Falo 1st draft

 Reggaeton Hidden Gems  Falo, a Reggaeton legend and arguably the genre’s most homophobic Rapper in history.

Now the most shocking homophobic song was “No Queremos Mariflor” by Nando Boom.  I heard this song and thought nothing as a kid.  Then there were rumors swirling that Hector El Father was going to do a Nando Boom tribute album.  And people came out of the woodworks to denounce Nando Boom which I did not even know could be a thing back in 2005.

But based on this hoopla online, I decided to pay attention to the lyrics and they are very, very bad.  There is this line that goes “No hay piedad, no hay piedad, Busca la solución para echar homosexual, Pam, pam, muerte es la solución” which translated says “Look For The Solution To be rid of Homosexual, Pam Pam, Death Is The Solution”.  That’s really awful.  In forums back in the day, I read about people crying over this song because many heard “Enfermo De Amor” then look up Nando Boom’s greatest hits online and this song appears.

Nando Boom remains one of the maximum influences in Reggaeton history.  But since the “Gasolina” days, the LGBT influence has been ever growing and will continue to grow.  And now we have openly out artists of renown like Young Miko and Villano Antillano. 

I believe because of this action, Nando Boom’s star has nearly faded into obscurity.  He is not completely erased, but his legacy is nowhere near as regarded like other artists of his era and former stature including Vico C, El General, Danger Man and Big Boy.  Nando Boom should be mentioned with them as he is a pillar Reggaeton’s early days, however, he should apologize if he hasn’t already.  Jesus does not teach that.  He left Reggaeton for Christianity in 1997, only returning on occasion.

Another artist that will have to apologize if he makes a comeback in the next generation is Falo.  Originally, known as Falo The Leader, which was a play on words as “Falo” literally means “Phallus” and probably has limited his appeal once Reggaeton went mainstream.  You will just offend some people if you try to have an everyday conversation about the artist known as Falo in public.  People may think you are some kind of pervert.  He should go back to Falo The Leader, I feel.  His name would be less scrutinized if ever brought up in conversation by those unaware which is 99% of all humanity, they have no idea who Falo is.

In the Reggaeton world, Falo’s legend has diminished with every decade.  He was one of Reggaeton’s first somewhat mainstream stars.  This was because he was chosen by Prime Records CEO, Jorge “El Sexy Boy” Oquendo as the successor to his former 2 biggest artists, Vico C and El General.  El General left Prime in 1992 to sign directly with BMG Records and Vico C left in 1995 after financial disputes.

Falo originally began in a duo with renown Reggaeton pioneer, Blanco Flake.  They would record demos and perform on stage together frequently.  Then in 1994 Blanco forms a trio with Maicol y Manuel known as Third World Underground and Falo went solo, though he and Blanco would still perform on stage together until Blanco was arrested for murder later that year.  Blanco was sentenced to life in prison in 1997 and passed away in 2007 due to health complications.  There were rumors he was in fact murdered, but nothing was ever confirmed officially so I won’t elaborate on speculation any further.

Via his performances in The Noise nightclub with DJ Eric, Falo was discovered and signed to Prime Records.  He debuted in the famous “Prime Underground 1” various artist album which I believe went gold in its day.  Regardless, his songs “Colecta”, “Pal Cruce” and “Atencion” are Reggaeton gems known throughout Latin America.

Then in 1995, Falo debuts his solo production “Ritmo Profesional”.  The album went gold and is famous for the song “Carolina” which was sampled in Eddie Dee’s song of the same title in 2010.  The album was hailed as a classic and during a time when this was rarity, Falo became one of Urbano Latino’s first international stars.  He was well known in and outside Puerto Rico.  He would go on to perform in places like Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.  And this was long before Daddy Yankee took the genre to new levels in 2004.

But just as Falo’s star was rising, Maicol y Manuel threw the first shots at him on DJ Goldy 2 “Hardcore Reggae” but mainly at DJ Negro for sampling their vocals without permission nor payment on The Noise 5.  The song “Para La Chica Que Le Gusta El Sex Mix” produced by DJ Nelson is still an underground Reggaeton club staple to this day in and out of Puerto Rico. 

And Alberto Stylee dissed DJ Chiclin and DJ Negro randomly for no reason, probably to ride with his boys.  Who knows why Chiclin was referenced, maybe he rejected Alberto back in the day.  It appears that Falo was mentioned because it appears Blanco was already locked up by this time.  News reports say it was 1997, but it appears that is the year he was sentenced, not arrested.  That’s because in DJ Eric 4 – The Return from 1996, one of the interludes is Blanco checking in from prison.

Apparently, Maicol y Manuel were mad at Falo for not being there as much for Blanco before and during his arrest yet shouting him out on radio and interviews like they were the bestest of friends.  Yet Falo disputed this and said that he did interact with Blanco and visit him in jail, it’s just that MyM weren’t there to witness.  Falo remained quiet for about a year.

Then in 1996 with the release of Prime Underground 3, Falo delivered his long awaited response.  The song was known as “Extra” and featured Bam Bam, also known as DG Films, the director of “Somos De Calle Remix” by DY and many other music videos.  The track was a hit but lacked Falo’s childish tactic he used later.  He called Maicol y Manuel, Nico Canada and Alberto Stylee gay.

But before that, Alberto and Maicol y Manuel dissed hard on The Cream 2.  But Falo also went hard on The Noise 7.  All these tracks had visuals which made the public more invested.  The diss track “Criminal” by Alberto however was the biggest hit of these songs at the time.  And Stylee would have the song of the year in 1997 with “Vengo Acabando”.

But before 1997 came to a close, an album known as The Noise 8 – The Real Noise came out via a new international distribution deal with Sony Latin.  And Falo’s diss track to Alberto Stylee “Choco Pu Pu” was a lead single.  It had the infamous (but edited) line “Yo Soy Como Un Tren Choco Choco Pupu, Mamaberto y M&M se estan dando por el cucu”.  The music video even has a gay alien trying to give Falo and Bebe from The Noise an anal probe.

People at the time found this hilarious.  From my experience, the gay community wasn’t offended back then (I am not gay, bi nor any of the sort, I identify as a straight male from birth).  They sure as hell would be offended today though.  Some people in modern day podcasts still laugh at Falo’s punchlines about the Mansion Crew, DY and Nicky being gay together.

Falo made it all up.  There is not one member of the Mansion Crew who is gay.  Mansion Crew is Maicol y Manuel’s corillo with key members Alberto Stylee, Rey Pirin, Nico Canada, and Mr. Notty Boy.  They are or have all been married with children.  Now I know some men be Bi, but none of that is to be known about a single member of el Mansion.

But people believed Falo.  During the height of the Rap/Reggaeton battle, Falo testified to his disses being true and having witnesses claiming they saw Alberto kiss Nicky Jam on the lips in a nightclub.  Also, El Mansion were known to be ravers.  They used to paint their nails, dress like rock stars and dye their hair.  This is now normal, but back then it was weird.

The biggest reason why so many actually thought that members of the Mansion Crew were gay is because they were known to frequent the techno/house music clubs of Puerto Rico which continue to be very gay friendly.  If you have ever been to a techno club, you know its not out of this world to see guys and girls dance sexy with one another.  They would go to techno parties, do ecstasy, with an 18 to 19 year old Nicky Jam hanging out too (I think clubs back then used to be 18+, but there’s ways to get in for a celebrity if they weren’t).

Some people accused el Mansion Crew of being gay just because they looked like Punk Rockers.  And Falo ran all the way with it.  It was to the point that Alberto was being questioned in the streets of Puerto Rico by fans and media of whether he was a switch hitter.  This angered Alberto and he threatened publicly to sue Falo.  This led to probably the most infamous song in the tiraera, "Ni Tu Ni Tu Abogado".

This may be hard to intepret for someone looking back, especially from a fan of the mid 2000's because the general assessment was that Falo smashed Alberto and only when they made peace, was Stylee able to save his career.  Surprisingly however, Alberto Stylee was winning the battle even when The Noise 8 became a runaway success.

Alberto Stylee was arguably the most popular Reggaeton artist worldwide in 1997, one of the best years in the history of our music.  Meanwhile, Falo's album "En Guerra" received poor critical response and flopped in sales.  Then in 1998, Alberto Stylee started out very strong.  Stylee responded on Gargolas 1 El Comando Ataca with the club banger "Stylee Canta Para Usted".  That song was another massive hit and the audience preferred it over "Jangueando Con Falo" from The Noise 8.  Alberto appeared to have one, but then DJ Frank Time To Kill 1 drops.

Ironically, one of the lead radio singles of DJ Frank 1 is Maicol y Manuel's "La Gran Figura" although they did not appear in the video because Falo does.  Falo's song "Ni Tu Ni Tu Abogado" was the biggest song of the album when it came out in 1998.  Long term, several songs surpassed it, but during the battle it was viewed as the song which revived Falo's career.  

The chorus which was edited but easy to make out.  Falo rapped "Ni Tu Ni Tu Abogado A Mi Me Puede Demandar/Porque En La Corte Me Lo Tiene Que Mamar/Supuestamente no tuvistes chavos pa pagar/ Y tu Abogado con tu culo va cobrar."  That line made people laugh.  And that was Falo's arguably genius tactic, attacking Alberto and co.'s masculinity but taking a comedic route.  OG Black had similar success versus Tempo and Mexicano, taking a comedic approach parodying their macho gangsta personas.

On top of that Falo released 3 more diss tracks before the end of the year on The Warriors 2, DJ Dicky 3 with Bebe and The Crew 3.  They too were big hits.  Falo's onslaught was so strong that Alberto's debut album which was projected to sell 100 Thousand Units in the beginning of 1998, sold less than half when it came out in Christmas of 1998.  Alberto received offers from Sony for around $75,000 for his debut "Exclusivo" but not being sure if it would be well promoted he decided to go independent.  It underwhelmed to say the least and remains one of Stylee's lowest selling albums in his entire catalog despite being listed among the 10 best Latin Rap and Reggaeton albums of 1998 according to In The House Magazine.

Stylee attempted to save face and dissed back on Gargolas 2 which was a really awesome song and a hit, but Falo had the momentum in his favor.  Stylee also dissed on DJ Eric 6 but that one received a lukewarm reaction.  Maicol y Manuel bowed out of the battle.  But on DJ Frank 1, Falo set his sights on another opponent, Daddy Yankee.

Fans are divided on who won in Daddy Yankee vs Falo, lyrically.  They had strong outings.  DY answered back on Rubio y Joel's classic 1999 album "Gritos De Guerra" with "Knockout".  But Falo went hard on the albums "Hipnosis" and "Prime Underground 5".  But DY took a different approach, he took things to the streets.  There are several versions reported on the web over the years including people who claimed to be first hand witnesses.  But the constant is Daddy Yankee challenged Falo to a street fight, with gloves and DY won.

When news spread that Daddy Yankee beat up Falo in real life, the streets have Daddy Yankee the victory.  But Falo remained a popular artist going on to work heavily with DJ Blass.  He made peace with Daddy Yankee, Nicky and the Mansion Crew with whom he went on to make several hit songs.  Falo is still active to this day and has had a big hit in every decade he was active except for this one.

But that is not the motif of what I write today.  I am writing about whether Falo's approach was homophobic or not.  I mean one of his diss tracks had the chorus "Alberto Es Un Bugarron...", that is basically calling him the F- word.  And I hate to say it.  Yes.  Though it was permitted at the time, what Falo did classifies as Homophobia and Xenophobia.

Why wasn't it a big deal like with Nando Boom?  In Panama, to this day Nando Boom is a legend.  It was only outside of his home country that people took exception with what he did.  This is because Panamanians have the very same stigmas towards homosexuality as Jamaica.  And sadly, homophobia is very common in Panama and people over there, like in Jamaica view homosexuality as immoral and unacceptable.  These stigmas are changing in recent times but still remain very prevalent within Jamaica and Panama.

The truth is, Falo's disses never reached a big audience internationally.  Nando Boom's songs back in the day were crossover hits across Central, South America, the Caribbean and even parts of the United States.  Only fans of the Underground era ever listened to Falo's disses and back then the Reggaeton audience only numbered in the several hundreds of thousands worldwide, not the 2 billion + listeners it has today.  So his offensive songs have been mostly swept under the rug.

Also, Falo has not revisited these disses.  He no longer performs them live and has kept them off of compilations.  Falo's last big crossover hit was 2012's "Hey Mister" with Jowell & Randy & Los Pepe.  Even if some went back to "The Noise 8", the culture wasn't as welcoming to the LGBT community.  Rappers still called each other "gay" when they wanted to offend another.  But a lot has changed in nearly 15 years.  A lot of what people got away with in 2012 would be unacceptable in today's world.

I don't know what compelled me to write this.  I have been wanting to do a Falo piece for awhile.  I would do a Nando Boom one, but I don't know what his response was to the whole controversy.  Maybe one day I will retouch that subject in broader detail.  I did one on Homophobia in general and touch both these subjects in great detail.  But I want to focus on Nando Boom's legacy or lack thereof and how his Homophobia may have triggered him being erased from GOAT conversations which should include Nando if we are discussing pure talent and influence.

But I feel Falo's homophobic disses are an interesting part of history.  I hope it is never erased.  You don't have to love it nor listen to it but its akin to blackface in old Looney Tunes cartoons.  Yes it was wrong, but erasing does not help the matter.

Falo never publicly apologized and when asked about the battle versus the Mansion Crew he glosses over any homophobic connotation.  He did have a hit in every decade he was active thus far and continues to perform live to this day.  I think if he has another big hit, he will have to apologize.  People love to dig up stuff today and this could come back to haunt Falo if the Karol G fans ever learn who he is.  Thanks for reading!

Bonus Track:  Top 10 Best Songs in the Falo vs Mansion Crew & Daddy Yankee Beef

10  Falo "Ni Tu Ni Tu Abogado" from DJ Frank Time To Kill (1998)

9  Falo "1998" from Tha Crew 3 Kill The Mansion (1998)

8  Alberto Stylee - Criminal (1997) from The Cream 2

7  Falo & Bebe - Entra En Accion (1998) from DJ Dicky No Fear 3

6  "Y Yo No Se" by Alberto Stylee from Gargolas 2 (1999)

5  Maicol y Manuel "El Titulo" from The Cream 2 (1997)

4  Falo - Jangueando Con Falo (1998) from The Noise 8

3  Daddy Yankee "Knockout" (1999) from "Gritos De Guerra"

2  "La Realidad" & "Chicles Negros" Medley from DJ Goldy 2 by the Mansion Crew (Maicol, Manuel, Alberto Stylee & Nico Canada) [1995]

1  Nicky Jam "Para a Nicky Dificil Es" from La Mision 1 (1999)