggaeton. Reggaeton blends West-Indian music influences
of reggae and dancehall with those of Latin America, such as bomba, plena, salsa, latin
pop and bachata as well as those of hip hop, contemporary R&B, and electronica.
However, reggaeton is also combined with rapping or singing in Spanish. The influence
of this genre has spread to the wider Latino communities in the United States, as well as
the Latin American audience. While it takes influences from hip hop and Jamaican
dancehall, reggaeton is not the Hispanic or Latino version of either of these genres;
reggaeton has its own specific beat and rhythm, whereas Latino hip hop is simply hip hop
recorded by artists of Latino descent. The specific rhythm that characterizes reggaeton is
referred to as "Dem Bow." The name is a reference to the title of the dancehall song by
Shabba Ranks that first popularized the beat in the early 1990s. Reggaeton's origin
represents a hybrid of many different musical genres and influences from various
countries in the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States. The genre of reggaeton
however is most closely associated with Puerto Rico, as this is where the musical style
was later popularized and became most famous, and where the vast majority of its current
stars originated.
Reggaeton lyrics tend to be derived more from hip hop than dancehall. Like hip hop,
reggaeton has caused some controversy, albeit less, due to alleged exploitation of women,
and to a lesser extent, explicit and violent lyrics. Further controversy surrounds perreo, a
dance with explicit sexual overtones which is performed to reggaeton music. Perreo was
the subject of a national controversy in Puerto Rico as reggaeton music and the
predominantly lower class culture it derived from, became more popular and widely
available.
Reggaeton's roots started off as Spanish reggae in Panama The music eventually made its
way and continued evolving and coming to prominence in Puerto Rico where it became
reggaeton. Reggaeton started as an adaptation of Jamaican reggae to the Spanish
language and overall culture in Panama.
The origins of reggaeton begin with the first reggae recordings being made in Panama
during the late 1970s. Reportedly, the Jamaican influence on Panamanian music has been
strong since the early 20th century when Jamaican laborers were used to help build the
Panama Canal. Afro-Panamanians had been performing and recording Spanish-language
reggae since the 1970s. Artists such as El General, Chichoman, Nando Boom, Renato,
and Black Apache are considered the first raggaeton DJs from Panama. El General is
often considered the father of reggaeton, blending Jamaican reggae into a Latinised
version. It was common practice to translate the lyrics of Jamaican reggae song into
Spanish and sing them over the original melodies, a form termed "Spanish reggae" or
"Reggae en español." Meanwhile, during the 1980s the Puerto Rican rapper Vico C
released Spanish-language hip hop records in his native island. His production of
cassettes throughout the 1980s, mixing reggae and hip hop, also helped spread the early
reggaeton sound, and he is widely credited with this achievement. The widespread
movement of "Spanish reggae" in the Latin-American communities of the Caribbean and
the urban centres of the United States help increase its popularity.
Meanwhile hip hop and reggae in Puerto Rico were on the rise due to the increased
popularity of Jamaican ragga imports. Towards the middle of the decade, Puerto Ricans
were producing their own "riddims" with clear influences from hip hop and other styles.
These are considered the first proper reggaeton tracks, initially called "under", a short
form of "Underground." As Caribbean and African-American music gained this
momentum in Puerto Rico, Reggae Rap in Spanish marked the beginning of Boricua
underground rap and served as an expression for millions of young people. This created
an entire invisible, yet prominent underground youth culture that sought to express
themselves through Reggae Rap in Spanish. As a youth culture that exists on the fringes
of society and criminal illegality, it has often been publicly criticized. The Puerto Rican
police launched a raid against underground rap by confiscating cassette tapes from music
stores under Penal codes of obscenity, issuing fines, and the demoralization of rappers
through radio, television, and newspaper media.
The genre morphed through the years, at various points being termed "Melaza", "música
underground", and "Dem Bow." This last name originated from reggaeton's
distinguishing rhythmic feature: the Dem Bow (alternately spelled "Dembow") beat,
relying heavily on the snare drum, which is used in nearly all reggaeton songs today. This
beat, or riddim, was produced under the direction of Jamaican record producer Bobby
"Digital" Dixon and performed by Steely & Clevie. It first became popular in the song
"Dem Bow" (They Bow) performed by Jamaican dancehall artist Shabba Ranks in 1991.
The song and beat achieved greater popularity among Spanish-speaking Latin Americans
when Panamanian artist El General released the song "Son Bow" in 1991, a Spanish
language cover of "Dem Bow" using the same musical track. It should be pointed out that
neither Shabba nor El General sang reggaeton as neither the genre nor its title were as yet
formed. Additionally "Dem Bow" was just a single song in Shabba's catalog, with Ranks
not singing another significant song using the "Dem Bow" beat. However the influence of
the original Bobby Digital beat is undeniable and modern reggaeton often still reflects the
original instrumentation, as well as the original rhythmic structure.
Rise to popularity
Reggaeton expanded and became known when other producers followed the steps of DJ
Playero, like DJ Nelson and DJ Eric. In the early '90s albums like DJ Playero's Playero
37 (in which Daddy Yankee became known) and The Noise: Underground, the Noise 5
and The Noise 6 were very popular in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Singers
like Don Chezina, Tempo, Master Joe & O.G. Black, Baby Rasta & Gringo, and Lito &
Polaco among others were very popular.
The name reggaeton only gained prominence in the mid-1990s (from the 1994 to 1995
period), with the Dem Bow beat characterizing the genre; this is in contrast to the more
reggae, dancehall, soca and hip hop-derived tracks previously created. The name was
created in Puerto Rico to signify the hybrid sound, and distinguish it from the previous
Spanish reggae, created from the years of mixing the different genres. Today, the music
flourishes throughout Latin America.
Dem Bow
The Dem Bow riddim itself was first discovered and produced by Jamaican Dancehall
DJs in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, the original idea of Dem Bow's
percussion pattern cannot be traced to any individual producer, because the riddim itself
was partly influenced by reggae's one drop and also by other West Indian music, which in
turn gives the dembow a pan-Caribbean nature. Steely & Clevie, creators of the Poco
riddim are usually credited with the creation of the original dembow.
The Dem Bow riddim was first highlighted in the song "Dem Bow" by Shabba Ranks.
Dem Bow's drum and percussion pattern is created through a drum machine. The creation
of the drum machine in the late 1970s revolutionized dancehall music, and many
dancehall producers used these drum machines to create different dancehall riddims.
Dembow's role in reggaeton is to be the basic building block, and the skeletal sketch in
percussion. The dembow used in reggaeton also incorporates other different riddims such
as the Bam Bam riddim, the Poco riddim, the Fever Pitch riddim, and the Big-Up riddim.
As a result, different samples are often used to create Dem Bow in reggaeton.
As reggaeton continues to evolve, so does the Dem Bow riddim and many of the newer
reggaeton hits incorporate a much lighter and electrified offspring of the riddim.
Examples can be heard in songs such as "Permitame" and "Pa' Que la Pases Bien".
Puerto Rico
Reggaeton derives from the post-Salsa music youth generation of the '80s and early '90s
in Puerto Rico. Before reggaeton exploded in the mid-nineties, young street artists,
heavily influenced by East Coast hip hop and turntablism, rapped over cassette tracks.
Alongside this early hip hop influenced reggae-rap, evolved the Panamanian reggae style
which eventually fused into reggaeton.
This new genre was simply called "underground." It contained very explicit lyrics about
drugs, violence, poverty, homophobia, friendship, love, and sex. These common themes,
which in many cases depict the troubles of an inner-city life, can still be found in
reggaeton today. "Underground" music was recorded in "marquesinas" (or Puerto Rican
open garages) and distributed in the streets via cassettes. These marquesinas were crucial
to the development of Puerto Rico's underground scene due to the state's "fear of losing
the ability to manipulate 'taste'". Marquesinas were often in "housing complexes such as
Villa Kennedy and Jurutungo." Despite being recorded in the projects of Puerto Rico, the
majority of the recordings made in marquesinas were of high quality, which helped in
increasing their popularity to the Puerto Rican youths of not only the projects but those of
the middle and upper class as well. The availability and quality of these cassettes led to
the genre's popularity, crossing over socio-economic barriers in the Puerto Rican music
scene. The most popular cassettes in the early 1990s were DJ Negro's The Noise I and II,
and DJ Playero's #37 and #38.Gerardo Cruet Created these recordings spread out the
genre from the marginalized residential areas into other sectors of society, particularly
into private schools. By the mid '90s "underground" cassettes were being sold in
commercial music stores. The genre caught up with the middle class youth and inevitably
found its way to the media.
By this time Puerto Rico had a few clubs dedicated to the underground scene. Club
Rappers in Carolina, and club Playmakers in Puerto Nuevo were the most notable. Bobby
"Digital" Dixon's dembow track was exploited in order to appeal in the context of the
club. Underground music wasn't intended originally to be club music.
Underground rap music in Puerto Rico faced harsh criticism. In February 1995, there was
a government-sponsored campaign against underground music and its cultural influences.
Puerto Rican police launched six raids at records stores in San Juan, in which hundreds of
cassettes were confiscated from record stores and fines were imposed (in accordance with
Laws 112 and 117 against obscenity.) The Department of Education banned baggy
clothing and underground rap music from the school systems. In the following months
after the raids, local media demonized rappers, claiming they were "irresponsible
corrupters of the public order."
The Puerto Rican chapter of Morality in Media asked the local authorities to intervene
and ban selling underground music, which subsequently required that all local
productions being sold displayed a Parental Advisory label[citation needed]. By 1998 DJ
Negro released The Noise 3 with a mock up label that read Non-Explicit Lyrics. The
album contained no cursing until the last song. The album was a hit and underground
music further crept into the mainstream. Senator Velda González of the Popular
Democratic Party and the media continued to view the movement as a social nuisance.[31]
In the mid 1990s, the Puerto Rican Police and National Guard even went as far as to
confiscate reggaeton tapes and CDs in an effort to get the "obscene" lyrics out of the
hands of consumers. Schools also banned hip hop style clothing and music in an effort to
quell the influence of reggaeton in the educational environment. In 2002, Senator Velda
González led public hearings in an attempt to regulate the sexual "slackness" of
reggaeton's lyrics and the perrero style of dance associated with the genre. While the
effort did not seem to negatively effect the general public's opinion about reggaeton, it
did reflect the unease of the government and upper social classes with what the music
represented. Due to its often sexually charged content and because of its roots in poor,
urban communities, many middle and upper class Puerto Ricans found reggaeton to be
threatening, "immoral, as well as artistically deficient, a threat to the social order,
apolitical, [and] misogynist."
Despite earlier controversy, reggaeton slowly began gaining acceptance as an important
part of Puerto Rican culture, helped in part by politicians, including Velda González, who
used reggaeton in election campaigns to appeal to younger voters, starting in Puerto
Rico's 2003 elections. Currently, Puerto Rican mainstream acceptance of reggaeton has
grown increasing more visible with reggaeton's appearance in popular culture, including
a 2006 Pepsi commercial featuring Daddy Yankee. Other examples of a change in
sentiment within the greater population of Puerto Rico can be seen in some religiously
and educationally influenced lyrics. "Reggae School" for example is a rap album
produced for the sole purpose of teaching math skills to children, reminiscent of School
House Rock.
Despite Puerto Rico's struggling economy, reggaeton stars have been able to achieve
success not only as global stars but as local entrepreneurs; this has been evidenced in
industry labels such as DJ Nelson's Flow Music, Daddy Yankee's El Cartel Records, and
Wisín and Yandel's WY Records. Through production models derived from U.S. hip hop
artists and based in grassroots movements, reggaeton has been an artistic vehicle gaining
worldwide popularity, a far cry from its previous reputation as an infamous underground
product of urban youth.
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