You got reggaeton in my salsa

(You have to understand that this feels like the first real spring day this year in Philadelphia.)

What do you think of it? Is there much variety on it (if not rhythmically, than at least in terms of samples and whatever snippets of sound drift through it)?

seriously: "The Enemy of the Enemy"?

Guasíbiri = he who talks "guasa, guasa" or what Mexicans refer to as "baboso" = someone who likes to talk a lot o' shit

Tego's appeal is in his lazy flow and lyrics, in which he mostly employs a more varied slang vocabulary that is a throwback to the salsa era (he's brought it back into vogue single-handedly) and a broader set of themes, instantly making him more accesible to a wider audience. Personally, I find him to be occasionally brilliant, albeit limited in his scope, which is as high as a compliment as I can give him, seeing as he's probably the best and one of the maybe three reggaeton "artists" worth a shit, quite frankly.

I just listened to this record again, and I really really like it. It's a lot more hip-hop than it is dance, though, RS, so you might not like it. The beats are fairly sprightly for rap, but only half of them would cut the mustard in yr average club. But yeah on what Francis W. says about his flow, which is more like old nasty spicy chunky devil-hot sauce than a lovely waterfall or anything like that. And, if my espanol was better and/or existent, I'd be able to be flummoxed by slang I can't understand because I don't teach PR and Dominican jr. high kids in NYC anymore.

Anyhow, it started in Puerto Rico and it sounds more like a Spanish language version of dance-hall than anything else. The songs I've heard don't have beats that sound very hiphop to me, though the style of the delivery isn't a pure translation of dancehall style and I think there's some borrowing from hiphop there. But I hear little besides dancehall and hiphop. I keep seeing people who say there is a salsa element, but I haven't heard it yet.

I don't know "baile funk." Isn't that kind of techno-y and not actually like funk per se?

Scratch that. I'm finding them now.

Now if I could only get a stint reviewing reggaeton records for AMG on the side, we could get off to a good start...BWAha...BWAha...BWAHAHAHHAHAHA *evil laughter* BAH...not like they give a rat's ass about 'constructive criticism'. They'll be crying all the way to the bank.

Yo, Matt, baby, there really isn't a Colombian cumbia influence on reggaeton as a genre, even if it is reminiscent of it at times. People here don't listen to cumbia, or funk, for that matter. It's more an evil amalgam of dancehall, salsa, merengue, and hip-hop. The cumbia thing might be Tego experimenting with the production on some of the tracks. His songs are the most inventive in reggaeton when it comes to sonics. That's part of his style. Most reggaeton artists, sans a few notable exceptions, are very rigid in their absolute lack of variety. Truth is, a lot of reggaeton artists rip off riffs and melodies from pop singles that have charted all the time, and they get away with it! Because nobody outside of the island will take notice. What usually makes it to the US is the top echelon of the genre, which is a very insignificant part of it, and what is usually ignored here for being too 'pop' (a/k/a/ slightly palatable).

I snarfed. :)

but what do you hear when you hear that syncopated two-step thing? is it just called "reggaeton" in PR and DR and "cumbia" in colombia and mexico? and, presumably, "polka" up here?

"an urgent, urban sound that's supplanting increasingly mechanical salsa and merengue."

This is pretty funny. As if salsa could ever become more mechnical than reggaeton, with its programmed beats. I mean, yeah, salsa makes use of an old set of fomrulas, but to complain about it being mechanical in comparison to reggaeton? (I assume that most reggaeton apologists, especially here, wouldn't make this sort of argument.)

I haven't thought of it in terms of it being "different", and therefore liking it because of that.

But an attempt to answer the question:

DJ Nelson/Luny Tunes are running things now, dominating the beat-making like no other Danchehall or Hip Hop producers. So I tend to think of their beats as the reggaeton sound. Very cheezy synth sounds (played in a cheezy earnest fashion too), virtual absence of bass notes, very elaboratly programmed hyper drum breaks, fills and flams.

I wouldn't focus on the rapping necessarily, although, the flows are different than dancehall. But, rather, look at the whole approach with vocals: the singing on the chourus', the orgasmic female responses, the super hyper rapping. It's party music pure and simple.

I think reggaeton would do well to ape "Lose My Breath" - the "elaborately programmed hyper drum breaks, fills and flams" are often my favourite bits.

with so many artists, dj's and producers vying for position, reggaeton is in a phase where it's like crabs in a barrel. it hasn't been long since it blew up, so i kinda doubt you see too much experimenting anytime soon. the fear factor is huge now, but the hip hop industry template is already established.

anyone notice all the reggaeton dj mixtapes? they got party blendz, exclusive remixes, etc. and Hot97 just added a weekly reggaeton show.

i guess if a reggaeton song with unusual tempo or style got HUGE (a la Diwali riddim) it could shake the barrell a little.

Just what we need.

To my ear, most reggaeton songs don't feature Latin sounds as much as - for lack of better description - generic synth strings played in a simple almost classical music style.

Its one of those things that makes me scratch my head in wonder.....uh, hello? More Salsa in my Reggaeton please!

That's a really bad description. But it reminds me of the little bit of Trance music that I've heard. The shit that's played in big rave-style venues and late nights on WKTU(NYC).

Rap from Cuban [sic], and Fres-K is a woman. She raps in favor of women from Guantanamo, and if anybody was wondering what had happened to Eliades Ochoa, he shows up on a track claiming he’s onto a new style, rap. The tracks are pretty good, with new keyboard parts, and some sampling. She’s not a bad rapper, at all…

``Everybody loves it,'' says 26-year-old Alex Rodriguez of Milpitas, at
Barcelona on a recent Friday. ``The first time I heard it was in Mexico.
I usually listen to rock en español. But this kind of dancing -- it's
the dance of the future.''

Reggaeton comes up from the underground

March 13, 2005

BY LAURA EMERICK Staff Reporter

In just a few rapid-fire verses, Daddy Yankee lays out his manifesto on the first track of "Barrio Fino," the album that has catapulted the man and his music, the urban Latin style known as reggaeton, into the national consciousness. With a distinctive, voice-of-God flair, he intones: "Naci ... en donde la vida me a hecho hombre ... /Yo soy de barrio/Pero de un barrio fino."

In other words, he's a man born of the streets, and he celebrates that gritty yet proud existence with reggaeton, a decidedly up-from-the-underground sound that mixes hip-hop, reggae, salsa and other tropical Latin styles.

Released last July, "Barrio Fino" bowed at No. 1 on Billboard magazine's Latin albums chart, and in an almost unprecedented move, returned to the No. 1 spot months later, propelled by the ever-exploding phenomenon that is Daddy Yankee.

"We were a subculture, and they were looking down at us from over our shoulder," said Daddy Yankee, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, where "Barrio Fino" received gold and platinum sales honors from the Recording Industry Association of America in a ceremony Monday. "Most of us are from the 'hood, we were from the barrio. That was a problem [to the music establishment]. But now we've proved that we were born with a gift, that we speak the truth. That's the most important thing in our music."

Born Raymond Ayala 29 years ago in Puerto Rico, he refers often to "the revolution." It's not an idle boast. Reggaeton has swept Latin music to become one of its hottest trends, thanks to Daddy Yankee and other breakout stars such as Don Omar, Tego Calderon, Nicky Jam, Lunytunes and Ivy Queen.

Daddy Yankee and Calderon also helped give traction to the reggaeton movement with "Oye Mi Canto," the hit single by NORE (aka the Queens-based rapper Noreaga). Featuring several star turns, "Oye Mi Canto" crossed over to become the first reggaeton single ever played on mainstream English-language stations.

"It came from NORE's camp, that was the key," said Daddy Yankee (his stage name is Puerto Rican slang for "Big Daddy"). "Everyone could finally look at our genre. It was like 'Rap Is the Life' by the Sugarhill Gang, back in the '80s. It was the first hip-hop song recognized in the mainstream. 'Oye Mi Canto' was the same thing on the Latin side. When it came out, everyone was asking me, 'What was that sound?' That's reggaeton."

The reggaeton movement received another surge with "Gasolina," the fuel-injected hit single from "Barrio Fino." When he performed the song on the Premio Lo Nuestro awards telecast last month, he ignited a frenzy with his spectacular entrance in an airborne, fire-red Lamborghini. (And oh, yeah, he won urban Latin album of the year honors later during the telecast for "Barrio Fino.")

So expect a sold-out house when Daddy Yankee headlines a tropical Latin bill Saturday at the Aragon.

For Daddy Yankee, it's simple. Airborne luxury cars notwithstanding, it's all about keeping it real. "'Gasolina,' it's sexy, it's grimy," he said, laughing. "It's about the girl who likes to have fun in the clubs. 'Le gusta la gasolina'" -- referring to the song's refrain -- "it's Puerto Rican slang for 'Mama, you like to hang out.'

"The sound is from the street. The people from the streets, they feel it. The other races, they see that, and then realize this is real, it's urban music."

"[Rappers] Kid Frost, Big Pun and Fat Joe were the pioneers of the urban Latin movement, but now it's our time to shine. Kids just want to hear the real," said Daddy Yankee, his voice rising in emphasis. "They want to get the chance to hear Daddy Yankee on the radio instead of 50 Cent. I grew up watching hip-hop icons, and I just wanted to bring that entertainment world to the Latin side. Now the urban Latin youth community has something to identify with. Before, it was only pop, people like Enrique Iglesias. Now they get to see the real stuff."

In many respects, "real" is an understatement. "To have someone come out of barrios of Puerto Rico to sell nearly a million copies in the U.S. and Puerto Rico alone without significant radio airplay, that in itself tells a story about how relevant this music is," said Cesar Ochoa, a locally based independent Latin music promoter.

John Echevarria, president of Universal Music Latino, the label that has dominated the reggaeton scene, doesn't think the trend shows any sign of diminishing. "We've had a huge increase in reggaeton, it's taken over the tropical Latin market," he said. "It took off first in Miami, but has also caught on with the primarily Mexican audiences in Southern California and Texas. Like in hip-hop, we needed someone to tell same sort of story, but only in Spanish, and reggaeton has been it."

Even with its recently acquired major label presence, reggaeton remains a grass-roots phenomenon. "It was an indie job," Echevarria said. "Reggaeton artists were suspicious of dealing with majors. But we [Universal] did the job [creating distribution deals], and they started to take off in 2001."

Daddy Yankee first gained prominence with "El Changri.com" (2002) and "Los Homerun-es" (2003), on his own VI Music imprint. "Right now, the majority of reggaeton producers are independent," Daddy Yankee said. "We don't belong to any major label. We created everything around us. That's one reason why we're so popular. We're businessmen."

With all of his related enterprises, Daddy Yankee has evolved into a one-man entertainment industry. And another one-man entertainment industry, P. Diddy, invited Daddy Yankee to become the face of his Sean John clothing line for its spring-summer collections. Daddy Yankee's label, El Cartel, is busy promoting its proteges, including Tommy Viera, who appears on "Barrio Fino." And now Daddy Yankee is starring in his first movie, "Straight From the Barrio," due out later this year.

"It's not a movie based on my life, but on reality," he said. "I play a kid from the 'hood. A lot of Latinos are going to identify, because we have been fighting against the odds all our lives.

Including Daddy Yankee, who started out singing on street corners. "A lot of people don't know that I have been working in music since the '90s," he said. "I started really young, I've been working since I was a teenager, and now I can see the fruits of my work. It wasn't easy in the beginning."

Back then, the Latin music industry had yet to embrace hip-hop or other urban styles. To break through the institutional barriers, young artists developed their own musical hybrids. "So we mixed hip-hop with Spanish reggae to create something straight from the underground -- reggaeton.

"Over the years reggaeton has developed a little bit of everything, salsa, cumbia, reggae -- that's the way we have captured such a wide audience," he said. "We have the support of the African-American and white communities. Music is music, and they can identify. I know it's hot. They know that I'm real. This thing of reggaeton reminds me of when I was a kid. I maybe didn't really understand [American] hip-hop, but I felt it, because it was real."

Plenty of people inspired him in his youth. "I recall [rap pioneer] Dr. Dre when he was with N.W.A since I was like 10 years old. I would go running to the store for his latest music. He was a mentor, even though I never met him. I got a lot of respect for him.

"And then there's Rakim, Kool Moe Dee, Big Daddy Kane -- I once saw him in an airport. I approached him, and I said, 'yo, respect,' he gave me props. I'm real in my comments."

Old-school salsa also proved to be an important influence. "Hector Lavoe, he's the godfather of our music. And El Gran Combo, Willie Colon and Andy Montanez," he said, referring to salsa greats of the '70s.

Lavoe died tragically in 1993, but El Gran Combo, Colon and Montanez have continued to forge ahead in their careers. Daddy Yankee even got Montanez to guest on the track "Sabor a Melao," on "Barrio Fino."

"I called Andy. I was shy, because I got a lot of respect for him. He's real. But when we made the track, there became a huge chemistry between me and him. It was just a great honor."

For his next album, tentatively titled "Daddy Yankee, El Cartel," he hopes to bring in El Gran Combo and perhaps other heroes. "'El Cartel' is really going to spread this movement everywhere. We've already got Lil Jon, Elefant Man, NORE, and I've got a holler out to a lot of other artists waiting for confirmation. If you like 'Barrio Fino,' you're going to love this one. It's going to drop later this year."

Meanwhile, Daddy Yankee continues to luxuriate in the love that "Barrio Fino" has generated.

"If you go to the clubs, you see a lot of DJs trying to do Spanish hip-hop -- even the Anglos on their shows. It's beautiful.

"Out of all the credit, I give it to the fans," he said. "I'm the leader of this movement, but I represent all of them. We're all real, and we're all here. Yeah, I've done history with this album, but there's more Daddy Yankee to come. I thank God that I'm the first reggaeton artist to go platinum. But it's those little things that make me most proud. People who don't speak Spanish are digging us. They're giving us props."

Inset:

A SIX-PACK FOR STARTERS

If you're new to reggaeton, check out this starter set of albums (and a hit single) featuring the best of the genre:

Daddy Yankee, "Barrio Fino" (2004): "The White Album" of reggaeton, a 21-track release full of incendiary rhythms and rhymes.

Don Omar, "The Last Don" (2003): Received Artist of the Year honors at the Premio Lo Nuestro awards telecast for this disc, still on the charts after 85 weeks.

Ivy Queen, "Diva Platinum Edition" (2004): One of the few female artists in an overwhelmingly male field, the sultry singer trades on her sex appeal but delivers the goods musically.

Lunytunes, "La Trayectoria" (2004): This Dominican-born duo has become the Neptunes of reggaeton.

NORE, "Oye Mi Canto" (2004): This Spanglish hybrid, featuring assists by Daddy Yankee and Nina Sky, became the first reggaeton hit to cross over into the Anglo radio mainstream.

Tego Calderon, "Enemy de Los Guasibiri" (2004): On his second major label release, he brings in tropical Latin artists Aventura and Tonio Rosario as well as reggaeton favorite Yandel for guest spots.

Laura Emerick

Maybe I should just say the world in this case.

Actually, you can thank pheNAM above for that mix. (I would have said so more loudly, but I don't want people bugging him for a copy.) I've been liking more of it than I would expect. I think it's because so many of the tracks have some sort of recognizable Latin flavor (mamboish horns, merengeu-ish accordion, etc.).

(He had originally called in "Reggaeton Club Bangas" or something like that. For whatever strange reason I felt more self-conscious about using a title with the word "bangas" than adding two xs to "mix.")

In order to begin to connect the issues, the FMLN has organized an outreach campaign called the “Truth Mission,” with leaflets, songs on the radio, and house visits talking to people about the practical implications of the national fiscal crisis and national debt. As the legislature was debating this most recent loan package, FMLN collaborators put together the “debt reggaeton,” a song putting lyrics about debt, corruption, and social spending to rhythms from popular dance music. FMLN activists handed out CDs of the song in bus terminals, and it ran for weeks on progressive radio stations.

I didn't realize that these tracks have more Latin flavor than typical reggaeton (right?) -- if anything, I wish they had even more of it. I would have thought those kinds of sounds were integral to reggaeton.

Are these tracks the cream of the crop, the kind that FW says upthread are the only good ones, as opposed to the vast majority of reggaeton that he dislikes?

Geeta Dayal said the following about reggaeton in NYC:

"(Note I've been talking more in the downtown 'hipster' sense; if you want to see a burgeoning New York macroscene, head uptown or deep into a borough and check it out: reggaeton has taken over whole blocks, whole neighborhoods, whole regions of the city hook, line, and sinker. Folks in my old neighborhood in West Harlem, for instance, used to mostly blast hip-hop (I have fond memories of my entire bedroom shaking to Ludacris at 4 a.m.) and salsa. Reggaeton was around when I lived there, too, but now the entire neighborhood is the all-reggaeton, all-the-time channel!)"
http://www.theoriginalsoundtrack.com/blog/

Geeta must be a more patient person than me.

To my ear, as mentioned upthread, lots of stuff doesn't feature much "latin sabor", though a lot of the major hits do. I'd like to hear other people's opinions on this.

I've heard that Tego is a huge Ismael fan. He samples "Witinila" on his second album "El Abayarde". Hot song!!

U.R.A. funny person :)

I'm dj'ing a reggaeton set next month at a record release party for an artist named Enemigo. Should be hot! Maybe i'll post the details here when I know more. It'll be an after-work party down near Canal street. More later.

ha-ha...I've been gone for a minute (back to the work force), but I see reggaeton is still going strong on ILM - thanks to RS. I've got tons of new stuff that I haven't gone through yet. I went to the Copa a couple weeks ago, and mmmaaaan......was it crazy. So much energy. The salsa floor was packed too.

"I didn't realize that these tracks have more Latin flavor than typical reggaeton (right?) -- if anything, I wish they had even more of it. I would have thought those kinds of sounds were integral to reggaeton."

To my ear, as mentioned upthread, lots of stuff doesn't feature much "latin sabor", though a lot of the major hits do. I'd like to hear other people's opinions on this.

"I think that after hearing a lot more Ismael Rivera, I'm starting to hear echoes of his sound in Tego Calderon."

I've heard that Tego is a huge Ismael fan. He samples "Witinila" on his second album "El Abayarde". Hot song!!

"He had originally called in "Reggaeton Club Bangas" or something like that. For whatever strange reason I felt more self-conscious about using a title with the word "bangas" than adding two xs to "mix.""

U.R.A. funny person :)

I'm dj'ing a reggaeton set next month at a record release party for an artist named Enemigo. Should be hot! Maybe i'll post the details here when I know more. It'll be an after-work party down near Canal street. More later.

Wisin y Yandel,argueably reggaetons greatest duo has yet to hit 200,000 record sales either..even with heavy promotion,the singles off the cd "Rakata" and "Llame Pa Verte" have been played about once every 40 minutes on reggaeton stations,"Mayor Que Yo" is also a wisin y yandel hit featuring daddy yankee and gets played about once very 25 minutes (Although its on a different album,Mas Flow 2,it was also song of the year at the latin award show) and these guys have won awards even as duo of the year and have yet to reach Platinum in the latin world which is 200,000. Daddy Yankee's "Barrio Fino En Directo",which is daddy yankee performing his hits live with a few new songs on the album has sold over 400,000 records going double platinum in the latin world. That's how it should be done. Yankee broke Tego's sales for "El abayarde" with "Barrio Fino" and now has broken his own record with "En Directo",I can't wait to see what happens in reggaeton this year when these three kings of the genre come out with new albums this summer.

underdog is gonna be a legendary album but not because it was under a major label...just cuz its tegos return even though he hasnt gone anywhere i got 3 tracks from the album downloaded already and they are the shit i have the link if yall want it let me know peace

I think it's better than mas flow 2,Mas flow 1 has much more to choose from and more variety.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2006/08/26/nosplit/edray26.xml