The Fever of Reggaeton

By Diego Zerpa Chang

Some people say reggaeton was born in Panama, while others claim it is from Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Either way, this form of urban music which mingles West-Indian tune influences of reggae and dancehall with those of Latin America, such as bachata, bomba, cumbia, Latin hip-hop, merengue, Latin-pop and salsa, has invaded the entire Caribbean region and, of course, most of Latin America.

This passionate rhythm, which has an explicitly sensual touch it is dancing beat, is heard across many radio stations, inside your average kitchen or mechanic shop, in the atmosphere of today’s most popular clubs and, regularly, on the streets and on the customary traffic jam. Its pace tends to motivate dancing and movement even in the least experienced dancers. With it, people can get a chance to have some fun, to sweet, to scream, and to move their bodies’ non-stop. The well-known rhythm, with its perreo and sandungueo, two ordinary denominations for a dance form with open sexual overtones which are performed to this music, has surprised and won over numerous, especially in many communities of our lower class culture, where it definitively derived from and where it became more popular and widely available.

Baby Rasta and Gringo, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Tego Calderon and Wisin & Yandel are among the artists who have been catapulted to stardom with this contagious music. Because, think about it, is there anybody out there who has not heard the song La Gasolina or Noche de entierro or Pobre Diabla? Some of these singers have sold more than half a million copies of their latest albums thanks to their popular lyrics, setting the pace for the rhythm to become a music boom in our Caribbean and Latin American countries, and even in larger international markets.

Reggaeton is a genre that, so far, does not seem to have any large class distinctions. Although its greatest exponents claim to come from poor neighborhoods and although we learn through some of their lyrics that the reality of having benefits for them early in life was pitiable, the young middle class and upper class members also listen to this form of music and they succumb to its powerful pace, as if something had enchanted their whole bodies.

Yet, not everything around reggaeton has been trouble-free. A controversy around this rhythm has been as popular as some of its performers. Reggaeton has been criticized by political and religious figures, as well as some community organizations, for its exotic style of dance and its libidinous language. Words like bellaco (someone who wants to have sex), buloba (a person who dares to do basically everything), gatas (women) guayar (to dance extremely close), nolas (buttocks), and even papi-chulo (some sort of pimp), have been created by the authors of the songs with an unique sensual and sort of outlaw purpose and most of them, for better or for worse, have been incorporated in the vocabulary of many of our youth. This has lead to figures like popular performers Don Omar and Tego Calderon to address in public that this urban form of music does not disregard women, nor it denigrates the authorities or enhances crimes.

Still, the criticism around reggaeton has been sporadic and this trendy form of music seems to have been created to stay as popular as it is right now. The affection, the excitement, the energy and the sensuality, which seem to be its nitty-gritty, are winning the battle against the slight opposition it has faced and it is basically because reggaeton entertains and criticism does not. We will have to wait and see what happens, but until now, the future of reggaeton in our region appears to be as promising as it was in the beginning, whether those true beginnings where in Panama, Jamaica or Puerto Rico.

(Diego Zerpa Chang is a freelance writer for several publications and a contributor to Island Vibes Magazine. For comments, please feel free to contact him at diego@islandvibesmag.com.)