A Timeline Of Perreo (1994 to Now)

 

What is Perreo?  Well, it has really evolved over the years.  It is actually becoming a culture.  It originally started out as a dance.  Then it was slang for “sexy times” and eventually came to represent a specific style of Reggaeton.  But today, you have feminists and LGBTQ groups adopting it as a form of expression and representation.  Reggaeton personality & historian “La Gata” traces Perreo’s origins back to Africa and Tribalist expression within dance to the evolution of today in mostly women expressing their comfortability with one’s self and body.  We aren’t gonna go back that far.  Many don’t know the origins of Perreo, I do however.  I guess you could say I was there when this whole thing was created.  I mean, I wasn’t at Discoteca Rappers with Oakley but I was fully immersed within Reggaeton culture when Perreo became a thing.  Will Perreo continue to get bigger?  Possibly.  But right now it is an essential facet of Latin Urban culture and it would be good for people who want to be in tune to learn what exactly it is.  I will also do my best to give Perreo a dictionary style entry as best I can.

Origins

1994 -  Underground Reggaeton Music and the Bellaqueo Style of Reggaeton.  The origins of Perreo.

Before it was known as “Perreo” in later years, The Underground Reggaeton of Puerto Rico had many songs done in what has come to be known as the “Bellaqueo” style.  In Puerto Rico, “Bellaqueo” means “Raunchy” or straight up “Horny”.  In other countries it means being “Rowdy” or “Inordinate”.  Either definition fits the “Bellaqueo” style of Reggaeton really well. 

A song like “Oye Mira Nena” by Frankie Boy is very representational of “Bellaqueo” in Reggaeton.  The song had the lyrics “Mira Oye Nena/Menea Las Caderas/Y Preparate Para Chingar/Que Frankie Boy Mientras Te Canta/Te Sube Esa Falda/Y Te Da Mami Senda Clava”.  Some would call this misogyny.  But it was mostly females since way back when consuming this music and they enjoyed the “Bellaqueo” style of Reggaeton. 

The audience viewed it as just “fooling around” and never took the lyrics seriously.  Plus, initially, the music only appealed to people from the barrios and ghettos, first of Puerto Rico, then the rest of Latin America.  The lyrics shocked some conservative types.  But Barrio people just saw it as an evolution in their form of expression.  These kinds of lyrics would be scrutinized since then, but originally it was only people of governmental authority and concerned parents who condemned this kind of music feeling afraid it would pervert the youth.  In later years “Bellaqueo” lyrics would be scrutinized and labeled misogynistic by journalists, feminists, politcians, fans and even other artists.

The main subject is always “Sex” in “Bellaqueo” style Reggaeton which now is known as Perreo.  Dj’s like Chiclin, Playero, Joe among others made this style of Reggaeton of prevalent part of their Underground Mixtapes.  Artists of renown who specialized in this style of Reggaeton included Frankie Boy, Blanco, Maicol & Manuel, Baby J, Tito 3, El Vale, Los Boys, Las Guanabanas Podrias, MC Ceja among others…

1995 to 1999 – The Government of Puerto Rico censors and bans Bellaqueo Reggaeton for a time.

The government of Puerto Rico bans explicit lyric Reggaeton, specifically the Bellaqueo style of the music which had become real popular with audiences.  The problem was that because there was no explicit lyric warning on most of the early mixtapes, pre-teen youths were found by their parents consuming the music which led to rightful outrage. ++

++ Wrong correct later

Reggaeton’s answer to this was a phase of all clean/edited lyrics for about 4 years meanwhile the issue with explicit lyric Reggaeton was being resolved in local Puerto Rican courts.  The artists cleaned up their lyrics and showed that it was due to the quality of music why people consumed the culture, not because of the controversy.

1998 – The word “Perreo” is invented.  But who invented it?

A popular staple of the early days of Reggaeton were live concert albums.  On a specific one known as “Club Hollywood Live”, the word “Perreo” was uttered and made up on the spot by legendary MC Oakley (RIP) who was in the duo with the equally important OGM “Omar Garcia”.  Oakley’s uttering of the word is used in the intro to the album, although the actual performance is lost.  But OGM has told the story during interviews since.

What had happened was that during OGM & Oakley’s performance, a couple, boy and girl, got up on stage to dance together to the duo’s live act.  They would dance in a fashion that used to be known back then as “Bumpin’ and Grindin’”… this is what your grandparents called “Perreo”.  The girl bent over while dancing in front of the guy who grinded right behind on her backside with his pelvis and because it looked like when dogs make love, only with clothes on, Oakley invented a legendary phrase by shouting “Perreo, Perreo, Perreo” into the microphone inciting the crowd and couple.

Oakley had no idea when he said it, but on that night, he literally invented a word that would change Reggaeton and Latino culture forever.

1999 – Xtassy Reggae and the precursor to Perreo

It appears that the government of Puerto Rico had lessened up on their lyrical restrictions for Reggaeton.  The case would eventually be thrown out of court.  A couple albums in 1998 dropped with the Explicit Lyric Parental Advisory label.  These were Mexicano’s “Entre El Bien y El Mal” and Hector & Tito’s “Violencia Musical”.  But the overwhelming majority of Reggaeton music continued to be made with edited/clean lyrics.

Near the end of 1999 however an album known as ‘Xtassy Reggae’ was released.  The album consisted of private party remixes created by DJ Goldy & DJ Nelson that were stolen from their studio and made widely available in the underground market.  DJ Goldy & DJ Nelson were uncredited and never made a dime off the sales from that album.  They did however create an official Xtassy Reggae 2 in the year 2000 with the support of local radio station Mix 107 who got the permissions from Major Record Labels to do the album only within Puerto Rico.

The original Xtassy Reggae is an illegal album in every sense of the word.  Nobody knows who made it available.  But it must have been someone who worked at Mix 107 where DJ Nelson & DJ Goldy made their music back then.  That was also the original home for Luny Tunes & Noriega pre- Barrio Fino.

There was one song however that became a sensation.  It is known as “La Puta”.  The song samples a sketch from New Yorican Radio Show “El Vacilon De La Mañana” about a man lamenting over his unfaithful wife and calling her the Spanish word for “Bitch”.  Many people misconstrue this as a DJ Blass creation to this day, but it was actually DJ Goldy & DJ Nelson who made that beat.

People found “La Puta” infectious and it circulated across the bootleg scene throughout all of Latin America.  This song prompted artists and dj’s to start making Bellaqueo songs again.  DJ Joe and DJ Blass specifically saw this trend and began incorporating it to their music with much success.

2000 – The Year Perreo Was Born

In early 2000 when DJ Blass saw the sensation “Xtassy Reggae” was he decided to copy the idea from DJ Nelson to give exposure to his crew of singers known as “@ria 51”.   Blass made an entire mixtape of remixes along with dirty bellaqueo mixes and songs from his singers Plan B, Speedy, Great Kilo and Guelo Star.  The mixtape was titled “Xtassy Reggae 2” to capitalize off the success from the first one.

Thousands of copies were sold in the first week of the original, now lost, pressing (not even Blass has it and no one has ever uploaded this lost version).  Blass and Genio from Genio Records also a member of el Escuadron Del Panico had received notices to stop all production of the album.  The notices came on behalf of Mix 107 who was already working the ‘real’ “Xtassy Reggae 2” album with DJ Nelson and DJ Goldy. 

DJ Blass’ version of Xtassy Reggae 2 was full of unauthorized remixes.  It had several original songs from the @RIA 51 crew but Genio was given good advice to take off the remixes and only sell the originals.  If he did that then MIX 107 would promote the album.  Therefore DJ Blass released the now well known version of Reggaeton Sex II which is in fact @RIA 51 II but because people did not know who that was, they promoted it as “Reggaeton Sex 2”… the unofficial sequel to Xtassy Reggae.

The final version of Reggaeton Sex II has gone on to become a cult classic.  Its lead singles are internationally known with “Que Es Plan B?” from Guelo Star and Plan B going on to become a big hit.  But its biggest hit is “El Amor Con La Ropa” by Speedy, often cited as one of the best Reggaeton/Perreo songs in history.  Despite all that Reggaeton Sex 2 only sold 30 thousand units. 

Don’t misinterpret the numbers which are misleading.  These songs were heard in virtually all Spanish speaking territories around the world.  The problem was Reggaeton Sex 2 was a victim of its own success.  People saw the correlation between Reggaeton Sex 2 and Xtassy Reggae, and bootleggers took advantage.  There were many unauthorized versions of these albums.  Particularly for Central and South America where these albums weren’t available.  Though these bootlegs originated from NYC.  They were appealing to consumers as these versions would include songs from Xtassy Reggae and Reggaeton Sex, and later on Reggaeton Sex 3.

But how did Perreo become a phrase?  Well, that was Rapper Oakley on the Live album titled Club Hollywood Live from 1999.  There has been some dispute as to who came up with the phrase.  Rocky ‘The Kid’ from Mix 107 can be heard using it on his skits around the same time.  But Oakley immortalized the phrase when it was sampled on Reggaeton Sex 2 a year later.

The story goes… Oakley was in a duo with OGM, Omar Garcia throughout the 90’s.  They were a fairly successful duo for those days.  They appeared on several compilations of note such as El Cartel de Yankee, The Noise 7, DJ Adam Mad Jam 1 & 2, U Records and Mansion Crew among many others…  During their performance at Club Hollywood for the album, a couple got on stage and began bumping and grinding.  During the whole commotion Oakley shouts “Perreo, Perreo, Perreo…” into the mic.  And a legendary catchphrase was born which then took a whole new meaning of its own.

The original unedited audio is lost.  All that’s left is DJ Davey sampling it in the intro mix of Club Hollywood Live.  The song went mostly unnoticed until DJ Blass reused Oakley’s phrase with Blass’ voice instead.  Then some historians noticed the original when Perreo became part of the everyday lexicon.  However it may have been that the word came to be, it was Oakley that first spoke it on record, but Blass popularized the word and soon it was used to describe a whole new subgenre of music.

 

2001 – Perreo Is The New Wave

In 2001, the sound captivating the underground in Puerto Rico was hardcore.  Tiraera and Malianteo were the norm.  However, the clubs wanted something new and that was Perreo.  At the end of the century Electro Reggaeton was all the craze.  By 2001 if you weren’t rapping about murdering someone on record or doing the rare socially conscious track, then you were singing about fucking.

And that was what the audience wanted to hear.  For the first time ever, Panama followed Puerto Rico’s lead and began making Perreo music of their own.  The thing was that in the 90s music with explicit lyrics was banned by the govt of Puerto Rico.  Well, kind of…  There wasn’t anything signed into law.  And when it went to the Supreme Court in Puerto Rico, it was soundly defeated.

The problem wasn’t that the lyrics were explicit, it’s that they were being sold to minors.  Since there wasn’t any way to circumvent underage kids listening to explicit lyrics, the govt tried to ban everything under obscenity laws.  You were pulled over if you were listening to underground and had your tape confiscated.  Shops were raided and there was a ban on explicit lyric music.

However slowly the banned cassettes and Cd’s started to make their way back into stores.  Artists tested the waters in 1998 with Hector & Tito and Mexicano releasing unedited albums with parental advisory warnings.  But for the most part many didn’t want to take the chance of having their music kept off radio or tv.  So, the ban continued until Xtassy Reggae at tail end of 1999.  Then in 2000, when the attempted ban loss the first time, artists started making music more freely with no censorship.  They appealed with the backing of senator Velda Gonzalez in 2002, but they would lose again.

2002 – Hardcore Perreo is Dead, Say Hello to Commercial Mainstream Perreo and other controversies

During its peak in 2002, hardcore Perreo came under scrutiny after a mother saw her underage daughter in a music video.  I believe it was for “Pegate” by Point Breakers which is lost media.  And there was also another video with minors in it, although I don’t remember who the artist is in that one.  I’ve heard Wisin y Yandel but I cannot confirm.  But I do know who the director was and it is the famed Flaco Figueroa.  Because they took the proper procedures and the girl used a fake id, there were no charges.  She was reportedly 16 years old.

But this reached all the way to Senator Velda Gonzalez.  It not known what music video her secretary although if it was the Point Breakers one I would understand as it’s practically softcore porn and would have to be flagged 18+ on YOUTUBE if anyone has it.  Velda was shocked and outrage, especially because of the underage girl in one of these videos.  She decided to take on Reggaeton and tried to censor it.

Needless to say, Velda failed.  By the end of the year, she was dancing Perreo with Hector y Tito onstage to get re-elected.  There was a shift in 2002 and it was due to a production team’s sound, Flow Music with Luny Tunes & Noriega being the key creators.  They brought a Universal commercialism never before seen to Reggaeton. 

The drum pattern stayed the same but melodically the shift was so vast that it grew the genre tenfold.  The was because the melodies were no longer minimalist and weird or sample based.  And it strayed far away from the electronic sound of the previous years.

People compare Luny Tunes to the Neptunes and Timbaland along with the production used on Destiny’s Child record.  And it’s partially true.  But they borrowed more from the Latin Pop sound at the time, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira and Ricky Martin.  Luny Tunes have more in common with the slick production of a Diego Torres record than they do with a Dr. Dre song. 

This is thanks to Noriega who is actually a Pop Rock musician with his band Zorro Viejo when he’s discovered by Baby Rasta, then DJ Nelson who put him to work with Luny Tunes.  I doubt Hector & Tito would have reached as many people if they sounded like Snoop Dogg rather than Chayanne.

People went crazy for that sound.  It wasn’t just the kids in the hood listening to that but also los chicos fresas from more privileged areas because it sounded familiar now.  I had a friend who was fresa and she told me that everyone had been talking about Mas Flow 1 and she loved when she first heard it.  I disappointed with Mas Flow 1 the first weekend it came out. 

I thought Luny Tunes and Noriega were gonna revolutionize Reggaeton like Dr. Dre in taking the genre to next level… they did but not in the way I expected.  It wasn’t outright Pop but that opening Hector y Tito track sounds like Victor Manuelle when he does a Pop song… and I was thrown off when the whole album was like that except for Yankee, Nicky Jam and Las Guanabanas.  I was like “This sounds like the Backstreet Boys, but hood and in Spanish.”  By the 3^rd time I liked it, but I did not like the Diego Torres fusions at first.

And everyone followed suit.  I skipped ahead to Mas Flow 1 next year to tell a personal story but the album that first shifted Reggaeton into a more Pop friendly sound was Hector y Tito’s “A La Reconquista”.  That album had an actual Pop song by Diego Torres’ producers at the end with “En La Disco”.  Some of it had Gangsta Rap tones like in “Caserios”.  But overall, it geared towards Pop-friendly sound and was a preview of things to come.

Tego Calderon’s “El Abayarde” was more a traditional ‘Underground’ album and some Reggaeton fans don’t like it.  I give it a 10/10.  It busted open more closed doors for  the genre than any album before.  It sold more than “A la Reconquista” but some fans say it has too much rap, politics, and rapping instead of singing.  This was new type of fan going against the traditional ways of Reggaeton and Rap, but today they are the norm.

But it was their lyrics where Reggaeton cleaned up its act.  The change was subtle but noticeable.  The lyrics in 2000 and 2001 were so explicit that you couldn’t play those songs on commercial mainstream radio.  “Girla Te Bese” by MJ y OG Black ft Rey Pirin, “Rompe Condones” by Geniokila y La Gringa Xtasy, “Sexo Quieren Tener” by Fatal Fantasy & Reggaeton Sex Crew, “Bellaqueo” by Plan B, “Deja Que La Nota Se Te Suba” by Ñejo, “Déjala” by Don Omar among many others were examples of big hits that could no longer fly once Reggaeton started signing with the major.

In 2002, the major labels started making deals with all the reggaeton labels inside of Puerto Rico as they were making record breaking sales at the time.  And because of this the genre made a conscientious decision to clean up their lyrics a little bit.  It still caused controversy however when this music became a worldwide phenomenon.  And y’all got the clean version of Perreo.  Imagine if y’all got it raw as we did in 2000 and 2001.

2004 – “Gasolina” happens, Perreo is now worldwide.

What does Perreo mean?  Some just consider it a dance.  Others use it for slang to engage in sexual activities.  But to others, it's a culture.  It really is.  The culture isn't defined mind you.  And it is only in the past 10 years that Perreo has transformed into a culture.  But its roots start here because this is a worldwide movement and if it wasn't for "Gasolina", no one would know what we are even talking about.

"Gasolina" blows up worldwide and it takes the genre to the next level.  Then concepts like Perreo are introduced to Latin Americans worldwide.  Then they redefine some things like Perreo and give it a new definition.  And this definition becomes accepted.  Perreo also means sex.  It is not common to use it to define sex unless you're trying to veil some activity, but yes people use it like that.  Still "The Dance" became Perreo's pre dominant expression and still is to this day.

2006 – Pop Urbano Nails a Death Blow To Perreo

The thing about Perreo is... it's kind of silly.  ¿How are you gonna base a culture to dance named after dogs having relations?  So, as Reggaeton became more commercial, they started pushing "Perreo" into the background.  Artists stopped saying it on record.  The dances became more visually friendly and less sensual.  Then RKM y Ken-Y came out and they basically made Perreo uncool.

Songs had to have a theme and often it was Romantic one.  Don't get me wrong there were still songs to dance to, but it was no longer about dance.  It was about sex and love.  That's what people wanted but they were making it PG-13 to reach all audiences.  Hardcore Perreo was dead and would be for a few years.

2008 to 2014 – The Back To The Underground Era, The Rebirth of Perreo & Colombia's Role in Reintroducing the concept to the mainstream.

2015 to 2018 – Perreo goes mainstream pt 2…somewhat

There are 2 principal reasons Perreo is becoming a culture.  1 is Latina feminists who have adopted the music and its dance as sexual liberation.  And the LGBTQ community that pretty much adopt it in the same way, but from distinct point of view.

2020 – Bad Bunny Introduces Hardcore Perreo To The Mainstream and The Advent of Neo Perreo

2026 – Perreo’s Future…  Is it Really a Culture Now?

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