The Reggaeton Controversy Iceberg

 

Tier 1 Intro (To the Culture and its meaning)

What is Reggaeton?  -  Reggaeton is a music genre in the Spanish language directly derived from Dancehall Reggae in Jamaica and Hip Hop.  It originated in Panama and Puerto Rico.

 What is Latin Rap? –  Latin Rap is Hip Hop/Rap music made in the Spanish language.  It can also include Rap made in Spain which is also known as Spanish Hip Hop.  Latin Rap is also often grouped in with the term “Spanish Rap/Hip Hop”.

What is Plena? – The original meaning of “Plena” is folkloric afro carribean music from Puerto Rico.  But in Latin Urban music it is what Panamians call “Reggaeton” which can also include Afrobeat, Dancehall and even Rap created inside of Panama.  Everywhere else it is known as Reggaeton, but Panamanians have always called it Plena when it is made in their own country.  Although they use the term “Reggaeton” for every other territory that makes the same style of music.

Spanish Reggae/Reggae En Español – In the beginning, Reggaeton had no name.  It was just called Spanish Reggae or Reggae En Español.

Spain – Although Spain did not begin doing Reggaeton until the late 00’s, they are pioneers in Latin Rap.  MC Randy and DJ Jonco created one of the first international Latin Rap hits in “Hey Pijo!” which was a hit at the same time Vico C and Ruben DJ started to break through in the late 80’s.  Spanish Hip Hop was a predominant force in many parts of Latin America throughout the 90’s and 2000’s.  Although with Latinos in the United States, their impact was not as notable.

Panama – Panamanians were the first to do Dancehall Reggae in Spanish in the mid 1980’s.  But the Puerto Ricans were the first to fuse it with Hip Hop.  To this day there is an argument where Reggaeton was created and many argue in favor of one of the two countries.  Truth is, Puerto Ricans got the idea to do Dancehall Reggae from Panama thanks to the influx of Panamanian artists becoming popular in Puerto Rico such as Nando Boom, El General and Rude Girl La Atrevida.  Although Jamaican Reggae was and is very popular in Puerto Rico too.  Even the most influential pioneer and first Latin Urban superstar Vico C credits Panamá with creating Reggaeton.  A fair assessment would be that Reggaeton was born in Panamá but then evolved in Puerto Rico during the mid 1990’s.

Puerto Rico – Puerto Ricans were heavily involved in the creation of Hip Hop.  Although there were all sorts of ethnicities involved in the creation of Hip including Jewish and White, it was a mostly African American creation in the late 1970’s.  But among its pioneers were plenty of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans due to their heavy populations in New York where Hip Hop originated from.  Because of this, Puerto Ricans are rightfully accredited with being the creators of Latin Rap with artists such as Vico C and Ruben DJ in the mid 1980’s,  Although the group Mean Machine with Puerto Rican roots are known to have made the first recorded Rap verses in the early 1980’s.  The country would then adopt what we now know as Reggaeton as its own in the mid 1990’s.  Ironically since then, Reggaeton would be more associated with Puerto Rico instead of Rap.  While Latin Rap was more associated with Chicano communities, South American countries like Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia; and of course Spain.  A lot of people to this day mistakenly think Latin Rap was born in Spain.

Movements in Central and South America – There have been several notable figures outside of Panama, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in Reggaeton and Latin Rap since the 1990’s.  It is not a new phenomenon as most people believe.  Among them are Tiro De Gracia (Chile), DJ Sy (Honduras), Kale El Mr. Party (Peru), Cartel de Santa (Mexico), Contro Machete (Mexico), El Sindicato Argentino de Hip Hop (Argentina), Filosofia Misteriosa (Honduras), Real Chicano (Honduras), Impacto MC (Mexico and El Salvador), Ana Tijoux and Makiza (Chile),  Derrumbe (Guatemala), La Etnnia (Colombia), El Sayajin Champeta (Colombia), La Colección (Ecuador), y muchos mas…

Urbano in the Dominican Republic and Cuba – This notes that since before Latin Rap and Reggaeton went mainstream, there were Urbano Latino acts from Cuba and the Dominican Republic that were successful internationally.  Among them were Ilegales, Ledesma, Orishas, Los Aldeanos and US based talents with roots from these countries like Proyecto Uno, Don Dinero, Sandy & Papo, and Fulanito.  Also many artists from Puerto Rico are half cuban and Dominican like Almighty, Eddie Dee, OG Black, DJ Eric Industry, Arcangel, De La Ghetto and more…

West Coast Chicano Rap – This is a movement that came out of California, most notably the city of Los Angeles.  It would eventually spread into other West Coast states like Texas, Arizona and Wisconsin whicho contain heavy Mexican and Central American populations.  Chicanos are Latinos born or raised in the United States of Mexican heritage.  Chicano Rap is Mexican Americans making Rap music in English or Spanish.  It is not solely of Mexican heritage but mostly yes.  This style was originally done either in English or Spanglish but in the 1990’s West Coast Rapper Dyablo became very successful rapping solely in Spanish but collaborating with many known Chicano Rap acts.  Since then others like Akwid, Kinto Sol, and Jae-P went on to have platinum level success in the Latin Rap game with songs that became popular in many parts of the United States, Mexico, Central America and went as far as to be heard in Colombia and Argentina.  In English Rap, Chicano Hip Hop pioneers include Kid Frost, Cypress Hill (Sen Dog is Cuban), Mellow Man Ace (who is Cuban), A Lighter Shade of Brown, Proper Dos, Lil Rob, Mr. Capone-E and more….  In Spanish some notable acts include Akwid, Dyablo, Crooked Stilo (who originate from El Salvador but are well received in the Chicano Rap community), Jae-P, David Rolas, Flakiss, Kinto Sol, Yosie Lokote (RIP) among others…

Latin American Rappers from the USA – This includes Rappers who Rap in English and Spanish.  In English we have Fat Joe, Big Pun, Kid Frost, Cypress Hill, Cuban Link, Lil Rob, NORE, Cardi B, Immortal Technique, Tony Touch and more…  Many of them have collaborated with Latin Urban acts.  Cypress Hill collaborated with Tego.  Lil Rob collaborated with Voltio.  Tony Touch collaborated with many including Vico C, Tego Calderon and Eddie Dee.  Fat Joe collaborated with Mexicano.  Big Pun with Yaviah.  Immortal Technique recorded with Temperamento.  Cardi had a worldwide #1 hit with Bad Bunny and J Balvin in “I Like It Like That” which samples the classic Pete Rodriguez hit of the same name.  And there are even several more excamples.

There are also Spanish Rappers from the USA who Rap in Spanish.  They do Reggaeton as well.  These include Fuego, Tres Coronas, LDA, Don Dinero, Pitbull, Full Nelson, Temperamento, Veneno, Nina Sky, and more…

Latin Pop – This is “Pop” which most people should know what that is, but done in Spanish.  Notable acts who specialize in this style of music include Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Paulina Rubio, Jesse & Joy, Luis Fonsi, Sin Bandera, Juanes, Alejandro Sanz, Luis Miguel, RBD, Camila, Morat among others.

Pop Urbano – Is the style of Reggaeton, mostly, or some type of Hip Hop/R&B hybrid that is done in the style of traditional Latin Pop.  Artists most exempliary of this style of music include Maluma, Piso 21, Mau & Ricky, Karol G, CNCO, Becky G, Natti Natasha, Emilia, Sebastian Yatra among others…  Many notable Latin Pop artists now frequently do this style of music and collaborate with many Pop Urbano artists including Enrique Iglesias, Shakira, Juanes, Luis Fonsi among others…  Also many “authentic” Latin Urban artists dabble in Pop Urbano while making real authentic Reggaeton and Rap at the same time.  These include Ozuna, Anuel AA, Farruko, Rauw Alejandro, Bad Bunny, Farina, Tokischa, Rosalia, Wisin & Yandel, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar and many more…  Pop Urbano was the most popular style of Latin Music from 2014-2020.

What is Dembow? -  Different than its Jamaican origins, “Dembow” simply used to mean the beat backdrop to most Reggaeton or like popular Reggaeton pioneer ‘El Chombo’ has likened it, “El Tumpa Tumpa”.  In recent years the definition has changed thanks to the subgenre of the same name that originates from the Dominican Republic.  Though in its initial form, Dominican Dembow was an updated version of the underground Reggaeton style from 1994… it has now adopted Tropical afro carribean influencas mixed with Electronic Dance Music and a faster more upbeat tempo than most traditional Reggaeton.  Artists like El Alfa and Kiko El Crazy are exempliary of this style of music.  And now there are “Dembow” artists coming out of Chile, Colombia and even Spain.  ‘Dembow’ for the modern generation means a style of Reggaeton that is more up tempo with new modern sounds.

Perreo -  Perreo is dancing Reggaeton in a sexually suggestive fashion often with a partner waist to waist.  It can also mean S.E.X.  It is also a subgenre created in the year 2000 by DJ Joe and DJ Blass with their “Reggaeton Sex” and “Fatal Fantassy” crew popularizing the style.  It is Reggaeton with explicit lyrics about sex, a heavy “Tumpa Tumpa” beat backdrop with hard drums and much bass with little to no melody.  “Yo Perreo Sola” by Bad Bunny or “Guata Gata” by Plan B are prime examples of this style of Reggaeton.  Notable artists of the Perreo subgenre include Arca, Chencho Corleone and Maldy (otherwise known as ‘Plan B’), N-Fasis, Guelo Star, Jowell & Randy, Ñengo Flow, Bad Bunny among many others…  Most Reggaeton artists do Perreo style songs, some more than others.  Its most dominant years were from 2001-2002 when the DJ Blass Sandunguero and DJ Joe Fatal Fantassy sounds dominated the Latin Urban market.  It made a comeback in the year 2020 thanks to Bad Bunny’s “Yo Perreo Sola” and “Safaera” becoming HUGE mainstream hits.  Since then, almost every notable Latin Urban act does “Perreo”, even Pop Star Karol G who is the most popular artist in all of Latin Music right now.

Tiraera – Is the equivalent of a Rap battle but in Spanish.  Some countries also say “Tiradera”.

Tier 2 The Underground (Controversies from Before Reggaeton and Latin Rap was mainstream)

Tiraera rivals were actually rivals in the streets – This one is actually mostly untrue.  On the contrary some Reggaeton artists who battled were friends before and after.  But competition was heavy in the 90’s and the territory was much more limited.  Most Rappers back then had at least one battle unlike today when most Latin Urban acts don’t even know how to battle Rap (Sebastian Yatra, Maluma, Piso 21 etc…).  What did happen is that sometimes when rival rappers saw each other in the streets, their real life crews would get into it because they were so passionate about the music.  Very little is known to the extent of these street beefs except from those who lived it.  It has been said that when Rappers’ rival crews saw each other in clubs or on the streets, fights and even shootouts would ensue from rivals from each individual crew.  The Rappers themselves were sometimes rumored to be involved.  But for the most part, tiraera rivals rarely had real life confrontations that exploded in violence except for a few occasions like the Buddha’s Family vs Pina Records battle where Tempo and Master Joe had a real life altercation inside the studios of Mix 107.  There were a couple more examples like this, but for the most part tiraera rivals rarely actually got into it in real life.  Most times, they were actually friends, at least once the lyrical beef was over.

DJ Negro and DJ Eric convinced their singers the battle was real which led to real life violence – This one is a half truth.  Most of the singers did not know DJ Negro and DJ Eric actually had a thriving friendship.  They weren’t business partners, but often remained in contact while their crews of singers “The Noise” and “La Industria” went at each other.  The animosity between “La Industria” and “The Noise” was real that sometimes when they saw each other, fights did break out.  But most violence revolving around Reggaeton back then, like today had more to do with those who lived a street life and little to do with the music if anything at all.

Baby Rasta Shooting – Little is known about this, but Baby Rasta was shot in the 90’s.  Details are scarce.

Murder of Ceniza from Sambo & Ceniza – Ceniza who was most famous for his battle against Hector & Tito, was sadly murdered in Philadelphia in the late 1990’s.

Drug Dealers financed Reggaeton in its beginnings – This was true.  It wasn’t all of Reggaeton not even most of it like the mainstream media falsely portrays.  In fact 90% of Reggaeton producers back then were legitimate music people, some who came from the world of Salsa, Bachata & Merengue.  But yes, some events and even albums were financed with drug money.  Most famous of these was Coco Blin Blin who supposedly became a millionaire from the streets and attempted to transition into Reggaeton.

Baby Banton (RIP) ghostwrote for both Tito and Rubio when they were battling one another -  This one is at least half factual but probably entirely true.  Baby Banton was part of the legendary DJ Stefano crew which included Masters of Funk (Rey, Voltio, and Hector El Father), Latin Crew, Ganja Kids, Beba and Panny.  Tito El Bambino and Hector were introduced to one another by DJ Stefano which led to the legendary duo being formed.  They even recorded one of their first songs together for DJ Stefano 4.  Baby Banton was an affiliate of Rubio & Joel when they were down with ‘El Cartel’ and ‘Guatauba’.  He collaborated and co-wrote several songs with the legendary rivals of Hector & Tito.  His style was very similar to Tito and Rubio.  It appears he was the originator of that style and actually considered the most talented of the 3 at the time.  Just listen to his classic “Cierra La Boca” from DJ Eric 4 and you will know what this entry means.

Mexicano 777 was a fugitive – This was also true.  In the mid 1990’s Mexicano stuck up a restaurant because one of the owners disrespected him badly in the streets.  It is unknown what the offender to Mexicano did.  Everyone in the barrio knew Mexicano was the culprit but the people of the restaurant decided not to press charges.  They actually had a rapport with Mexicano prior to the robbery and in an interview he said they were good people, but that one guy who started beef with him was a “jerk”.  When he became famous, police friends of Mexicano’s rival began persecuting him and doctored paperwork for the old robbery.  Mexicano had to escape through back entrances and often perform unannonced so he could evade authorities.  He was successful doing this all the way up to 2001 when he was arrested in the International Airport at Miami, FL for missing court hearings related to the old robbery.

Vico C’s numerous arrests – Vico was continually in and out of jail in the 90’s and even early 2000’s for drug charges.  People used to say you could see Vico in the projects copping drugs when he was at his worst.  That scene in his movie where people in the projects sang to him his own song “Explosion” to make fun of him is actually true.

Vico C vs Ruben DJ unseen battles –  In the early days Ruben DJ was the first rapper to challenge Vico C.  Apparently they even battled face to face but this may have been in a private setting.  All recordings or known audio regarding this is lost for the moment.

Tego unseen in the 90’s – Tego was always around and known in the underground prior to “making it” when Eddie Dee signed him in 2000.  His most known contribution was on the album ‘The Cruce Underground vol. 2’ made by the DJ Raymond crew.  He used to go by Tego Tec.  Even though he was known as a very talented rapper by many and even almost made the final cut for DJ Adam ‘Mad Jam’, he struggled for a long time and did many odd jobs including working as a mechanic and bartender.

Tempo was a real life criminal – Tempo actually used to be a real life drug dealer.  This is well documented.  But he left the drug dealing life by 1997 to focus on music when his group ‘S.P.I.C’ with Latin Crew and Getto managed to make a lot of noise in the underground.  Through this venture he was discovered by Mexicano 777 and then went on to make history with Playero and DJ Goldy producing his first album.  Tempo was actually affiliated with Mexicano’s rivals ‘El Escuadron Del Panico’ but abandoned them because he felt frustrated DJ Joe was not doing enough with him, even leaving Tempo off of the famous DJ Joe 5.  Time proved Tempo to be correct.

Dyablo Chicano Rapper – Dyablo is a Chicano Rappper based in the West Coast of the United States.  He is originally from Texas and/or Arizona if I am not mistaken but became really big in California. He was the first Chicano Rapper to make it big rhyming in Spanish.  He went on to sell 2 million records independently.  He is known as a controversial figure for his very violent lyrics and making some believe he was a satan worshipper because of his name.  It appears that he got his name from the comic book character in actuality.  Another reason for controversy is that his music was adopted by LA Gangs back in the 90’s and early 2000s.

Wu Tang Clan Puerto Rico Concert – Wu Tang never showed up for this concert and many accused the promoters of ‘estafa’.  Mexicano and Cavalucci were announced as the opening acts.  This was supposed to be a crowning achievement for Puerto Rican Hip Hop being associated with a legendary group from the United States.  Instead, a riot almost ensued were it not for Mexicano giving the performance of a lifetime and calming the audience telling them their money would be returned.  It is unknown for the moment if people ever got their money back.  Wu Tang would eventually perform in Puerto Rico in the early 2000’s and it appears the Tropical Storm crew and No Mel Syndicate opened the show.

Cypress Hill & Tempo Photo Shoot – Tempo and Cypress Hill actually did a photoshoot together in the year 2000 after doing a show in Puerto Rico for the magazine ‘In The House Magazine’.  Richie Villanueva, the founder of In The House Magazine appears to have the images archived on his social media profiles.

Don Pedro Merced (BM Records) – Don Pedro Merced was the owner of Bayamon (BM) Records.  He was one of the most important figures in the history of Reggaeton as he was the first to give independent artists from Puerto Rico 50-50 handshake deals for their productions.  BM Records put out many classics in the Reggaeton and Latin Rap genre including the famous Playero series, DJ Adam 1 and 2, the U Records series, The Noise 2, and albums from DJ Stefano, DJ Nelson, DJ Crane, DJ Raymond and DJ Chiclin among others…

Panama vs Puerto Rico – Since the 1990’s fans and artists from Panama and Puerto Rico have had disputes and rivalries.  Several times key figures in both countries have tried to bring both nations together through Reggaeton.  DJ Andy from Panama had many of his singers perform on The Noise 7 which was the most successful entry in the series.  Many Puerto Rican artists like Hector & Tito, Baby Rasta & Gringo among others performed on El Chombo’s legendary ‘Cuentos De La Cripta’ series.  Back in the day, The Noise and La Cripta did several shows together in Central and South America.  Regardless, there has been a lot of tension between the Urbano Latino communities in both countries which continues to this day.

Closet Homosexuality and Lesbianism in popular Reggaeton Artists – This refers to rumors of there being notable Reggaeton singers in the closet since the 1990’s.  Gringo all but confirmed this in a podcast interview when he expressed that Baby Rasta y Gringo were the first famous Reggaeton act to perform in LGBT clubs in the 1990’s.  He then alluded to there being famous singers who are from that background but did not elaborate.  There are openly LGBT acts in the history of Reggaeton including Arca, Villano Antillano, Young Miko, Kevin Fret and LGBT pioneer Pato G.A.Y from the Reggaeton S.E.X crew.

Puerto Rican Governement bans explicit lyrics from 1995-2000 – This is the well known event when the Puerto Rican government made it illegal to sell explicit lyric underground music in Puerto Rico.  People were arrested and many cassettes and CD’s were confiscated making albums prior to 1995 rare and scarce.  Some have completely disappeared such as DJ Stefano 1 and Playero 35 despite being readily available at the time.  For many years people followed this rule except for Hector & Tito’s ‘Violencia Musical’ in 1998 and Mexicano 777’s ‘Entre El Bien y El Mal’.  Mexicano got away with it because his record company Boricua Guerrero was based in New York.  Meanwhile, Hector y Tito’s album has no explicit lyrics except for one or 2 cuss words.  Their album went #2 in Puerto Rico and sold 90 thousand units in its first month.  It was not until ‘Xtassy Reggae’ in 1999 that people began that artists began to forego the Explicit Lyric ban and the law was abolished in 2001.

In The House Magazine written by Reggaeton/Latin Rap Artists and Producers -  The influential ‘In The House Magazine’ actually had several notable Urbano Latino figures write for it, sometimes using aliases.  Among these were Tego Calderon, Yaviah, Glory, Coo-Kee, Omar Garcia and most notably, Nico Canada’s features on how to produce music.

Scammers posing as Old School Reggaeton artists on social media – Back in the day Reggaeton music videos were rarely seen outside of Puerto Rico and even then many artists never appeared in one.  Because so many people never knew what certain artists looked like from the early days of Reggaeton, this has led to scammers posing as them online.  It appears their goal is to get money from unsuspecting fans.  I myself saw someone try to pass themselves off as DJ Stefano on Facebook when he died in the early 2000’s.  There was also a man passing himself off as Baby Banton a few years ago fooling many, but Banton appears to have died when he moved to the United States in the early 2000’s.  If you don’t see enough credible evidence, beware of these people online claiming to be underground legends from the 1990’s, they may be scammers or even hackers.

Tier 3 The Mas Flow Era  (Reggaeton and Latin Rap go mainstream)

Reggaeton Execs accused of drug dealing – This is nowhere near as common as the mainstream media likes to sensationalize, but yes it has happened before but only for 1 or 2 documented cases.  The most famous of these was Coco Blin Blin.  Check out Tier 6 for more information (Coming Soon!).

Raphy Pina and Pina Records accused of Robbing artists – These are the long lasting accusations against Raphy Pina not paying his artists what they are owed.  I actually know the truth behind this and will explain.  I am no insider myself on these matters, I have just seen and read plenty of interviews from the artists’ themselves or actual insiders from the Pina Records’ camp including Raphy’s brother Victor.  First, a couple of known Pina Records artists have been accused of having substance abuse issues, though this has never been confirmed as there were no documented arrests regarding the matter, but the internet says this is true.  I will not say who these artists are out of respect for them.  This appears to hurt the credibility of some who have accused Pina of robbing them which when you look at the evidence, appears to be false except maybe in Don Chezina’s case.  Just note this, Arcangel and Nicky Jam never accused Pina of robbing them.  That should tell you something.  I will number the facts to make this easier on the reader.

1)         Reggaeton contracts used to be different before 2004.  Even though Pina Records has been publishing since the 1990’s, many artists had no publishing thus missed out on a lot of royalties.  When Reggaeton blew up worldwide in 2004, many artists received offers from everywhere including the Pina Records roster and many of them left.  Because of this, many of them never received royalties when Pina merged their publishing with Universal Latino.  Pina Records are currently with Sony Latin today.

2)        Artists used to only get paid per cd sold and for every concert they did.  Publishing and mechanical royalties were never part of the contracts back then, much less additional media like DVD’s, and evolving media like the transition to digital in the mid 2000’s.  Tego for example made $2.75 for every copy of ‘El Abayarde’ that was sold, this was revealed in his now settled lawsuit with White Lion.  Lito had an accountant look through the books of Pina in the mid 2000’s and found out he and Polaco were both owed over $100,000 dollars each through DVD sales and unpaid royalties.  Pina paid them what they were owed and they remained in the company for a couple more years.

3)        Pina did not give joint venture contracts to everyone.  There were guys asking for 50%, but that wasn’t in their contract.  Some like Arcangel, Lito y Polaco and Daddy Yankee did get 50-50 joint ventures with Pina Records but others appear to have never read their contracts and asked for money they were never owed.

4)        The Yaviah situation will receive its own entry.  So keep reading.

5)        The Don Chezina situation is complicated.  I am piecing this from several articles and interviews back in the day that I memorized for some reason.  Don Chezina walked away from several big money offers to resign with Pina Records in 2003.  Even though he was to receive more money with others (Chezina claims he received offers in the seven figures), he chose to resign with Pina because he had more control over his music and was allowed to book his own shows.  I remember in a radio interview with Victor after the fight incident happened and he addressed it…  It seems that Chezina and Pina initially had a $300,000 offer on the table for a new album from Universal Latino.  But they either took too long to accept it or Universal took it off the table.  So instead, they got $100,000 to rerelease the Chezina “Exitos” album worldwide featuring “Tra Tra”, “Chezidon” and some new songs.  To make up for it, Raphy let Chezina do his album with Montana ‘Don Fichureo’ independent of Pina Records.  As Pina supposedly did not have enough money to market the production and was focused on building Nicky Jam and RKM & Ken-Y.  “Don Fichureo” did not do as well as expected.  So Chezina went to Pina and asked for another advance, but Raphy said no.  Raphy then ghosted Chezina for awhile and the next time they saw each other was inside a club in Puerto Rico.  This was around 2005.  A well documented fight between Raphy Pina and Chezina broke out after an argument which included bottles broken and other people involved.  To this day, they appear to have not made up, I know they didn’t as recently as 2015. But Raphy told Victor to give Chezina back his masters and he did.  Victor ran Pina Records while Raphy was in prison recently.

6)        For the most part, the Pina accusations appear to be mostly fabricated.  Some people maybe just did not have competent enough management to renegotiate and foolishly denounced Pina on social media instead of settling issues in person.  Apparently this was due to their substance abuse issues.  Nicky never denounced Pina and his former personal issues are well known.  When Arcangel left Pina Records in 2020, he said they always paid him what he was owed and that Raphy is one of the smartest men in all of the music business.  His words.

Hector El Father’s vinculation with drug trafficking – This is not well documented and mostly speculation.  I will not read into some reports online for they appear to be mostly misinformed.  Apparently Hector told the true story in his autobiographical film “Conocerás La Verdad” which I have yet to see.  All that is known is that his childhood friend Pito did grow up to become a successful drug dealer but was then murdered while Hector achieved success as a solo artist.  Hector & Tito did also record music and perform events presented by Coco Blin Blin (wait for Tier 6) but so did many others as he was a very successful executive producer and event promoter who even had a joint venture deal with Universal Latino worth over a million dollars.

South American Rappers rejecting Reggaeton – Many hardcore rappers from South American detest Reggaeton and many of their most prominent figures specifically Daddy Yankee.  Although the majority of Rappers from South America who hate Reggaeton are mostly unknown, they often make disparaging remarks towards the culture and their artists similar to when Residente attacks Reggaeton, which he does on occasion.  They claim Reggaeton singers promote misogyny and ignorance.  When you read the lyrics of many famous Reggaeton songs, they make a credible case.

Spanish Rappers accused of racism against Puerto Rican and Dominican Rappers – There have been very subtle references and insults towards Puerto Rican and Dominican rappers accusing them of being inferior in lyrical abilities and intellect, specifically from Spanish Rappers in Spain.  Though some have labeled this as racism, it more than likely a Reggaeton vs Rap thing which is kind of disappearing now thanks to Reggaeton becoming more popular than Rap in Spain in recent years.  Though there are songs to back up these claims most are obscure except for Nach’s famous diss to Wisin & Yandel and I don’t remember any others right now.  Porta and his “Reggaetonto” is also another famous example but he is actually considered a poor lyricist even by hardcore Spanish Rap fans.

Discrimination of Reggaeton that wasn’t Puerto Rican, Dominican, nor Panamanian – Many people have the tendency to discriminate against Reggaeton that isn’t from these established places.  Some Puerto Rican people even discriminate against DR and Panama too.  This is all disappointing but well known within the Reggaeton community.

Tempo is sentenced to 24 years in Prison but Budda goes free – For the uninitiated, Tempo had no money to fund his label as he left the drug game to pursue his Rap career.  Budda on the other hand apparently had other successful ventures outside Reggaeton including Bodegas, Clothing Stores and Real Estate.  He and Tempo became friends and Budda chose Tempo to be the first artist of his label ‘Budda Productions’.  When the feds captured people that may or may have not been associated with Tempo and Budda, Tempo was found guilty meanwhile Budda went free.  No “rat” accusations were ever made against Budda.  Both he and Tempo were supposedly clean but the story goes is that the Feds wanted to make an example of Tempo for that line where he dissed them in “Y en la corte haré un show de stripper/cuando el juez y el fiscal me bajen el zipper…” Because in that song he attacked real life Puerto Rican fiscal authority Toledo by name, saying “Como me gustaria verme cara a cara con Toledo”.  Tempo was sentenced to 24 years but thanks to multiple appeals was able to only do 11 in federal prison and then serve the rest of his sentence under conditional probation outside of jail.

Reggaeton and misogyny – There is a long line of accusations against Reggaeton being misogynist.  This may change with the heavily LGBT influenced ‘Neo Perreo’ subgenre which flips the script and uses female oversexuality as a form of empowerment from the women themselves expressing their sexuality instead of leaving it in the hands of males.

RKM & Ken-Y first Pop Urbano artists – The term Pop Urbano was first coined by Walter Kolm around 2007 to describe the mainstream success of RKM & Ken-Y.  Kolm was president of Universal Latino at the time.

Several physical altercations between known Reggaeton personalities – It is known that behind the scenes several prominent Reggaeton figures had physical altercations with one another to resolve their differences.  Some famous ones include fights between Yomo and Cosculluela, Elias De Leon and Hector El Father, Mexicano and Eddie Dee, Tempo and Master Joe, Daddy Yankee with Falo, Cavalucci and Lito and the previously mentioned Raphy Pina vs Don Chezina fight inside a Puerto Rican nightclub.  There was also the Arcangel and Polaco “microphone” incident which was caught on camera but some believe was staged.

Tiraeras between mainstream artists remain underground – This is the fact that once Reggaeton became mainstream, many tiraeras between famous Reggaeton artists had mostly unofficial releases through underground blogs and mixtapes.  This no longer appears to be case as most Reggaeton/Latin Rap battles from the past 5 years have had their songs released on Audio Streaming services such as ‘Spotify’ and ‘Apple Music’.  Among these battles were the Daddy Yankee vs Don Omar beef, the Franco El Gorila vs Arcangel beef, the Cosculluela vs Ñengo Flow beef, the Wisin vs Don Omar beef, The Voltio and Lito & Polaco last disses that ended the battle, the Lean Back diss songs and many more…  At least half these songs remain unreleased through official platforms and can only be found if users uploaded to YOUTUBE.  These underground battles happened from the years of 2004-2018 more or less.

Tres Coronas kick out Reychesta 'Secret Weapon' for doing too much Reggaeton – Tres Coronas allowed Reychesta ‘Secret Weapon’ to sign a separate solo deal with Boy Wonder’s Chosen Few Ent. (Fuego, LDA, Jon-Z, Chencho Corleone etc…).  They then regretted it when Reychesta started appearing on too many Reggaeton songs.  This created a backlash among Tres Coronas’ fanbase who wanted only pure Hip Hop and the remaining members Rocca and PNO decided to continue without Reychesta.  Reychesta’s much anticipated solo album would never be due to legal troubles he endured during his record deal.  He is now an independent act, so is Tres Coronas.  They all continue to be active inside the music scene.

Latin Rap vs Reggaeton – This is the sometimes prevalent conflict between Latin Rap and Reggaeton artists though throughout history many artists have done music in both genres respectively.  It appears that Bad Bunny has changed these stigmas as he is equally respected by hardcore Rap and Reggaeton crowds.  Though it is lessening greatly, the Latin Rap vs Reggaeton issue continues to be a prevalent one within the culture mainly that Latin Rap music doesn’t receive nearly as much exposure as Reggaeton music; this is a fact.

Yaviah’s lawsuit with Pina Records -  Yaviah illegally signed a contract with Hector El Father’s ‘Gold Star Records’ for 1 million dollars while he was still signed under Pina.  Yaviah thought he got his release verbally but Pina stated that he never gave him any paperwork.  Both Pina and Yaviah sued one another.  The issue was resolved in 2008 when Pina Records traded Yaviah to Wisin & Yandel’s “WY Records” in exchange for receiving Tony Dize.

The Tony Dize-Yaviah Trade – This is the only known time something like this has happened in Latin Urban music history.  Tony Dize was dissatisfied with his position at ‘WY Records’ and felt they could have done more with him.  Raphy Pina through his friendship with Dize’s co-writer and manager ‘El Lobo’ managed to negotiate with Wisin & Yandel to buy Tony Dize’s contract in exchange for them receiving Yaviah.  Though Pina finally gave Yaviah the release from his contract, he actually never signed with WY Records.  He just signed with their management to handle his live events but never actually signed with the label and remains independent to this day.  The “trade” became official in 2008.  Yaviah never released an official album.  J Balvin has 10 full length productions, Maluma has 8, even the awful Mike Bahía has 5 albums and 1 EP; But the once in a lifetime talent Yaviah has 0 solo albums.  Just so you see that life isn’t fair and the game is rigged.  Yaviah put out one unofficial mixtape with unreleased songs and 1 compilation album in 2018 that has since been taken down from streaming services as he didn’t own the rights to all those songs, only some of them.

Luny Tunes bootlegs – Luny Tunes are undeniably the most successful music producers in the history of Reggaeton and possibly all of Latin Music. They founded the Mas Flow Inc imprint under Universal Latino and their signature sound is tantamount to this era of Urbano Latino music. They have produced over 100 international hits since first forming in 2002 including "Gasolina", "Rakata", "Mayor Que Yo", "Yo Voy", "El Baño", "Limbo" and many many more... They discovered and signed other influential music producers to their label such as Tainy, Nely 'El Arma Secreta' and Nesty La Mente Maestra. Along with former collaborators, Noriega and Eliel, they are credited with changing the Reggaeton sound and making it more palpable to mainstream audiences by fusing the genre with more recognized sonic arrangements you would find in the mainstream Hip Hop/R&B songs of the time and even Pop Latino. Before then, Reggaeton was often seen as either behind the times, sonically or too "weird" for mainstream audiences. Though DJ Blass laid the foundation a couple years earlier, Luny Tunes made Reggaeton into the global force it is today by modernizing its sound at the time and bringing more sophisticated musical arrangements/melody to the genre.

The "bootleg" controversy was when bootleggers stole songs from DJ Nelson's studio (he discovered Luny Tunes and gave them their big break) that had yet to be released or completed. Among these was an unfinished version of Don Omar's "The Last Don" and several songs from Tego Calderon, Wisin & Yandel and many others... Daddy Yankee refused to work with the duo because of this and instead went back to DJ Blass to complete 2003's 'Los Home-Runes de Yankee' which hurt them as it was a goal of Luny Tunes to work with Daddy Yankee since they first heard him on the influential Playero productions of the 90's. In the end, the leaks actually made those songs more popular and created an even greater anticipation for those productions as everyone was very impressed with Luny Tunes' unreleased works.

Tier 4 The Back To The Underground and Pop Urbano Eras (2008-2013/2014-2019)

Record labels drop numerous well known artists and also shelve numerous finished projects from notable artists – This was when the Major Record Companies put an industry wide hit on Reggaeton.  Unless you were bringing in Wisin & Yandel level money or signed the new 360 deals they offered at the time, they were going to drop (let go of) you.  The music industry suffered a sharp decline in 2008 and record executives put some of the blame on Reggaeton being too expensive.  They cut contracts with well known artists like Alberto Stylee, John Eric, Danny Fornaris and Fusssion Musik, Calvo El Filarican, MC Ceja, DJ Nelson, Nely El Arma Secreta, Jadiel, Baby Rasta (as a solo artist), Magic Juan, Ñejo y Dalmata, J Alvarez, Andy Boy and more…  In the meantime they shelved completed albums from Randy Nota Loca, Nely & Tainy, John Eric, Jadiel, Ñejo y Dalmata, Ñengo Flow, Fusssion Musik, Zion’s Flow Factory (though this was in part because Arcangel departed from Baby Records), Lennox’s ‘Los Mero Meros’, Historias de Platino from Alberto Stylee, Los Veteranos Collection from DJ Nelson & Perreke, and even more when you include works that were yet to be completed.  This was to teach Reggaeton artists to stop demanding so much and learn who was running the show.  Years later, Reggaeton’s current success makes the record execs look wrong for having done this.

The Death of Executive Producer Eme Music – Eme Music was a successful record exec most known for being the brains behind the popular various artist album “Los Duros” from 2012.  He was eventually arrested for drug charges and passed away in prison while awaiting trial.  RIP.

Panama largely ignored during this period on a worldwide scale – Panamanians openly expressed online that their music did not receive as much exposure as other countries despite being the creators of the Reggaeton genre.  Besides Sech, no Panamanian artist achieved large international success from the years of 2010-2020.  Although Flex did have HUGE success in 2008 and 2009.  And El Roockie had relatively notable success around the same time touring heavily in South America.  Beside this though, Panama had little impact other than

Sech's rise to fame and El Chombo’s “Dame Tu Cosita” becoming a hit

for the 3^rd time on an international scale.

The Rise of Colombia, Pop Urbano and ‘Romantic Style’ from Panama– When Reggaeton fell in popularity globally on the mainstream level from 2008-2013, this opened up a space that was filled with Colombian Reggaeton.  This new Colombia sound would either have more Dancehall Reggae influences with more swing in their drum patterns or be Pop songs with a Reggaeton beat backdrop which would eventually take over the world in 2014.  But the Colombians really innovated that Pop Urbano sound taking inspiration from RKM & Ken-Y and Flex’s Romantic Style sound, but adding more Pop influences and sounding more like Sin Bandera rather than Don Omar.  Artists like Karol G, Pipe Calderon, J Balvin, Maluma, Reykon, Golpe a Golpe, Chino y Nacho in Venezuela, and others were the innovators of this new wave of ‘Pop Urbano’ before Enrique Iglesias took it to the next level with “Bailando” and “El Perdon”.  In Puerto Rico and Panama they still preferred more underground Reggaeton songs during this period that was more in touch with the genre’s roots although Puerto Rico did invent the Romantiqueo (Don Omar’s “Vuelve” as an example”) and the Panamanians came up with the ‘Romantic Style’ which was more upbeat with a lot more Jamaican Dancehall Reggae interwined.  ‘Romantic Style’ fell out of favor with the Reggaeton community by 2012 and Romantiqueo has not been popular since the late 2000’s although Feid and Maisak recently scored a hit with this style of Reggaeton in “Se Me Olvida”  which some also consider to be a ‘Romantic Style’.  It’s more like a blend of both sounds.  The Puerto Rican’s Romantiqueo had more Pop Ballad sounds a la Cristian Castro/Enrique Iglesias with slow tempo Reggaeton backdrops.  Meanwhile the Panamanians did the same but with more Uptempo and Dancehall influenced Reggaeton sounds.  That is the subtle difference between the two.  In the future, people will probably not see a difference if and when these styles of Reggaeton become popular again.  Both styles of Reggaeton have lyrics dedicated more to love and romance rather than ‘Perreo’.  Notable artists who specialize in the ‘Romantic Style’ of Reggaeton include Makano, Flex, El Roockie, Big Dario, Dorey, Katherine, Eddy Lover, Aspirante, Oneill, Miguel Angel among others…  Meanwhile artists like Don Omar, Nicky Jam, RKM & Ken-Y, Glory, Magnate y Valentino, Angel & Khriz, even Daddy Yankee in “Cuentale” all scored big hits with the “Romantiqueo” style of Reggaeton.

J Balvin’s Meteoric Rise seemed to come out of nowhere but it didn’t -  When J Balvin burst onto the international scene in late 2013 thanks to his collaboration with Farruko “6AM”, many Reggaeton audiences worldwide thought his rise to be overnight.  Actually, J Balvin had been active in the Colombian Reggaeton scene since approximately 2004 and was big in his native nation since around 2007.  Not just that, he had achieved big success in neighboring countries like Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile and Peru prior to releasing his international breakthrough album “La Familia” in 2014.

Sony Latin rejects Tego for being “too smart” – Sony offered Tego unfavorable options for his “El Que Sabe Sabe” album thus he chose not to renew their joint venture for his ‘Jiggiri Records’ imprint.  Tego instead went to ‘Siente’ who were under the multinational label ‘Universal Latino’.  In an interview promoting ‘El Que Sabe Sabe’, Tego detailed how when he played his product to execs at Sony, they all thought it was too smart and said he would have no marketing nor promotion behind the album if released with Sony unless he dumbed himself down more.  Tego refused to do so and went with 'Siente' instead.

Eddie Dee retires? And ‘El Diario De Eddie Avila’. – These are the misreported rumors that Eddie Dee quietly retired during this time period which is why many believe ‘El Diario De Eddie Avila’ will never come out.  DJ Adam recently disproved these rumors in an interview claiming Eddie Dee has over 50 recorded songs the world has never heard and that he is a perfectionist who even erases a lot of material which is why he has yet to comeback.  In 2010 when the preview mixtape “180 Grados” was announced to be releasing soon before ‘El Diario…’ Eddie put out a diss track to Daddy Yankee titled “Eso No Va Conmigo” as the first single of the mixtape with Tego Calderon making a cameo in the music video.  This was due to Daddy Yankee owing Eddie Dee over $100,000 in unpaid royalties for co-writing “Rompe” and “Gasolina”.  In an interview with Molusco, Yankee clarified this to be true but that it wasn’t his fault and there was an accounting error at the label when he made a new deal.  Yankee stated he paid Eddie what he was owed, but it is unknown if they have made up as friends.  Eddie Dee continues to get paid royalties for co-writing “Gasolina” and “Rompe” to this day. 180 Grados has yet to come out as well.

Residente Calle 13 goes to war with Reggaeton artists, specifically Malianteo ones – Residente has a history of going at Reggaeton artists.  He calls them sell-outs, bad examples for society and poorly educated in his diss tracks to the Reggaeton genre.  This has received mixed reactions with some agreeing with Residente’s sentiments and others opposed.  Among these songs are most notable “Que Lloren” and “Adentro” where in the latter he insults known Malianteo artists such as Kendo Kaponi and Cosculluela accusing them of proliferating and glorifying gang violence in Puerto Rico.  Malianteo is the Reggaeton version of Gangsta Rap.  Artists like Wisin & Yandel and Ivy Queen have publicly expressed outrage at Residente’s remarks, but very few have responded on song.  This is possibly due to Residente’s lyrical prowess as an MC as many pundits, journalists and fans consider Residente to be the most gifted Rapper in the Spanish Language.  Only NK Profeta, Tempo and Cosculluela have directly responded to Residente’s diss songs, but most consider Residente Calle 13 to be the victor of those lyrical battles.  (I personally think Tempo tied him, but his response was too street and not everyone understood.  Where Tempo messed up was the parts where he tried to match Residente on book smarts, and that wasn’t a good look for him.  Residente is also very street smart too.  It was even as Tempo clearly won the first round.  Some Reggaeton pundits also believe Cosculluela won the first round in which I personally wasn’t very impressed by either, but I thought the first round there to be a tie.  But Residente brutalized Cosculluela in “Bajo y Bateria”, to me that was a clear “Babality” as Residente took Cosculluela to school.  I also believe Tempo clearly defeated D. Ozi, Anuel and Luar La L.)

Kendo Kaponi ghostwrote 300 recorded songs – This is the statement Kendo made about having ghostwritten 300 songs.  This is probably true.  You can hear Kendo’s style everywhere even with inferior artists like ‘Cali y El Dandee’ where he clearly ghostwrote ‘El Dandee’s’ Rap verses on some of their singles.  That one is speculation by me, but just compare the few songs where ‘El Dandee’ sounds good, he never Rapped that well again.  Kendo has written or co-written hits for Don Omar, Hector El Father, Baby Rasta y Gringo, Farruko, Wisin & Yandel, Cosculluela and others… This is an established fact.  Kendo has also written for obscure underground acts as well.

The rise of ghostwriting.  Is it the rise of Colombia’s fault?  Maybe. – First off, true ghostwriting is when someone wrote the song, but another receives the songwriting credit or the artist uses an alias to hide who truly wrote the song.  Prince used aliases to ghostwrite for others.  But often what we call ghostwriting in Reggaeton isn’t really ghostwriting.  You can see Feid’s name credited in many of the songs he wrote for J Balvin.  Same with Eddie Dee like when he wrote “Mi Chica Rebelde” for Tito El Bambino or co-wrote “Lo Caro y Lo Bueno” for Chencho Corleone.  But there are other examples like when Polaco, Kendo y Lele and even Jomar El Caballo Negro wrote verses and choruses for Hector El Father, yet Hector received all the credit for which he compensated them for, but they themselves would go uncredited in their contributions. 

Colombian Reggaeton artists are notorious for using ghostwriters.  But Puerto Rican artists like Farruko, Tony Dize and even lesser known ones like ‘El Joey’ are all known to use ghostwriters too.  It seems to be more of a new era issue rather than a Colombian one.  What is definite is that ghostwriting is very common in Latin Pop, and the Colombians bridged the Latin Pop world with Reggaeton more than anyone.  What I can tell you is that there is a little known practice where companies or management buy unused songs and demos, sometimes from known artists.  They then can do whatever they want with that composition once own that song in its entirety including masters, demos, publishing etc...  If they own the composition in its entirety and not just a percentage of it, they can even give credit to someone else.  This happens all the time in Latin Pop and now they do it in Reggaeton.  There are some supposed ‘hitmakers’ that are believed to have written classic songs, but in reality, they are just taking credit for unused demos from known artists and also many artists most of us have never heard of.  Most fans are unaware of this practice, but industry insiders know I write the truth.

Karol G owes all her success to Anuel – This is the allegation that Karol G would have only remained big in Colombia had she never dated Anuel.  Anuel was the hottest thing in Reggaeton when he got out of prison in 2017 and immediately began dating Karol G.  She wasn’t a nobody, but back then Anuel’s fame did dwarf Karol’s by like 3 times as much.  This is a fact though beyhive level Karol G fans may not want to admit it.  Personally, I think she would have done well regardless, but not nearly as well.  I think at best, she would have been at half the level she is now which is still pretty damn big, like where Natti Natasha and Becky G be at.  But she wouldn’t have become the phenomenon she is without Anuel.  Also consider, Anuel gave her some of her biggest hits.  He gave her “China”, “Bichota”, their collabs together which were all big and Anuel is even rumored to have ghostwritten “Tusa” which is the song that made Karol G an international sensation.  She does owe her success to Anuel I believe, but feel free to disagree.  Also, Anuel was down with some of Puerto Rico’s best ghostwriters like Kendo, Pusho and Benny Benni.  Karol’s management are Latin Pop people.  I would not be surprised if Anuel helped improve her plug situation as well, at least within the Reggaeton world.

Anuel AA and his many life threats – This is that when Anuel was wildin in the streets many fans believed his life to be in danger and he was even receiving threats on social media by mostly unknown and often masked individuals who claimed to represent opposition.  Anuel has calmed down greatly and hasn’t been in trouble in years.  Hopefully this issue remains in the past for everyone’s sake.

The rise of Anuel AA and why many now think he’s an industry plant – I believe this to be false.  But maybe some Latin Pop fans were shocked by Anuel’s mainstream success but that’s just because they weren’t paying attention to the real Reggaeton world.  Early on Anuel was cosigned by Ñengo Flow and even represented the ‘Real G 4 Life’ mantra which was and still is a big deal.  Then he was signed by Spiff TV who ran the Latin Urban division at Rick Ross’ ‘Maybach Music’ record label which achieved significant international success.  Anuel’s underground tracks impressed people so much that early in his career he was getting high quality beats from the likes of Tainy, Nely El Arma Secreta, Yampi, Sinfonico, DJ Luiann, Mambo Kingz and other hitmaking producers.  He already had songs like “Ella y Yo”, “Ayer” and “La Ocasion” out before he went to prison and they were big hits in the Reggaeton world but had not crossed over to the mainstream yet.  He was on his way to becoming a significant force in the culture, but his story became more interesting when many felt he was unfairly imprisoned and even Pop stars like J Balvin publicly called for Anuel to be freed even though most of the Latin Pop world had no idea who Anuel was at the time.  His success appeared sudden but dedicated Reggaeton fans knew better.

The rise of Bad Bunny – This is another artist accused of being an industry plant.  Although these accusations seem more credible, Bad Bunny rose through signing with successful Reggaeton exec and music producer DJ Luiann in 2015.  DJ Luiann was and is one of the most powerful people in Reggaeton.  He manages the hitmaking production team ‘Mambo Kingz’ who literally have produced dozens of international hit records.  DJ Luiann has also managed other succesful artists to the top like Arcangel and Kendo Kaponi.  DJ Luiann had much faith in Bad Bunny’s talent and pushed him to the moon.  DJ Luiann signed Bad Bunny when he discovered Bunny’s songs after they became popular with Puerto Rican University students via Soundcloud and blogs in early 2015.  DJ Luiann and Mambo Kingz produced “Diles” which became a hit and then created a remix version in late 2015 which featured some of the most popular artists at the time including Ozuna and Arcangel.  This is the song that broke through Bad Bunny on an international scale.  DJ Luiann continued to get him key featurings even with Mega Latin Pop star at the time, J Balvin.  This is how he became a sensation without any mainstream and major label backing.  This is another one where people who don’t know the story think it just happened and it was megalomaniac execs at some international conglomerate tenting their fingers and fiendishly plotting to unleash their industry plant of ‘Bad Bunny’ onto the world.  Nobody thought he would become this BIG, but his rise was organic and the result of genius marketing, good music and management by people with a proven track record.  Bunny would request his release from DJ Luiann in 2018 to sign with renown exec Noah Assad, the founder of ‘Rimas Entertainment’ in a historic joint venture partnership which continues to this day.  ‘RMAS Entertainment’ is considered to be one of the most succesful Record labels in the entire music industry.  Interesting note, the DJ Luiann-Bad Bunny partenership was a handshake deal.

Are Reggaeton Industry Plants real? – Probably, especially now with AI.  This doesn’t require a long entry.  There have always been industry plants, Milli Vanilli for example.

Baby Rasta’s 2nd shooting – Baby Rasta was shot a second time in the late 2000’s and almost passed away as a result.  Thankfullly he recoevered.  Lord Willing we don’t have to see him go through something similar again and along with Gringo they can continue to provide great music and entertainment for people worldwide.  Details on who were the culprits or motive is scarce and remain unresolved.

Feid, from Balvin’s #1 writer to global superstar – This is the fact that Feid rose in popularity being signed to J Balvin’s ‘Infinity’ imprint and being a writer for the record label.

Does Feid owe his current success to dating Karol G? – Probably.  He was rising, but he wasn’t even halfway where he is right now in terms of success and popularity when he and Karol were rumored to have begun dating in 2021.  I would say Yes.

Why don’t Reggaeton artists write anymore?  - Back in the day, something that differentiated Reggaeton and Latin Rap from Latin Pop and other genres was that most artists wrote their own lyrics.  This does not appear to be the case nowadays.  Many, myself included, blame the Latin Pop influence and inferior abilities at making true Reggaeton and Rap.

Hector El Father’s transition to religion fake?  Accused of leaving Reggaeton due to underworld threats. Some have accused Hector El Father of going into hiding through Religion to avoid street troubles.  His autobiographical film “Conocerás La Verdad” apparently responds to these allegations head on and is supposed to be the real truth regarding Hector’s relationship with the streets.  I never saw it as of this writing and don’t plan to anytime soon.  Feel free to add to your version of this iceberg if you uncover any useful additional info through watching the movie.  Hector several times stated that “El Father” is just a character he created and pure entertainment.  In no way was it a direct reflection of the life he actually lived according to him.  He does regret creating the character now that he is a preacher and believes it had a negative influence on the youth.  He has received offers as high as $10 million dollars to make a comeback but has refused according to interviews he did which you can see on YOUTUBE.

The Rise of Reggaeton from Spain, Argentina and Chile – This is the fact that plenty of relevant international talent have come from these three countries in recent years even though none of them had any prominent Reggaeton artists prior to 2015.  Among the talents that began to rise in the Reggaeton scene from 2015-2020 include La Mafia Del Amor, Cazzu , Khea, Duki, Pablo Chill-E, Polima Westcoast, Rosalia, Cris MJ, C. Tangana and even more… all of who come from either Chile, Argentina and/or Spain.

Tempo vs Cosculluela – This battle was infamous because Cosculluela shocked everyone by dissing Tempo when he left federal prison after being behind bars from 11 ½ years to complete the rest of his sentence under conditional liberty/probation.  There are several theories everyone from pundits and even the artists themselves have expressed as to why Cosculluela made the shocking to diss Tempo when everyone from Don Omar, to Wisin and Yandel and even Ñengo Flow welcomed back the legendary MC with open arms.  The one consistent has been that it appears Cosculluela was offended when Tempo used Cosculluela’s voice from a song in Buddha’s Family 2 (an album Tempo owns) without consulting Coscu nor inviting him to appear on “Free Music”, Tempo’s first production when he got out of prison. 

“Santa Cos” would go on to become one of the most famous diss tracks of all time along with songs like “Feliz Navidad” and “La Catedra”.  It was also reported to have hurt Tempo financially who had several offers on the table when he got out but after “Santa Cos” many execs/labels took the deals off the table or cut the offers in half which led to Tempo remaining an independent artist who instead signed a management deal with 'RIMAS Entertainment'.  Most people believe this also killed ticket sales for Tempo’s comeback concert in the legendary Puerto Rican venue ‘El Choliseo’ which seats almost 18,000.  Despite appearances from Daddy Yankee, Wisin & Yandel and Farruko, only 11 thousand people were estimated to have attended Tempo’s comeback concert in Puerto Rico.  Those numbers weren’t bad, but far from what was expected.  Meanwhile, Cosculluela’s Choliseo event a couple months later was a totally sold out show.  To be fair, Farruko’s first Choliseo that year only did 12,000 people (though he sold out the venue several times after) and Tego Calderon’s only Choliseo ever in 2015 did only 10 thousand people despite Vico C and Eddie Dee being invited guests. 

Tempo’s Choliseo doesn’t appear to be the huge flop many painted it as at the time and might have even made a decent profit.  It was just that ragging on Tempo through social media alongside J Balvin and Maluma’s best friend Cosculluela was the cool thing to do then.  Tempo was dwarfed in popularity by Cosculluela because many of the new audience was not around prior to Tempo going to prison and were unfamiliar with his works.  Meanwhile Cosculluela was even known by the Latin Pop world thanks to his collaborations with J Balvin and Maluma, along with doing shows together and being seen hanging out with them on social media.  Because of this, Tempo lost the popular vote on day one.  Cosculluela’s career was actually on a downturn after his 2012 album ‘War Kingz’ had low sales numbers.  ‘Santa Cos’, both the tiraera and album of the same name saved Cosculluela’s career. "Santa Cos" went on to sell over 100,000 units overall which was very impressive considering the music industry was doing record low sales across the board during this period.

Almighty won Farruko’s battles for him – This a rumor that is probably true in that Almighty wrote Farruko’s diss tracks in his battles against Pusho and Kendo Kaponi which many feel Farruko won.  Almighty was Farruko’s ghostwriter from around 2014-2017, this is a well known fact.  Kendo, Pusho and Benny Benni have also ghostwritten for Farruko.  When Farruko and Almight battled, Farruko’s disses were rumored to have been written by Ele A El Dominio, Jhayco and/or Omy de Oro.  Most fans thought Farruko won that battle as well.

Ñengo Flow Real G 4 Life Movement – This is a movement from Ñengo Flow that is also his record label and has sold all types of merch with the phrase “Real G 4 Life” popularized by the legendary rapper.  Well known artists and producers such as John Jay, Anuel AA, Sinfónico, Delirious, Yampi, Darell, Gotay El Autentiko, Super Yei, Los G4, Jory Boy, Jon-Z, Ele A El Dominio, and Mackie (Yaga & Mackie Ranks) have all been part of affiliated with the ‘Real G 4 Life’ movement/company.

Reggaeton Blogs Die Out – From about 2008-2016, Reggaeton blogs dictated which Reggaeton songs and artists went to the top of the culture.  Among the more well known ones were Flowhot.net, ElCorilloRD.com and the AK47 collective who owned various popular Reggaeton websites.  There were many known websites but these are probably the most famous ones even releasing exclusive material from well know artists and getting shout outs on songs and videos from the likes of Ñengo Flow, Musicologo y Menes, El Alfe, Secreto, J Alvarez, DJ Luiann, Nova y Jory, Syko El Terror, even Daddy Yankee when he did underground stuff among several others. The rise of Spotify pretty much killed the Reggaeton blog world and now only a couple remain.

Latin Trap – This is the movement of Latin Urban music which used trap beats to make songs with more hardcore explicit lyrics often about sex, drugs and violence.  Some songs even achieved HUGE mainstream success such as “Ahora Dice”, “Si Tu Novio Te Deja Sola” and “Cuatro Babys”. The first big Latin Trap hit was "El Pistolon" by Yaga & Mackie Ranks feat. Arcangel. There had been several Latin Trap songs from known artists dating as back to the 90's before the sub-genre was even defined, but "Pistolon" was the first BIG record of that style, released initially 2006 with a remix in 2007 adding De La Ghetto, Jowell & Randy to the song. Then in 2016, the genre exploded thanks to the rising popularity of several artists who specialized in that style including Anuel AA (probably the biggest reason Latin Trap got over), Bad Bunny, Ozuna, Arcangel, De La Ghetto, Ñengo Flow, Rauw Alejandro, Myke Towers, Alvaro Diaz and many others...

Nicky Jam’s comeback – After becoming one of Reggaeton's first mainstream stars in the mid 2000's, Nicky Jam had a very public downfall due to substance abuse issues and trouble with the law. After this, he had trouble getting live event bookings except in Colombia where he was still kind of a big deal. After getting several performances in the burgeoning Reggaeton territory, Nicky Jam moved to Medellin figuring he had a better chance making a living there than in Puerto Rico. His hunch proved to be right as he slowly began climbing back to the top and eventually became more popular than ever before.

 Why Reggaeton was ignored in the mainstream from 2008-2014 – People noticed that in mainstream media platforms around this period "Real" Reggaeton was often downplayed if given any time at all. Instead you had RKM y Ken-Y doing a Merengue Pop song with "Te Regalo Amores" or Daddy Yankee making a Pop Techno song with "Limbo". And let's not forget the phenomenon that was "Danza Kuduro" from Don Omar featuring Lucenzo. But less and less you saw actual Reggaeton played on Radio or Television when those mediums were still relevant to an artist who achieved mainstream success. Songs like "Bien Loko" by Nova y Jory, Dominican Dembow songs or even the up and coming Colombia movement got only underground exposure on an international level even though these songs were often more popular than the ones on mainstream radio. The reason was that major labels had given up on Reggaeton and decided to push forward different sounds and agendas. The majority of Reggaeton artists who were relevant at this time remained independent save for a select few. Things would change once the Colombia explosion spread worldwide and Nicky Jam collaborated with Enrique Iglesias. After that, the major record companies rushed to sign every notable Reggaeton artist they could get.

Residente vs Tempo - This is a little tricky. In the Reggaeton community this is one of the most critically acclaimed lyrical battles of all time and we saw it for what it was, 2 of the greatest lyrical titans of all time going at it bar for bar showing who was the best. Both of them did great. But you Pop Urbano and Alternative Rock fans that don't understand the culture almost ruined it with your social media trolling and opinions that can only come from those mostly foreign to the culture. Just because Residente was known by the Pop and Rock fans, they automatically labeled him the winner and did not even take the time to hear Tempo's diss tracks. This battle happened because on social media, Residente dared anyone to challenge claiming that no one from the Reggaeton world could match him bar for bar. Tempo, known to be one of the best at Tiraera responded. Authentic fans also wanted to see what would have happened if Polaco or Arcangel responded too. That would have been pretty cool.

Tier 5 The Modern Era and other topics

Tokischa Only Fans – Tokischa is a popular Dominican female Urbano Latino artist who began making ‘Dembow’ style music, now she does everything.  She is not the only Latina Urbano artist with an Only Fans page, but hers stands out by including NSFW material including triple X Rated intimate moments with her longtime boyfriend.  This is despite Tokischa having achieved a modicum of mainstream success.

Latin Trap’s Downfall – Latin Trap nowadays is rarely charting or having any big hits like it did from 2016-2022.  This appears to be because the Latin Pop audience heavily gravitated towards the Perreo style of Reggaeton after the record breaking success of Bad Bunny’s ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ which had several notable Perreos especially “Me Porto Bonito” with Chencho Corleone.

Bad Bunny has highest selling Reggaeton album in history -  “Un Verano Sin Ti” is the highest selling Urbano Latino album of all time clocking in at around 7 million units sold overalll worldwide.  Many mistakenly report it to be ‘Barrio Fino’ at 8 million, but those numbers were initially reported in 2014 and are erroneous as Spotify had not even come out in Latin America back then and no Urbano Latino album in those days ever sold more than 2 million units in physical formats with Itunes sales included.  Those faulty numbers appear to be because in other countries the requisites for Platinum is much lower.  I believe in Panama 6 thousand units equals platinum meanwhile in Venezuela its around 12 thousand units.  In Mexico it used to be 30, but now it is 20.  This has led to journalists to reporting albums going 60 times platinum which is true, but only in those definitions depending on the country.  And then people pick up the reports and mistakenly interpret it as US sales figures where 60 thousand units is platinum for Spanish language albums.  ‘Barrio Fino’ only sold around 2 million units back in the physical era.  Since then it has sold an additional 2-4 million units via Audio Streaming.  ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’ has still outsold the classic album.

The comeback of Perreo – ‘Perreo’ currently sits at top as the most popular style of Urbano Latino music at the time.  Its comeback started in 2019 with Guaynaa’s big hit “Rebota”.  Then songs like “Con Altura” by Rosalia and J Balvin, “Yo Perreo Sola” and “Safaera” by Bad Bunny along with several other tracks brought the sound to the forefront. This style has helped keep Urbano Latino at the top of the charts in Latin Music meanwhile Mexican regional remains a close 2nd.

Feid owes his mainstream success to dating Karol G – These are the allegations that Karol G elevated Feid into becoming a popular artist in the mainstream.  Most people believe this to be true, even some Feid fans.  Before dating Karol G, the most recognition Feid ever got was being part of ‘The Academy’, a Reggaeton supergroup featuring Feid, Sech, Justin Quiles, Lenny Tavarez, Dalex and Dímelo Flow with Slow Mike on the beats.  But Feid wasn’t even half as popular as he is now when he started dating Karol G in 2021.  Meanwhile she has been one of the biggest stars in all of Latin Music since around 2019.  She is currently one of the biggest stars in the entire world of music next to the likes of Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift.  Karol G headlined her own large venue tour in the United States which included sold out stadiums such as Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts and two sold out nights in the world famous Met Life stadium in New Jersey.  Despite becoming one of the most popular artists in Reggaeton, Feid is still nowhere near as popular as Karol G.  So yes, he owes his current success to Karol as well as his talent.  He had to make good music too in order to get where he’s at.

Tego’s comeback happened thanks to Bad Bunny – This is the fact that Tego’s comeback began when RIMAS Entertainment hosted an after party for the 2021 Latin Grammys.  Tego performed in front of Karol G, Bad Bunny, Anuel AA, Anitta, Tainy and other notable Urbano Latino celebrities.  Since then Tego has gone on to have an occassional live performance including the famous ‘Motherland’ festival in Puerto Rico in 2022.  His price has reportedly gone up significantly.  His most recent single “La Receta” from 2023 was moderately successful and is currently at over 120 million audio streams across all platforms.  This is the footage of Tego’s comeback event at the 2021 Latin Grammys afterparty.

Even Bad Bunny uses ghostwriters – El Conejo has been rumored to use ‘ghostwriters’ and/or co-writers.  This would not be surprising at all. Among Bunny's rumored ghostwriters are Jhayco, Feid, Sech, Alvaro Diaz, Eladio Carrion, Luar La L, Villano Antillano and others... To be fair, some of these are credited as Bad Bunny's co-writers in collaborations.

Latin Grammys accused of being ignorant with Reggaeton – These are public accusations from the likes of Ivy Queen, Wisin & Yandel, J Balvin and others of the Latin Grammy Academy having questionable credentials for their nominations and winners in the Urbano Latino music categories.  There was that year that everyone thought Wisin & Yandel were going to win, but it appears that the Urbano Latino album of the year went to Calle 13 instead which created turmoil between the two parties that continues unto this day and is probably the main reason why they have never collaborated.  To be fair, Tego Calderon won Urbano Latino album of the year in 2015 for ‘El Que Sabe Sabe’ and was even present to receive his award.  Also, universally acclaimed albums from Karol G, Rosalia and Calle 13 all won album of the year as well as Urbano Latino album of the year.  Although the Latin Grammy Academy don’t always get it right, they do sometimes.  Although when they get it wrong, sometimes they are grossly misinformed.  Ironically, the album for which Calle 13 won the Latin Grammy award for album of the year in all genres, 2008’s ‘Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo’ has the famous diss track ‘Que Lloren’ where he goes at many of the Reggaeton genre including Ivy Queen and Wisin & Yandel for complaining over Residente’s Latin Grammy victories.  Also, J Balvin dissing the Latin Grammys on social media is what started his beef with Residente.  More on this later.

Karol G and Rosalia Win Album Of The Year back to back (bonus) – This is that for the first time ever 2 Urbano Latino albums won the Latin Grammy for album of the year back to back.  Rosalia won it for ‘Motomami’ in 2022 and Karol G won with ‘Mañana Será Bonito’ in 2023.

Residente Kills J Balvin’s Ascent – J Balvin was one of the Top 5 most popular Latin artists in the world overall, not just in Urbano Latino, when he decided in the year 2021 to attack the Latin Grammy academy via social media. J Balvin in his social media posts even suggested a boycott from the Urbano Latin community.  Residente, being a darling of the Latin Grammys and probably having won the most Grammy awards of all Urbano Latino artists called J Balvin out.  Residente made the clever diss on social media in comparing his style of Urbano as being at Michelin star level (I won’t explain what that is… google it if needed) were Residente’s music a restaurant.  While in reference to Balvin’s music, Residente likened Balvin’s catalog to a cheap hot dog cart or Mc Donalds.  This sent an uproar throughout the Reggaeton community but J cleverly responded by posting a pic of himself next to a hot dog cart humbling himself and seeming to get the edge on the battle of social media posts. 

But then on March 3, 2022, J Balvin died as a Pop Star when Residente dissed him on the #49 Bizzarap Music Session.  It is one of the most scathing diss tracks of all time and made some J Balvin fans feel stupid for having considered their favorite artist among the Mount Rushmore of Reggaeton/Latin Rap.  Residente not only dissed J Balvin’s inferior skills as an MC but also called him out on the Tokischa music video controversy where Balvin was accused of promoting racist/colonist imagery.  Residente’s diss was visceral, thoughtful and vicious.  It destroyed J Balvin’s reputation as an elite Urbano Latino artist and killed his ticket sales in Latin America where he had to cancel his tour twice.  Instead of responding, J Balvin took a break from the spotlight mostly because shortly after he cancelled his tours, he became a father.  Don’t feel bad for J as he still earns good money going to perform in Canada and Europe.  If I was his management I would no longer hope for a comeback and market him as a legacy artist instead.  In my opinion, J Balvin did the sucker move in not responding to Residente.  He showed with that; it was more important for him to try and remain a Pop Icon instead of a respected MC. Instead he lost much credibility in both avenues.  Balvin should know better because he came from the battle circuits in Colombia.  He was in the middle of that scene with respected artists like Alcolyrikoz and them.  He lost credibility there forever unless one day he finally responds. J Balvin should do the right thing and respond to Residente Calle 13 even if he needs to use a ghostwriter like Hector and Farruko did. I would recommend Arcangel.

Bizzarap’s series – These are the popular music sessions of music producer Bizzarap which have featured mostly new up and coming Urbano Latino talent from all over the world although several big names have collaborated as well.  Bizzarap selects an artist to come to his studio and perform over one of his beats.  He has shown to be versatile producing everything from Rap, Trap, Drill, Techno, Pop, Reggaeton and even Corridos for the Peso Pluma session.  He even has his most famous session with Pop sensation Shakira which topped the charts.  Bizzarap who originates from Argentina has gone on to become one of the most in demand and acclaimed Latin Music producers today.

Cubaton -  This is a style of Reggaeton made in Cuba which has its roots since the ‘Mas Flow’ days.  It is often associated with Tropical music using live instrumentation from real live bands with Reggaeton beats, but not as much nowadays.  In essence, it is the name used to describe Reggaeton based out of Cuba.  The style of music gained prominence when ‘Gente De Zona’, the preeminent Cubaton act, broke through into the international market in the late 00’s, early 2010’s.  Other notable Cubaton artists include Lomier, Chacal, El Taiger (RIP), El Micha, Elvis Manuel (RIP) and Jacob Forever.

American artists doing Reggaeton – This is the not so common occurrence of American artists performing actual Reggaeton music.  Among them were Black Eyed Peas, Drake, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, G Unit, Paul Wall, Snoop Dogg, and more…

Bad Bunny’s record breaking tour –  This was Bad Bunny’s tour of his equally record breaking album ‘Un Verano Sin Ti’.  It is the highest grossing tour in Urbano Latino history making $435 million dollars across 81 dates.

Reggaeton shows flopping while press releases lie about real numbers – Ironically this entry is kind of due to reports about Bad Bunny shows flopping or being half full for his ‘Most Wanted Tour’ in 2024 with evidence from concertgoers posting footage of half full venues.  The tour apparently still did well according to reports.  There has also been several cancelled shows from the likes of Jhayco, Rauw Alejandro and J Balvin in recent years reportedly due to low ticket sales.  The blame appears to be mainly on high ticket prices making events unaffordable.  Ticketmaster is currently under fire for this with investigations and lawsuits coming from including but not limited to the US Government.

Peso Pluma cancels Tijuana show due to threat from Narcos – This was the time Peso Pluma cancelled a concert in Tijuana in 2023 due to receiving threats on his life from local cartels.  The Cartels in Mexico have assassinated and/or shot singers for performing in territories they were warned to remain out of; the most famous of these being Valentin Elizalde who was murdered in 2006 for performing the song “Para Mis Enemigos” in unfriendly territory. "Para Mis Enemigos" is a hit Corrido song which was known to have incensed some Cartel people. Even though he was unaffiliated with any drug trafficking organizations, rivals adopted "Para Mis Enemigos" as an anthem against those they were warring with in the streets. The story is that Valentin Elizalde would have made it out alive had he just not sang "Para Mis Enemigos" that night where he was given a final warning by Cartel representatives before he went on stage to not sing the song.  Peso Pluma is yet to perform in Tijuana and is unlikely to do so anytime in the near future.

There are varying reasons as to why artists receive warnings from Cartels including singers being rumored to have slept with a Cartel leader's wife to singers being drug dealers themselves. But the most common reason is that the singers threatened have direct associations to rivals. There was a known case of an obscure band who performed songs directed at Cartel rivals. The band's opposition secretly booked them in neutral territory, when that band began performing their diss corrido tracks on stage, their rivals shot them dead during their performance in front of everyone using machine guns. There is no known recording of this event, but it is known to have happened. I chose not to research the unknown band, but you can google the event and find results in Spanish. This sadly did actually happen and some of the band members were said to have been active Cartel associates themselves.

The Rise of Mexican Reggaeton – This refers to the rise of Mexican Reggaeton receiving an international platform in the past decade.  Mexican Reggaeton has existed since the mid 2000’s with acts like ‘Impacto MC’ and ‘La Dinastia’ achieving notable success.  But Mexican Reggaeton has reached new levels in recent years having many BIG international hit records most notably “La Bebé” by YVNG LVCAS and Peso Pluma.  Some notable and currently relevant Mexican Reggaeton talent includes El Bogueto, El Malilla, Bellakath, El Habano, music producer Uzielito Mix, YVNG LVCAS, Peso Pluma, Dani Flow, mexican dj Rosa Pistola, Santa Fe Klan and more…

New Generation Tiraeras happening more on Instagram and social media rather than on stage or songs – There has been a lot of criticism against the new genre from old schoolers over them calling each other out on Instagram but never doing battle songs nor battling on stage against one another in the traditional sense.  Some consider this to be detrimental to the culture.  These Tiraeras don’t even have rhymes or acapella performances, it is just the artist/s insulting each other, sometimes on live streams.  The insults can sometimes be very tasteless and vulgar even putting off some fans.  A notable recent example was Jhayco going at J Balvin, possibly over unpaid royalties, but some fans were disgusted with Jhayco’s approach and found his words distasteful.

Batalla De Los Gallos growth and relevance -  Red Bull’s Batalla De Los Gallos which began about 20 years ago has now become the premiere Battle Rap championship for the Spanish language.  The events have garnered widespread acclaim.  The tournament begins regionally where qualifying MC’s battle one another and crowns a local championship for each territory.  Then there is a world championship one night tournament featuring the regional champions battling one another to see who is the best battle rapper in the world.  Notable champions include Aczino, Chuty, Rayden, Arkano, and Dtoke.  Some big names have also participated in regionals including Mozart La Para, Trueno, Akapellah, Canserbero, Mcklopedia, Temperamento, El Pope, Zatu from SFDK among others…

Reggaeton Vs Rap no longer exists – This may become true sometime in the future, but for the meantime there seem to be a lot of conflicting ideas and representation among Reggaeton and Hip Hop crowds, mostly in Latin America.  There are more people today who like both, but there still remain many who are for one or the other.  There is also a tiny section in the Hispanic world who don’t consider ‘Trap’ real Rap… they need a history lesson in my opinion.

Hip Hop no longer predominates Reggaeton in Spain – Yes, this is true.  Thanks to artists like Rosalia, La Mafia Del Amor, Saiko, Omar Montes, Bad Gyal among others, Spanish Hip Hop no longer dominates Reggaeton culture in Spain like it used to.  Even Rap veterans like Mala Rodriguez and C. Tangana have immersed themselves within the Reggaeton culture.

Panama still remain uncredited as creators of Reggaeton in the mainstream – Yes.  You even see many post against this here. But Panama are the first to record Dancehall Reggae in Spanish and adopt it into Latino culture. This is an undisputed fact. An additional little known fact is that the first Panamanian records officially released, although almost all of them were translations of famous Jamaican songs, they were done with permission from the Jamaican producers, artists, management, and record companies. Most of those early records in Panama paid fees to record their versions and have them pressed onto vinyl. You can even see the original Jamaican producers like Michael Ellis and Denis Haliburton credited on the early Panamanian Reggae songs from 1986-1995.

Reggaeton Podcasters – This is the new culture prevalent on YOUTUBE of podcasters dialoguing over Reggaeton.  Many podcasters also feature some of the most popular Reggaeton artists on their format as well like Chente Ydrach’s most recent interview with Bad Bunny which you can watch here.  Some notable podcasters include Rap/Reggaeton veteran Benny Benni, Chente Ydrach, Maiky Backstage, La Pulpa, Aldo (from Aldo & Dandy), Daryk DK, Alofoke Radio Show, and many more… As a bonus I will give you my list of Top 5 podcast shows.

1. Masacote with Chente Ydrach - Chente has interviewed HUGE names not only from Puerto Rico, but mostly from the island. Among them are Bad Bunny, Chayanne, Ricky Martin, Tego Calderon, Don Omar and many others...

2. Los Duros Con Daryk DK - This one is for dedicated Reggaeton fans. Daryk interviews much of the cream of the crop in old school Reggaeton. He also does it from a fan's perspective often highlighting classic works known to connoiseurs. Among those interviewed are Big Boy, Don Chezina, DJ Nelson, Camalion, Point Breakers, Danny Banton, Original Q and many more...

3. Molusco's Interview Show - The former radio host started this podcast which has a very professional setting and much like Chente interviews mostly Puerto Rican celebrities from all forms of entertainment including Film, Tv, Sports, Politics and Music. He is the only podcast that interviewed Daddy Yankee.

4. En Tu Caserio - Done with a more 'street' and 'Urban' influence, this is probably the podcast with most credibility as Benny Benni is a known hitmaker having worked alongside Top names like Daddy Yankee and Farruko. The episode where he sits down with Vico C and Arcangel while philosophizing over Reggaeton and Rap is much recommended.

5. Maiky Backstage - Arguably the second most popular podcast right now after Chente, Maiky is a veteran of the scene and often co-hosts with well known contributors to the culture DJ Predator and Aldo of Reggaeton duo Aldo & Dandy alongside other prominent figures. He has interviewed many currently relevant names as well as some legends from the old school.

Playero Did Not Sue Bad Bunny – Alemer publishing who somehow acquired the publishing rights to the Playero catalog are who sued Bad Bunny, not Playero as falsely reported in mainstream media outlets.  I have more details, although not all of them, but those that I do have I cannot report at this time for last I checked, the matter remains unresolved.  It does however appear that Alemer Publishing are a separate entity to Bayamon Records.  And though I’m revealing too much, it appears Playero doesn’t even know how they became owners of his records as all agreements ever made on his behalf were with BM Records only.  He revealed this in an interview in the Dominican Republic a couple of years ago.

DJ Urba Live Sessions - Legendary Reggaeton producer/dj DJ Urba (yes, that DJ Urba) has created his own Bizarrap style live session in the spirit of the underground Reggaeton made in the 90's and early 2000's. DJ Urba first rose to prominence in the late 90's and early 2000's working alongside renown producer/dj Rafy Mercenario. Together they worked on many popular underground productions like Crazy Boricuas 2, Fatal Fantassy, Los Home-runes de Yankee and many more. Then in 2004 he formed a popular production duo with Monserrate and they became the main producers for Daddy Yankee. This working relationship continued until Yankee's recent retirement even when in the 2010's, Urba found a new production partner in Rome and formed 'Los Evo Jedi'. 'Los Evo Jedi' would go on to produce hits for the likes of Wisin & Yandel, Ivy Queen, Bad Bunny and many more...

In the live sessions, DJ Urba himself is live mixing the beats on the 1's and 2's while some of the most legendary Reggaeton artists in history perform a medley of their hits. Among the artists that have participated in DJ Urba's Live sessions include notable names like Alberto Stylee, Baby Ranks, Don Chezina, H Man and P Man, K-Mill, 2 Sweet, Frankie Boy, Camalion, Nando Boom, Polaco, Baby Banton, Falo The Leader and more... You can watch his the DJ Urba Live Sessions series on YOUTUBE.

Tier 6 The Darkside of Reggaeton and Latin Rap

The Murder of Monkey Black in Spain – Some believe this to be a racially motivated killing. I will try to be as respectful as I can.  From what I remember, Monkey Black was killed in 2014, inside or near a local establishment of Spain as he had moved to Barcelona in 2010 after achieving much success in that country.  He was one of the most popular artists of the Dominican Dembow movement at the time and is now often referenced in music by many current popular artists including Kiko El Crazy, El Alfa, Rochy RD and others…  Monkey Black often wore a lot of jewelry when he went out and because he was so well received in Barcelona, he never feared for his personal safety.  I don’t know if this was a robbery attempt, it may have been.  But it appears that this may have been an act of racial prejudice and hatred as well.  The man who killed Monkey Black was with someone or himself made a derogatory remark towards the artist.  This provoked a reaction from the artist and apparently there was a prior incident which led to Monkey Black being fatally stabbed inside or near a public establishment.  This prior incident which apparently involved the same individuals is what led to Monkey Black attempting to challenge one of the men to a fight where they ganged up on him and one of them stabbed the artist to death.  The murderer was a part of a Portuguese collective (gang) who apparently ran the block around the way.  They were most likely offended at Monkey Black shining and them not knowing him personally.  The murder has been solved and the man who killed Monkey Black is currently serving time in prison after turning himself in a few years later.

El Coyote Payola accusations – This is NORE accusing El Coyote of asking for an exorbitant amount of money to play his music on Puerto Rican Radio.  NORE made this accusation on his popular podcast ‘Drink Champs’. Apparently, El Coyote refused to accept a free performance from NORE which is a legal and common practice and instead demanded cash. That demand of cash is an illegal practice known as payola and there have been several documented cases over the years. NORE would further elaborate that El Coyote referenced Hector El Father as paying $200,000 dollars a month in Payola and offered NORE the "Hector El Bambino package". NORE referenced this on his Drink Champs episode with Fat Joe and in a radio interview in Boston years ago.

In a related note, Fat Joe once said he saw Daddy Yankee as a big time hustler in New York. The internet dragged Fat Joe across the mud calling him a liar, but it is well known Daddy Yankee and Nicky Jam were in New York at a time and yes they did hustle in the streets. It is even documented in Nicky Jam's semi biographical "El Ganador" telenovela series. Everyone just assumes they were poor while in New York, but maybe they hit the lottery or had a good night in Atlantic City. But Fat Joe saw them ballin one night and had heard they were out there hustlin, which was true. Terror Squad minus Fat Joe appear in Nicky Jam's portion of the Boricuas NY Video in the year 2000. Nicky Jam and Daddy Yankee were also seen hanging out with Fat Joe and Big Pun in the music video for "100%". It may just be that Daddy Yankee has become such a mega Pop star, his Shakira fan section of the audience don't like knowing he came from the streets.

The FBI’s persecution of Mexicano 777 – When Mexicano was finally arrested in 2001, it was due to the FBI’s involvement. He was arrested in the Miami International Airport that year having moved to the United States in an effort to evade authorities (see tier 1 for more info).  Mexicano accused authorities of the United States and Puerto Rican government of unlawfully persecuting him.  Apparently the court notices he was supposed to have received were sent to old addresses he no longer lived at thus he was unaware which is why he never showed up for those dates.  If he was to remain living in the United States or Puerto Rico, they were going to impose a travel ban on him even after his probation and jail time.  So Mexicano managed to obtain residency in Chile and Colombia from the years of 2005-2008 once he completed his probation in Puerto Rico.  It is unknown how he did this but he even managed to record an album in Colombia with several local talent.  This allowed him to get paid doing live performances in South America where he had plenty of demand.  Mexicano claimed his enemies had influence with the government and were using these resources to prevent him from earning money as an artist.  They apparently became very jealous when he announced his deal with Universal Latino and released the well received “Pa la Kalle” album in 2005.  So he moved to South America so he could do live performances and provide for his family as he was very in demand inside those territories.  He moved back to Puerto Rico in 2008 following the murder of one of his daughters.  He would then pass away in 2015 of cancer.  He was only 42 years old.

Reggaeton and Latin Rap have informants for the government – Because American Hip Hop often has undercover informants for the DEA (this is a documented fact) posing as artists, labels and promoters;  Reggaeton and Latin Rap have been accused of doing the same.  There is only one documented case of this although the undercover DEA record label has not been revealed, just like with the American ones.  This led to a series of arrests in the early 2010’s of people laundering drug money through Reggaeton in Puerto Rico.  These people arrested and their organizations, appear to have been involved in the murders of Lele El Arma Secreta, Coco Blin Blin, and Pito, Hector El Father’s childhood friend.

Ozuna’s rumored NSFW video – Ozuna is rumored to have filmed a private LGBT video which was leaked online.  I have not done research into this, nor seen the video, but Ozuna denies the claims.

The Murder of Yosie Lokote – Yosie Lokote who was a real life gang member and successful Chicano Rapper was murdered by gang/Cartel rivals in April 2018.  RIP.

Lating Gang Raps on YOUTUBE – This is the sudden proliferation of supposed Gang Rap on services like YOUTUBE.  Most of it is very obscure and some are old songs of artists like El Dyablo which some gangs always used in association to.  For people that don’t know, this seems to be erroneous in some fashion.  Reason being that rival gangs have repped music from El Dyablo.  It appears people just really like the music but there are many YOUTUBE videos with gang culture imagery and some known songs, even from world renown platinum group Control Machete.  LA Latino gangs also heavily integrated their culture with music from the likes of Cypress Hill and Kid Frost.  But the obscure Rap songs on YOUTUBE, some of these songs do have the Rappers claiming sets on the song and often no one knows who the MCs are.  Some of these videos you can find easily by entering search queries of such and such gang with the words like Rap and Hip Hop on YOUTUBE and can have up to hundreds of thousands even millions of views.  Yet many of these songs remain obscure.

The rumored reason why Pacho El Antifeka was killed –RIP.  This one is too speculatory and out of respect for his family I cannot write in detail the supposed motive which was revealed in video on Tiktok but I believe it was taken down from YOUTUBE.  I don’t know if it’s still findable, I can say the video alleges this was a revenge killing. Pacho El Antifeka was killed and shot in broad daylight while waiting inside his vehicle parked outside a commercial establishment. He was killed in 2023.

Hector El Father protegé ‘Lele’ El Arma Secreta murdered by known Puerto Rican Sicario and drug kingpin – I cannot say the name of who killed/ordered the hit on Lele according to the internet, but a famous Dominican Rapper with no relation to the killer currently uses the same ‘moniker’.  To this day I have no clue what that nickname means.  Please forgive if I am wrong but I did much research back in the day and pieced from some credible sources.  Hector El Father cut off Lele financially a couple of years before he was killed, even before he turned into a Preacher.  This motivated Lele to borrow money from the underworld in order to finance his music career which led him into trouble.  Apparently Lele’s murderer was seen inside his car with him shortly before he was shot to death 24 times.  The main suspect according to the internet was eventually arrested as part of a big raid on Puerto Rican drug trafficking organizations circa 2012.  I don’t know what has happened to Lele's alleged killer since then and did not feel like researching the topic further.  RIP.

Gatas Sandungueras Adult Movies with famous Reggaeton Artists – This is a series of X Rated music videos and concerts with known Puerto Rican strippers and artists signed to Genio Records.  There were at least half of dozen of these DVDs released.  Genio Records distributed these products themselves.  Now, most of them are lost media and hard to find online.  But you can still find some footage on adult websites and even YOUTUBE but the videos will most likely be flagged.  I’ve been told by some that these girls worked in brothels inside of Puerto Rico and did underground hardcore movies too.  I never saw them myself, but was told this by a credible source or two.  Brothels are legal in most of Latin America, this is a fact.

Jadiel’s Ominous Selfie Posted on Social Media right before his fatal accident – Jadiel posted a selfie on Twitter just before he went on the motorcycle ride that would end his life.  The photo was posted all over the web when he passed away.  RIP.

The Murder of Bobby Jacko – I believe part of this was revealed on an interview with Chinito I saw online.  Bobby Jacko is a legendary Reggaeton figure and biological father of Yeruza (RIP) and his twin brother Hydro, the music producer for ‘Money Wayy’.  Though he attempted a Reggaeton comeback in the mid 2000’s, it was unsuccessful.  It also appears Chinito was unavailable to help him further his comeback attempts.  Therefore when he moved to Florida, he was making an earning from clandestine resources and apparently was not a lightweight.  He was shot and killed in 2007 after getting into an argument with someone.  I believe his killing happened in a public place.  Details are murky but some believe he was targeted and it wasn’t a sudden occurrence.  QEPD.

The Deaths of Jason and Angel Love from Los Boys – I used to think all the members of ‘Los Boys’ died when I was a kid, but Rafy Love is still alive and has done some appearances on credible podcasts.  To this day I don’t know how they died.  I do believe they were shot and killed which is what I read in forums back in the day, but I never met anyone who knew nor read anything about the true story in detail.  So I apologize If I’m wrong.  I never saw the details.  It seems like Rafy did not like to talk about it and retired from music when he lost his brothers.  They were a very acclaimed trio, ahead of their time and made memorable contributions to the DJ Chiclin and DJ Stefano productions among other works.  In the interview I saw, Rafy revealed that the trio was called by the guys putting together the masterpiece album ‘The Legend’ which many think is a Playero album, but he is only one of the producers.  DJ Dicky, DJ Goldy, DJ Adam and Nico Canada all made beats for the classic work.  The album featured Mexicano 777, Daddy Yankee, Las Guanabanas, Hector & Tito, Voltio, Maicol y Manuel, Eddie Dee and many other big names even for the time.  Sadly, they passed away before they could go into the studio and record their contribution.  Many believe had Los Boys appeared on ‘The Legend’ they would have been a much bigger act.  Regardless, they have a very influential contribution to the Reggaeton music genre.  RIP.

Blanco Flake Died In Jail – Forgive me if I am wrong because the details on this were hard to find even back then.  Blanco was apparently arrested for murder in 1997.  I remember reading he had a life sentence in jail and died sometime while in prison, but his discogs entry says it was only 10 years, maybe it was self defense or manslaughter.  The discogs entry also alleges he was murdered in prison and how it was done.  I always read that he died under mysterious circumstances and that’s what many other sources say including official news sites.  Many confused Blanco with legendary Reggaeton dj/producer Benny Blanco (not the Selena Gomez one) who was down with Guatauba and put out a great mixed Reggaeton album called ‘Benny Blanco En Vivo Desde La Disco’ with ‘Flow Music’.  That might be the best party Reggaeton mix album I ever heard.  It is Benny Blanco live inside the club doing a set with some of the most popular Reggaeton songs of that time period.  It ages incredibly well and I dare say it could probably still get the party started to this day.  The confusion is in that both Blanco Flake and Benny Blanco from Guatauba used the nickname ‘Benny Blanco’ who is a character from the classic gangster film “Carlitos Way” starring Al Pacino with the character being portrayed by John Leguizamo.  This is according to Maicol Superstar who referred to his dearly departed friend Blanco Flake as Benny Blanco.  I apologize if any details are wrong.  I read this on the internet but he is said to have died in 2007 shortly before he would have been released from prison.  Blanco Flake was an influential Reggaeton pioneer referenced by many artists including Daddy Yankee on “Barrio Fino”.  RIP.

Maestro’s mysterious death – People initially thought he was murdered when he was found with a fatal wound into his eye socket and with a gun in his possession inside his vehicle.  Reports say it was an accidental self inflicted gunshot wound.  Maestro was a notable music producer having made beats for Tego Calderon and Voltio’s albums.  He was also an acclaimed MC and produced his own albums as an artist as well, most notably the hidden gem “The Movie” from 2001.  Maestro also formed part of the influential Boricua Guerrero/White Lion camp.  He died in 2022. RIP.

The murder of Coco Blin Blin – Coco Blin Blin was an executive producer inside the Reggaeton music genre.  It was alleged that he made his music from the drug trade and then transitioned into becoming an executive music producer.  The 3 albums he was known to officially have executively produced are all now considered classics of the Reggaeton genre and all went platinum or multi platinum.  These albums were Guatauba X.X.X (2002), Los Matadores Del Género (2002) and the star studded Blin Blin vol. 1 which came out in December 2003.  The success of these albums, especially Blin Blin vol. 1 which sold over 150 thousand units independently led Coco Blin Blin to hold the first big Reggaeton event inside the famed Choliseo in Puerto Rico during the year of 2004.  The headliners were Tego Calderon, Don Omar, and Daddy Yankee but there were other notable performers like Wisin & Yandel, Zion y Lennox, Hector & Tito and more…  It was a historic event.  All this success led to Coco making a partnership with Universal Latino for his record label ‘Blin Blin Music’.  On his roster he had Plan B, Angel Doze and legendary music producer DJ Goldy.  When Coco was shot and killed in 2006 in the middle of his own 'project buildings' of which he was alleged to be ‘The Big Boss’ of, he was working on the unreleased albums “Los Nenes De Blin Blin” by Plan B and “La Revolucion Del Tiempo” by Angel Doze.  Though many songs leaked, neither of these albums were completed and remain unreleased.  Plan B would take ‘Los Nenes De Blin Blin’ to Pina Records and rework it into the multi platinum ‘House of Pleasure’ which featured the smash hits “Si No Le Contesto” and “Es Un Secreto”.  Coco’s murder appears to remain unsolved although Wikipedia says his alleged killer was murdered in revenge.  I could not find any other source reporting this and the Wiki link did not work for me.  RIP Coco Blin Blin.

There is even more as this entry was very long 'The Reggaeton Controversy Iceberg part 6 explained' continued.

Daddy Yankee beats up Falo The Leader in real life – Falo confirmed this longstanding rumor to have actually occurred but did not give any details. What’s funny is that many considered Falo to be winning his Rap battle with DY lyrically until Yankee took it to the streets. I have read various testimonies from people that claimed to be there and spoken to those who heard from people that were present. I might have heard from one person or two that was actually there as well. There’s essentially two credible versions and in both Daddy Yankee comes out on top. The overblown one was that Yankee went with like 60 or 70 people to Falo’s house in Carolina, PR (I think) as Yankee knew where Falo lived and challenged him to a fight. Daddy Yankee tricked Falo into thinking it would be fair and even brought boxing gloves, but he and his boys jumped Falo who barely made it out. I only saw this one online and it may be people trolling. But there really was like 60 or 70 people present apparently, but they weren’t necessarily with DY. Yankee did roll with more than a couple of people. I have heard 4 or 5 and up to around a dozen. Falo supposedly only had one or two people with him.

The thing is when people in the barrio heard Daddy Yankee was on Falo’s block and came to challenge him to a fight, everyone in the neighborhood came to see what happened. Falo was peer pressured by the people around his way to accept Yankee’s challenge and put on the gloves. They boxed in the streets and according to witnesses Yankee easily got the upper hand. I don’t know all the details. I even remember someone telling me that Yankee got on top of Falo and started giving him galletas. But Falo was clearly outmatched. Yankee practiced boxing regularly at his local gyn and even sparred with real boxers. Falo was quite overweight, unathletic and did not know how to fight according to witnesses. Some said he at least had heart for accepting the challenge, but he had no chance at winning. Everyone knows there was a real life confrontation. Few know what truly happened. I remember Falo in the interview being asked if there was anything else to come out of it. I guess some of Falo’s people wanted to get back at DY in real life but Falo told them not to. They became friends years later after Nicky Jam and Falo made peace in early 2001. Falo also made peace with Alberto Stylee, Maicol y Manuel around the same time and has several collaborations with them. Falo in fact started out with Blanco Flake (close friend of Maicol & Manuel) and they used to do many performances on stage together in Reggaeton’s early days.

Baby Banton’s death – Influential underground Rapper Baby Banton is said to have died in the early 2000’s when he moved to Philadelphia. Because he was very underground so little is known about this. I’ve seen some guy claiming to be Baby Banton on Facebook but he appears to be a fake. The reason I say this is because it was said that Philadelphia Rapper Banton Bolivian is Baby Banton himself. He just changed his name for some reason when he moved to Philly. He is said to have died in the United States in the early 2000’s. He formed a short lived duo with Calvo El Filarrican in the early 2000’s. In later years, Calvo records a song where he said “Bolivian, descansa en Paz” but no one seems to know the details on how he died, at least online. Calvo is a pretty obscure figure so he is very mysterious too.

But what I think confirms that Banton did die is that when he put out his pretty obscure and kind of rare production ‘Los Escurridizos’ with Calvo in 2002 which is a hidden gem, though I haven’t listened to it entirely in years; It was produced by the legendary DJ Sonic who used to go by the name DJ Chico back then. That underground album is what got DJ Sonic signed to DJ Nelson because how impressive his beats on it were. I remember Banton spitting some of his old lyrics on ‘Los Escurridizos’ but I can’t confirm it since I don’t have that album memorized at all and only heard it through a couple of times. It’s very good, super gangsta, but I used to only listen to physical back then and never owned nor made a physical copy of ‘Los Escurridizos’ which I first heard in the mid 2000’s and then for the first time entirely like in 2015. It is a hidden gem. Rating: 8.5/10 from what I can remember. Kastro from Money Machine/Flow Factory and Asesino from La Industria were on it I think.

Anyways, I read on multiple sources that Banton Bolivian and Baby Banton are the same guy. Their style is identical except in the 2000’s Bolivian’s voice sounds a little older. Bolivian also used that name instead of Baby in DJ Rafy’s Back 2 Da Funk from 1998. They are the same guy and Calvo paid his respects to him on song. Baby Banton is dead. I am sorry if I am mistaken but I’m pretty sure Banton Bolivian and Baby Banton are the same person. I apologize if I am wrong, but Baby Banton is an obscure Reggaeton legend. His style was lightyears ahead. In the future people will Rap like him. It was such an advanced flow and his street lyrics were so Raw. Lyrically he was like early Cash Money and No Limit Records except with Tito and Rubio’s flow which he invented. RIP.

Gringo Man’s Wrongful Arrest – Gringo Man, a Panamanian Reggaeton pioneer, was wrongfully convicted of murder in the 90’s. Even though it was proven he never committed the crime, he was convicted because the car used for the crime was under his name. Gringo Man was not even present at the scene of the crime. He was not granted his freedom until very recently. He is also known under the stage name “Gringo El Original”. He is known for his early Reggaeton hits “Trailer Lleno De Guiales” and “Al Reves” which are translations of famous Jamaican Reggae songs.

Falo convinced people Alberto Stylee was in the closet – Falo The Leader’s notoriously homophobic disses to Alberto Stylee alleging he lived in the closet made many think Alberto was actually in the closet. Falo was almost sued for defamation and had a hit song about it on DJ Frank “Time To Kill 1”. Alberto Stylee is or was married with children. Alberto is definitely a father.

Nando Boom’s Early Homophobic Songs – Early Jamaican Dancehall was known for having many homophobic lyrics, some Latin artists followed suit. Nando Boom’s “No Queremos Mariflor” was an early Reggaeton hit about wanting to be rid of LGBT people in Panama. Nando Boom has never apologized publicly for this and this may be a reason why some attempt to scrub him off of Reggaeton’s history. The LGBT community today is more influential and prevalent inside the Reggaeton spectrum than ever before.

Kid Melaza’s Drug Overdose – Kid Melaza sadly died of a heroin overdose at the age of 14 in 1998. RIP.

Canserbero’s Death and fans believing he is still alive – Canserbero’s death is very controversial. Initial reports were apparently falsified and recent re-openings of the case led to new allegations. Though initially believed to have committed suicide, it has now been officially reported that Canserbero was murdered by his manager who then staged the suicide. Some fans, possibly because of Canserbero’s very intelligent lyrical content and songs like “Maquiaveliko” believe him to have faked his death and be alive somewhere. Canserbero and his manager, who is female were rumored to have been lovers though she was married. Unlike Elvis or 2Pac there have been no reported sightings of Canserbero alive after he was said to have died. RIP.

Danger Man’s Murder and El Velaxx being a suspect – Official reports claim Danger Man was killed over a drug shipment which never arrived to its final destination. He was said to still be active in the streets. But many fans suspected El Velaxx and even went as far as to accuse Mr. Foxx too with whom Danger was rivals to. El Velaxx was sadly later killed that year too after performing at a peace festival. Mr. Foxx went on to have a prosperous career working with the likes of Flex, Japanese (a former rival prior to Danger’s death), Predikaor, Mista Bombo, Real Phantom and more… Danger Man is one of the most influential Panamanian Plena artists in history.

Almighty’s documented Mental Health Issues – Almighty has been open with his mental health issues which he claims to be spiritually related as he sometimes makes Christian Reggaeton music. There have been documented incidents of Almighty having mental breakdowns on social media. The most famous one was when after having no showed a scheduled performance in Florida, he appeared in a video with marks on his face and no shoes claiming Farruko hired goons to beat him up and take his shoes. Farruko denied the allegations and claimed this was known erratic behavior from the artist which the public was seeing for the first time. Almighty’s substance abuse issues are very public. And there are several videos of him online behaving strangely or appearing to be on the influence of drugs.

The Murder of Yeruza – Yeruza was shot and killed in a basketball court located in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico in the year 2020. The details on his murder are scarce but many believe he was not the intended target. His music group ‘Money Wayy’ are one of the hottest crews in Latin Rap & Reggaeton right now. If you hear his posthumous album, there was a lot of potential and he knew how to make great music. RIP.

I will also briefly touch on baseless accusations against YVNG Chimi being somehow involved with Yeruza's murder as some believe Yeruza to have been betrayed by someone close to the artist. Others more so believe the unintended target hypothesis. There is no evidence except for random videos on social media, most which cannot be found anymore.

Satanism in Modern Latin Rap & Reggaeton – This is the allegation by fans that many prominent Reggaeton figures have made a pact with Satan to achieve their great level of success. They apparently veil their allegiance to Satan through subconscious imagery and disguised lyrics. Among the most accused of being Satanic are Daddy Yankee as many claim his images of pyramids are all signs of him selling his soul to the devil. Bad Bunny is widely accused. So are Jhayco, Rauw Alejandro and Anuel AA is probably #2 with being accused after Daddy Yankee. Almighty who claims to be Christian accuses many artists of making pacts with Satan, but I don’t remember him singling out anyone specifically. Some of the Rappers murdered are believed to be sacrifices to the devil.

Steely & Cleevie's lawsuit against the genre of Reggaeton – Steely & Clevie is one of the most influential Dancehall Reggae production duos in history. They were discovered by Lee 'Scratch' Perry. In the 80's they created a Dancehall Riddim known as the 'Fish Market'. Steely passed away in 2009, but his estate is continuing the lawsuit on his behalf along with Cleevie. They allege that every Reggaeton song ever made, illegally sampled the "Fish Market" dub.

What is a riddim, some might ask? A riddim or "dub" is a term popularized in Jamaican Reggae in reference to the instrumentals of "beats" of Jamaican Reggae Music. It is a widely used term to this day and typically dj's/producers/selectors pick a Riddim which many Jamaican Reggae artists record songs to. Rarely are any rhythms exclusive to just one artist. Well known riddims include the "Coolie Riddim", "Diwali Riddim", "Bam Bam Riddim", the "Bookshelf" Riddim, and "Punnany" Riddim among hundreds of others...

Why did the lawsuit take so long? It appears that the duo did not own the rights to many of their material for a long time. I don't know if it was Byron Lee, who founded the label they worked for, but whoever the head was before passing away, reverted the ownership rights back to many artists before he died sometime in the 2000's. It appears Clevie did not have prior knowledge to Reggaeton or what it was until the phenomenon that was 'Despacito'. When he discovered there was an entire genre using a rhythm he felt to have created, Cleevie decided to proceed with a lawsuit suing only major companies and their Reggaeton song catalogs numbered in the 1000's inside the United States California court system which some have deemed as "frivolous" and "ridiculous". Some allege this lawsuit if successful could put the entirety of Reggaeton music out of business especially when others come to demand royalties.

To be fair and unbiased, Steely & Cleevie's 'Fish Market' has been sampled in Reggaeton with well documented instances, most notably Gringo Man's 'Trailer LLeno De Guiales' and many early Reggaeton hits which are not owned by any of the major labels. And if Cleevie's lawyers are claiming the duo invented the 'Tumpa Tumpa' rhythm pattern, that is just foolish. That drum pattern is heard in all rhythms that came from Africa including Salsa to Merengue, Cumbia even Jazz and Rock. Not one person can claim invention to any drum pattern as they all were invented thousands of years ago most likely in Africa where many of the first percussion instruments were known to originate from.

Also, the lawyers appear to be misinformed. Reggaeton people named the beat pattern 'dembow' because of a now obscure remix from the 1990's by DJ Destroyer of Nando Boom's translation of Shabba Ranks' "Dembow" which used to be very popular in underground clubs of the 90's. Listen to it Here. But the rhythm actually comes from Sleepy Wonder and Bobo General's "Pounder" song produced by Dennis D' Menace Haliburton. The rhythm is also known as the "Super Pounder Riddim" for being more upbeat and rhythmic than the original Pounder Shabba Ranks used. This is the riddim that was all over Reggaeton in its infancy, not the "Fish Market" nor original "Pounder" riddims, so if a competent lawyer could highlight these facts, it would destroy the basis of Clevie's lawsuit in front of an uncorrupt and competent judge. Some of the most known examples of Dennis D Menace's riddim usage include "Maria (Remix)" by Vico C, "Pension" by Nando Boom, Danger Man's "Me La Van a Pagar (Cuando Era Pelaito)" and "Rakata" by Wisin & Yandel although the drum loop used in that song was created by Luny himself though it was based on Dennis D' Menace's original "Super Pounder" riddim. All of those songs are known to have paid fees for usage or inspiration from that Riddim.

Velda Gonzalez vs Reggaeton - This was the famous incident when former Puerto Rican senator and former renown actress Velda Gonzalez attempted to ban Reggaeton from television, radio and record stores. I will even say what video it is rumored to be, but it cannot be found anymore. Apparently a friend of Velda's brought a personal complaint regarding her niece of 14 years old being in a Reggaeton music video, half naked. This video is known to be Point Breakers' "Pegate" which was a successful single at the time and a pretty good song; but the music video can no longer be found. There was little background checks in those days and it was suspected that wasn't the only case, but it was the only documented one. The girl never pressed charges because she was proud to be in the video. I don't know what happened with the family, I guess though girls were half naked, there was technically no illegal activity thus charges could not be pressed.

Velda then studied other Reggaeton videos and considered them to be filth and pornographic. She campaigned against Reggaeton for a year but gave up when the public reprimanded her for it. In the end she ended up 'Perreando' on stage with Hector & Tito for her campaign to be reelected which proved to be successful. She was trying to show young Puerto Rican girls a 'classy' way to perrear. RIP Velda.

Thank You for reading please check out parts 1 & 2

and parts 3 & 4. Take Care.