Reggaeton is a hybrid music form with roots in Caribbean, Latin, and hip hop music. Despite the inclusion of the word reggae in reggaeton, the music form is actually closer to Jamaican dancehall music in it’s sound, with strong flavors of hip hop, salsa, bachata, and other forms blended in. Some people say that reggaeton also sounds like bomba, meringue, R&B, and Latin pop music. It is also generally characterized by a fast, electronic beat.
It’s tempting to think of reggaeton as most closely associated with North American hip hop music due to the similarities within the lyrical content and the singjay vocal style commonly used in the songs. But reggaeton remains quite different due to it’s blending of other musical forms to create a unique rhythm that is neither hip hop nor electronica nor any form of reggae or dancehall. With rhythms such as Dem Bow, reggaeton typically bases a song on a rapid drum machine track that includes a syncopated snare and kick drum. It is this fast beat, rather than a specific melody or guitar skank, that defines the form.
Reggaeton music lyrics are similar to other popular musical genres insofar as they cover a wide variety of themes, including classic topics of love, having fun, biographical information, and observations on life’s ups and downs. Beneath this wide variety of lyrical content though, reggaeton always seems to include a beat that you can dance to, making it a popular choice at parties and amongst younger listeners.
History of Reggaeton
Reggaeton music’s contemporary appeal belies it’s long gestation period, which began in Panama in the late 1970s. Reggaeton took hold in Panama in the early 80s, based on Spanish-language reggae recordings that were created by Afro-Panamanians at that time, beginning with reggaeton artiste El General, who is widely considered to be the progenitor of the musical style. Other popular early Panamanian reggaeton artists included Nando Boom, Renato, and Chico Man.
Reggaeton really blossomed from it’s early roots as a Spanish-language offshoot of Jamaican reggae after it spread to the island nation of Puerto Rico, where the local populace latched onto the sound and began producing their own songs, riddims, and unique flavor of the music. Today, Puerto Rico is often considered to be the home of reggaeton, having long since surpassed Panama in terms of creative output and fan base.
Reggaeton music spread quickly from it’s initial form as “Spanish Reggae” then to Puerto Rico and then throughout the rest of Latin America in the 1990s (and from there it spread to the rest of the world).
In the 1990s as reggaeton spread across Latin America, listeners began to distinguish it via the name “reggaeton”. Before that, most people simply described it as “Spanish Reggae,” but if you’ve heard a reggaeton song then you’ll understand that the fast tempo and melodies make it obvious that a distinction between reggaeton and roots reggae music is not merely semantics.
In 2004 reggaeton became popular outside of Latin America, spreading through North America, Europe, and Asia, and moving beyond Latino immigrant and expat communities into the larger dialog. When New York rapper N.O.R.E produced Nina Sky‘s Oye Mi Canto with guest reggaeton artists Daddy Yankee and Tego Calderón, reggaeton was ready to take hold in the United States. Daddy Yankee in particular became popular, appearing as a guest on many hip hop albums, further increasing awareness of reggaeton music.
In 2006 Don Omar‘s reggaeton album King of Kings topped Latin American music charts and became popular amongst non-reggaeton audiences as well, signaling that reggaeton had come of age and was generally popular.
Today, reggaeton music is most popular in Latin American countries including Puerto Rico (perhaps not a country exactly, but still must get a mention), Panama, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic. Although these countries are vastly different in many regards, reggaeton’s universal appeal is one binding force. From this force many new reggaeton artists have emerged, including DJ Sy, El Salvador, Doble Impakto, MC Francia and others.
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Big Up!! This article is very interesting,and there are alot of things said that were VERY untrue and I had to say something about this to correct and educate the author and the readers of this article. First,I must say that I am a U.S. born caribbean guy from Jamaican & Trinidadian parents. I think that if you’re going to talk about this so called genre ” REGGAETON ” then you must tell the truth and give credit where credit it due. Any form of reggae music is called ” REGGAE ” whether it is sung in chinese,spanish,english, or whatever. ” REGGAETON ” is like a rip-off and steal from the original reggae music which started in Kingston, Jamaica over 40 years ago. The original ” REGGAE EN ESPANOL ” was started by panamanians of direct jamaican decent because jamaicans and many other west indian immigrants from trinidad,barbados, and other caribbean islands migrated to panama in the early 1900′s. In the late 1970′s a large amount of jamaicans had introduced reggae music to the panamanians, I am talking about both roots reggae, and dance hall reggae. Notice how I said ” dance hall reggae ” not just dance hall. The panamanians started translating the reggae songs into spanish but the stayed true to their jamaican heritage also. I have not seen JAMAICA mentioned once in this article. That is total disrespect. The so called ” DEM BOW ” that latinos use in 90% of their songs is a 100% jamaican beat which is called the ” POUNDER ” riddim which was created by Bobby Digital a jamaican producer and a song called ” DEM BOW ” which is jamaican slang for ” they bow ” which was making fun of guys who eat girl’s pu**y because it is not accepted in jamaican culture. That’s the TRUE meaning of DEM BOW. It’s not a ” RIDDIM “…” RIDDIM ” is a jamaican patoi slang for ” rythem, or a beat but now latinos use the word ” riddim ” and dont even know the history behing it. Every beat that us jamaicans use has a name to it and we have been doing this for years, and years, it has been a part of our culture from the time reggae started. the ” POCO MAN JAM ” is also a riddim that we use which reggaeton beats are based off of. How can you say that reggae and reggaeton are not the same when reggaeton uses jamaican beats that were created over 20 years ago. All these new artists are doing is copying our style, our dances, our beats, and our concepts, and trying to make it this latino pride thing and it NEVER was apart of their culture. REGGAE MUSIC IS OUR PRIDE, AND JOY AND OUR CULTURE. If you’re going to use our music then give credit to where it belongs. You cant mention reggaeton with out mentioning reggae because if Jamaicans didn’t bring reggae to Panama there would be no reggaeton. Thank you.
” I mean to add that ” DEM BOW ” was a very old song by Shabba Ranks and beat created by jamaican producer Bobby Digital. El General from Panama used the beat from this song and he did a ” REGGAE EN ESPANOL ” song called ” SON BOW ” which from what I have heard just translated the lyrics from the original Shabba Ranks version. Dance hall reggae started in Kingston, Jamaica as us west indies people’s way of expressing our views from the eyes of a ” ghetto yute “. It always has a message, sometimes positive sometimes negative but it started as a way for the poor, ghetto people of jamaica to express their views…political views,social views, what goes on in the ghetto of a 3rd world island in the caribbean. That’s the REAL reggae music. 100% JAMAICA DANCEHALL REGGAE…WEST INDIES 4 LIFE!!
DEM BOW is a Shabba Ranks song from years and years ago!! JAMAICA DEH BEST!! REGGAE A WE OWN A TING, YUH FI KNOW!!! WEST INDIES 4 LIFE
Thanks for the comments – despite your writing that there are many untrue statements in the original article, it seems like we agree on many things, such as my writing that “Reggaeton took hold in Panama in the early 80s, based on Spanish-language reggae recordings that were created by Afro-Panamanians at that time.” I was giving credit to reggae as the root of reggaeton but I also wanted to make it clear that reggaeton today doesn’t sound like the original reggae and dancehall tracks that inspired it back in the 80s.
There are also other articles on this site for reggae and dancehall which hopefully give enough respect to those art forms. Take a look and let me know if they should be improved!
Peace
Chris AKA Dubman
BIG UP!! Up most respect & blessings to you my brotha, 4 promoting reggae,dub,ska,& danchall music!! Yea, we definetally agree on alot of things, and your articles are VERY good. I hope I didn’t come off too critical or your post on here, I was just trying to shed light on the whole ” reggaeton ” thing, because alot of people don’t even know the true history behind it. I definetally agree with you that the reggaeton that they make,and listen to these days sounds NOTHING like the original dance hall reggae music. It doesn’t even sound like the original ” reggae en espanol ” by the jamaican panamanians who started singing reggae in spanish. LOL…it’s somehow lost it’s roots and I know there’s alot of biting and disrespect from alot of the artists going on too. Alot of the puerto rican artists don’t even mention jamaica or dancehall on purpose, so that when other latinos from other countries that haven’t heard certain reggae beats yet, they automatically get the credit for it. For example the ” pull up ” song by Mr. Vegas. Mr. Vegas made ” pull up ” and was gettin’ maad airplay in Miami, New York and all over 4 that song,it was like the hottest reggae song 4 months and months,and then Pit Bull (cuban) from Miami asked to colab wit Vegas , borrowing that beat, then all of a sudden Pit Bull dropped ” coolo ” off of that beat with out even getting full permission to use that beat. All he asked for was a collab on that beat with Vegas. Next thing you know pull up stopped getting alot of air play and coolo was gettin played every where, so Mr. Vegas had to sue Pit Bull and Lil’ Jon 4 makin the coolo song, and he actually won the law suit. You can look that up on line, just google ” mr vegas lawsuit against pitbull “. So, there’s alot of reasons why I’m so annoyed about the whole ” reggaeton ” thing, because alot of artists copy the jamaican style and the beats and they say that it came from puerto rico. Same with the ” bam bam ” beat, or murder she wrote riddim, the poco man jam, and pounder riddim. In fact they are even so bold as to say that ” reggaeton is better than reggae LOL …I’m like how is that possible when you are using our beats and we are so original that we have made thousands of songs with different riddims but they only steal the beat and then rap over it in spanish and it sounds NO WHERE NEAR as good as what we do LOL…it’s okay though. NUFF’ RESPECT to the latinos who show respect for reggae and keep it 100% REAL!! It’s okay to record reggae in any time of language but just don’t try to change the history of it and take claim to something that was borred from another culture!! NUFF’ RESPECT 2 DUBMAN!!! Keep doing your thing on here!
Hi there, I’m really glad to read that you guys are arguing about the birth of reggaeton… I do agree that the base beat comes from the “POUNDER” song by “Bobo General & Sleepy Wonder” Created by BOBBY DIGITAL.
I have to say that i don’t like reggaeton but i do enjoy dancehall reggae. Many statements here are true, but why don’t you investigate in my country, Panama. All reggae singers from those years such as EL GENERAL, NANDO BOOM, CHICHO MAN, RENATO, ETC…are still alive. They are the best way to find out why, how, what, etc., they took from jamaica to make what you know as reggaeton. The first song i can remember from those days comes from NANDO BOOM, a so called translation of BUDDY BYE, by Johnny Osbourne. It was a hit and still is among those who enjoy “old spanish reggae” and it doesn’t have anything to do with REGGAETON or POUNDER RIDDIM or DEMBOW.
BLESS!!!
There are many misconceptions on here. For one Jamaicans didn’t bring reggae to panama, they brought Mento over. Panamanians were making Calypso/ Mento music until the late 70′s. In Panama they played reggae and artists such as: Super Nandi and Rasta Nini started making their own. However it wasn’t until 1982-84 that the first recorded Spanish-reggae song was created in panama by Renato and Nando Boom. Moving into the late 80′s the most famous artists was El general who traveled the world and brought reggae itself to other countries in Latin America. It should also be made clear that there were other reggae artists in other Latin American countries, most notably Shabba Khan from Honduras. In Puerto Rico they did have few reggae artists but it never became a movement like it did so in Panama.
Throughout this time period the word “Reggaeton” was not invented. It was called reggae in Panama because the style of genre never changed just the language, also because it was obvious it was in Spanish so it was no need to identify it as Spanish Reggae or “Reggae en Espanol”. Mean While artist Nando Boom are getting played in Puerto Rico, the youths there are trying to make their own local dancehall scene, I can’t name any artists but if you listen to early 90′s Puerto Rican Reggaeton it was a imitation of what was going on in Panama, I would say Jamaica but it was certain things Panamanians did differently such as singing with a high pitch whereas Jamaicans tried to sing with as much bass as possible.
Puerto Ricans having ties to New York and the States added alot of hip hop influences to their reggae and over time stopped deejaying and simply rapping. In Panama they had an era where most songs were on the Pounda or “Dem Bow” Riddim but eventually stopped towards the late 90′s and went back to the original dance hall flavor. When speaking on this era, Panamanians DJ El Chombo should be mentioned, he was the most famous Reggaeton artist.
In the late 90′s a big change happened. Puerto Ricans kept the Pounda Riddim and started mixing it around, and stopped deejaying and started rapping over tracks. While In panama they kept deejaying over most Jamaican Riddims that were out at the time. Panamanians stopped marketing themselves and kept their music local, while Puerto Ricans commercialized their music and because of their access to America they found it easier to let it be heard in cities such as Miami, New York and other heavily populated Puerto Rican areas. AT this time the term Reggaeton did not exists, it was called Melaza in Puerto Rico and reggae in panama. Sometime in 2002-2003 the term Reggaeton was beginning to be heard, its real reason to have been created was because it would distinguish it from Dancehall which at this point seems to be a complete different genre because of all the house and Hip Hop influence added.
Well the Puerto Ricans tried to change the name, and in 2004-2005 they started getting played hard in American Radios and were shown more and more on Spanish television shows and on MTV. Artists such as Daddy Yankee made the biggest noise with his hit Gasolina. More and More Puerto Rican artistes came out and did not acknowledge Panamanians nor give help to other his panic artistes to come out as well. The resentment and frustration in Panama grew more and more because of this.
Well all through the 2000′s there was alot of controversy and Beefs between Panamanian deejays, all in the spirit of Dancehall (a very competitive genre). The Panamanians noticed that while they were beefing and getting their credit stolen for helping create Reggaeton, that the Puerto Ricans were making alot of money, and doing shows in Panama and not showing respect to local talents. This started a huge anti-Reggaeton movement in Panama. By the end of the decade The Boricuas made millions and commercialized the music to a point were it became corny and lost the power they had to get American attention. By that time I guess many Hispanic artists felt resentment towards the Puerto Ricans, in a way they blew the chance to let everyone in and make it to mainstream instead they kept it a private Puerto Rican party.
So I guess between 2008 and 2010 everyone got tired of hearing The Dem Bow Riddim in every song and started liking the Dominican Hip Hop and Panamanian Reggae. We start seeing more Puerto Ricans trying to do Dancehall and pure hip hop songs. This also started the big issue between Dominicans and Puerto Ricans because the Dominicans weren’t helped to get their hip hop movement brought over to American media attention and now they don’t want anything to do with Puerto Ricans. In Panama they changed the label of Reggae en Espanol to Plena (a name referring to all urban music in panama. Terms such as; romantic style is the equivalent to lover’s rock, Bultron the equivalent to “Gunman Chunes” and or all dancehall songs are made in Panama. Plena usually refers to Bultron, Romantic Style, Soca music, and Reggaeton style songs made in Panama.
BTW the reason why Jamaica isn’t mention much is because it is known and obvious that reggae comes from Jamaica, it’s kind of pointless to state the obvious.
How can dancehall reggae artists link up with Dj’s and radio disc jockey in latin countries.
i love too dancce regg cuz i know how lol
Michael Ellis is the founder of the Reggeaton Movement, pioneer of Spanish Reggae, MTV Video Award Winning Producer, La Gaviota de plata (the highest latin award) Award Winning producer in Vinas del mar Chile, 3 Time Grammy Award winning Producer, Billboard Award Winning Producer, 4 Time Premiolo Nuestro Award Winning Producer, etc. Michael Ellis produced the smash hits “El Gran Pana”, “El Maestro”, “Son Bow”, “Buduff Kun Kun”, “Te Ves Buena”, “La Quemé”, “El Paré”, “No Mas Guerra”, “Wine Your Body”, “Cross The Border”, “Caramelo”, “Mermaid Body” , “Muevelo, Muevelo” with New Creation/BMG , “Hombre Murio” with New Creation/Columbia Records, “Do That to Me One More Time”, and “Killing you Suave” by Killer Ranks in association with Warner Brothers.
Michael Ellis is responsible for the genres RegRapBlues, Reggaeton and Spanish Reggae. Other titles from the Spanish Reggae genre includes “The Best of Spanglish Reggae Vol. 1″ produced in Creation Studios in 1998 by Michael Ellis and Derrick Barrnett, also with this release given birth to the term “Spanglish” created by Michael Ellis meaning a mixture of English and Spanish lyrics. Michael Ellis changed the way music was done in this industry. This movement came from Jamaican Dancehall and lovers rock, we have to give credit to Yellow Man, Flowergon, Admiral Bailey, Bob Marley, Supercat, Shabba, Cutty Ranks, Nicodemus, etc…
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_reggaeton_start
I Kazey Ellis, son of Michael Ellis owner and founder of “New Creation Records in Manhattan, New York (47 Charles Street)”, The creator of the word “Reggaeton” that means “Big Spanish Reggae Movement” promoted around the world…The genre of this music is Spanish Reggae, which means Reggae en Espanol.
There has been a confusion for the longest, because my father never cared to expose or correct it. Michael Ellis is the founder of the Reggaeton Movement, pioneer of Spanish Reggae, MTV Video Award Winning Producer, La Gaviota de plata (the highest latin award) Award Winning producer in Vinas del mar Chile, 3 Time Grammy Award winning Producer, Billboard Award Winning Producer, 4 Time Premiolo Nuestro Award Winning Producer, etc. Michael Ellis produced the smash hits “El Gran Pana”, “El Maestro”, “Son Bow”, “Buduff Kun Kun”, “Te Ves Buena”, “La Quemé”, “El Paré”, “No Mas Guerra”, “Wine Your Body”, “Cross The Border”, “Caramelo”, “Mermaid Body” , “Muevelo, Muevelo” with New Creation/BMG , “Hombre Murio” with New Creation/Columbia Records, “Do That to Me One More Time”, and “Killing you Suave” by Killer Ranks in association with Warner Brothers.
Michael Ellis is responsible for the genres RegRapBlues, Reggaeton and Spanish Reggae. Other titles from the Spanish Reggae genre includes “The Best of Spanglish Reggae Vol. 1″ produced in Creation Studios in 1998 by Michael Ellis and Derrick Barrnett, also with this release given birth to the term “Spanglish” created by Michael Ellis meaning a mixture of English and Spanish lyrics. Michael Ellis changed the way music was done in this industry. This movement came from Jamaican Dancehall and lovers rock, we have to give credit to Yellow Man, Flowergun, Admiral Bailey, Bob Marley, Supercat, Shabba, Cutty Ranks, Nicodemus, etc…
My father took the movement to Puerto Rico, where he named the movement “Reggaeton” but he had marketed the music in America, Mexico and Santo Domingo before he took it to Puerto Rico. He licensed his product to prime entertainment, where Vico C was one of their artists, (Vico C had previously heard the music in Santo Domingo and asked his manager to contact my father). Lisa M was one of his dancers, Pesos was also one of their artists. My father was the first to do a Reggaeton show in Puerto Rico along with Prime Entertainment in 1989 featuring artists, El General – (“Tu Pum Pum , Te Vez Beuna & Son Bow”), Killer Ranks – (“Hombre Murio”), Vico C, Rude Girl, Profeta, Jam, Special Ed, Smooth The Hustler and Howie Irie – (“English & Espanol”).
He promoted and marketed Reggaeton to the world with the help of Freddy Beras Goico (Santo Domingo), Hector Marcano (Puerto Rico), El Show de La Condesa (Purto Rico), Tony Pabone (Ritmo Records), Nando Alvarechi (Radio Personality), Luis Pisterman (Former Vice President of WEA Latina), Eddie Batiste, DJ Gungui Rivera, Denis The Menace, Phillip Smart, DJ Sting, Computer Paul, DJ Lee Majors, DJ Waggy T, Bobby Konders, Bobby Reece, DJ Prince Ice, Bobby Brown, Gil Bailey, Clinton Lindsey, Steve Power, Don Francisco, El Bacan Bacan (TV Show Host), Irie Myrie, Specialist Dillon, Andre Holiman, Chubby Jimenez, Chino Estrella, Father Barney, Davhed Levy, George Lewis, Paul Marshall (Entertainment Attorney), Don King (Promoter), Mel Haber (Owner of Sun Finance), Luis Del Busto (Radio Programmer), Andre Carson (Radio Programmer), Carlos Marine (Ecuador), Mario Villacorta (El Salvador), Donna Tonaso (Nicaragua) and Jesus Lopez (Former VP of Latin North America at BMG International).
The credit belongs to these people and some that were not mentioned, that helped make the Reggaeton Movement possible. Again “Reggaeton” means “Big Spanish Reggae Movement” promoted around the world. My father never cared about credit only creativity and anyone that knows him, knows that. It was a movement of unity by the sound of music, so that Latinos today can have an identity.
I Kazey Ellis, son of Michael Ellis owner and founder of “New Creation Records in Manhattan, New York (47 Charles Street)”, The creator of the word “Reggaeton” that means “Big Spanish Reggae Movement” promoted around the world…The genre of this music is Spanish Reggae, which means Reggae en Espanol.
There has been a confusion for the longest, because my father never cared to expose or correct it. Michael Ellis is the founder of the Reggaeton Movement, pioneer of Spanish Reggae, MTV Video Award Winning Producer, La Gaviota de plata (the highest latin award) Award Winning producer in Vinas del mar Chile, 3 Time Grammy Award winning Producer, Billboard Award Winning Producer, 4 Time Premiolo Nuestro Award Winning Producer, etc. Michael Ellis produced the smash hits “El Gran Pana”, “El Maestro”, “Son Bow”, “Buduff Kun Kun”, “Te Ves Buena”, “La Quemé”, “El Paré”, “No Mas Guerra”, “Wine Your Body”, “Cross The Border”, “Caramelo”, “Mermaid Body” , “Muevelo, Muevelo” with New Creation/BMG , “Hombre Murio” with New Creation/Columbia Records, “Do That to Me One More Time”, and “Killing you Suave” by Killer Ranks in association with Warner Brothers.
Michael Ellis is responsible for the genres RegRapBlues, Reggaeton and Spanish Reggae. Other titles from the Spanish Reggae genre includes “The Best of Spanglish Reggae Vol. 1″ produced in Creation Studios in 1998 by Michael Ellis and Derrick Barrnett, also with this release given birth to the term “Spanglish” created by Michael Ellis meaning a mixture of English and Spanish lyrics. Michael Ellis changed the way music was done in this industry. This movement came from Jamaican Dancehall and lovers rock, we have to give credit to Yellow Man, Flowergun, Admiral Bailey, Bob Marley, Supercat, Shabba, Cutty Ranks, Nicodemus, etc…
My father took the movement to Puerto Rico, where he named the movement “Reggaeton” but he had marketed the music in America, Mexico and Santo Domingo before he took it to Puerto Rico. He licensed his product to prime entertainment, where Vico C was one of their artists, (Vico C had previously heard the music in Santo Domingo and asked his manager to contact my father). Lisa M was one of his dancers, Pesos was also one of their artists. My father was the first to do a Reggaeton show in Puerto Rico along with Prime Entertainment in 1989 featuring artists, El General – (“Tu Pum Pum , Te Vez Beuna & Son Bow”), Killer Ranks – (“Hombre Murio”), Vico C, Rude Girl, Profeta, Jam, Special Ed, Smooth The Hustler and Howie Irie – (“English & Espanol”).
He promoted and marketed Reggaeton to the world with the help of Freddy Beras Goico (Santo Domingo), Hector Marcano (Puerto Rico), El Show de La Condesa (Purto Rico), Tony Pabone (Ritmo Records), Nando Alvarechi (Radio Personality), Luis Pisterman (Former Vice President of WEA Latina), Eddie Batiste, DJ Gungui Rivera, Denis The Menace, Phillip Smart, DJ Sting, Computer Paul, DJ Lee Majors, DJ Waggy T, Bobby Konders, Bobby Reece, DJ Prince Ice, Bobby Brown, Gil Bailey, Clinton Lindsey, Steve Power, Don Francisco, El Bacan Bacan (TV Show Host), Irie Myrie, Specialist Dillon, Andre Holiman, Chubby Jimenez, Chino Estrella, Father Barney, Davhed Levy, George Lewis, Paul Marshall (Entertainment Attorney), Don King (Promoter), Mel Haber (Owner of Sun Finance), Luis Del Busto (Radio Programmer), Andre Carson (Radio Programmer), Carlos Marine (Ecuador), Mario Villacorta (El Salvador), Donna Tonaso (Nicaragua) and Jesus Lopez (Former VP of Latin North America at BMG International).
The credit belongs to these people and some that were not mentioned, that helped make the Reggaeton Movement possible. Again “Reggaeton” means “Big Spanish Reggae Movement” promoted around the world. My father never cared about credit only creativity and anyone that knows him, knows that. It was a movement of unity by the sound of music, so that Latinos today can have an identity.
For The Full Documented True Story Go Here:
http://www.mketv.com/wow/the-truth-about-reggaeton
I Kazey Ellis, son of Michael Ellis owner and founder of “New Creation Records in Manhattan, New York (47 Charles Street)”, The creator of the word “Reggaeton” that means “Big Spanish Reggae Movement” promoted around the world…The genre of this music is Spanish Reggae, which means Reggae en Espanol.
There has been a confusion for the longest, because my father never cared to expose or correct it. Michael Ellis is the founder of the Reggaeton Movement, pioneer of Spanish Reggae, MTV Video Award Winning Producer, La Gaviota de plata (the highest latin award) Award Winning producer in Vinas del mar Chile, 3 Time Grammy Award winning Producer, Billboard Award Winning Producer, 4 Time Premiolo Nuestro Award Winning Producer, etc. Michael Ellis produced the smash hits “El Gran Pana”, “El Maestro”, “Son Bow”, “Buduff Kun Kun”, “Te Ves Buena”, “La Quemé”, “El Paré”, “No Mas Guerra”, “Wine Your Body”, “Cross The Border”, “Caramelo”, “Mermaid Body” , “Muevelo, Muevelo” with New Creation/BMG , “Hombre Murio” with New Creation/Columbia Records, “Do That to Me One More Time”, and “Killing you Suave” by Killer Ranks in association with Warner Brothers.
Michael Ellis is responsible for the genres RegRapBlues, Reggaeton and Spanish Reggae. Other titles from the Spanish Reggae genre includes “The Best of Spanglish Reggae Vol. 1″ produced in Creation Studios in 1998 by Michael Ellis and Derrick Barrnett, also with this release given birth to the term “Spanglish” created by Michael Ellis meaning a mixture of English and Spanish lyrics. Michael Ellis changed the way music was done in this industry. This movement came from Jamaican Dancehall and lovers rock, we have to give credit to Yellow Man, Flowergun, Admiral Bailey, Bob Marley, Supercat, Shabba, Cutty Ranks, Nicodemus, etc…
My father took the movement to Puerto Rico, where he named the movement “Reggaeton” but he had marketed the music in America, Mexico and Santo Domingo before he took it to Puerto Rico. He licensed his product to prime entertainment, where Vico C was one of their artists, (Vico C had previously heard the music in Santo Domingo and asked his manager to contact my father). Lisa M was one of his dancers, Pesos was also one of their artists. My father was the first to do a Reggaeton show in Puerto Rico along with Prime Entertainment in 1989 featuring artists, El General – (“Tu Pum Pum , Te Vez Beuna & Son Bow”), Killer Ranks – (“Hombre Murio”), Vico C, Rude Girl, Profeta, Jam, Special Ed, Smooth The Hustler and Howie Irie – (“English & Espanol”).
He promoted and marketed Reggaeton to the world with the help of Freddy Beras Goico (Santo Domingo), Hector Marcano (Puerto Rico), El Show de La Condesa (Purto Rico), Tony Pabone (Ritmo Records), Nando Alvarechi (Radio Personality), Luis Pisterman (Former Vice President of WEA Latina), Eddie Batiste, DJ Gungui Rivera, Denis The Menace, Phillip Smart, DJ Sting, Computer Paul, DJ Lee Majors, DJ Waggy T, Bobby Konders, Bobby Reece, DJ Prince Ice, Bobby Brown, Gil Bailey, Clinton Lindsey, Steve Power, Don Francisco, El Bacan Bacan (TV Show Host), Irie Myrie, Specialist Dillon, Andre Holiman, Chubby Jimenez, Chino Estrella, Father Barney, Davhed Levy, George Lewis, Paul Marshall (Entertainment Attorney), Don King (Promoter), Mel Haber (Owner of Sun Finance), Luis Del Busto (Radio Programmer), Andre Carson (Radio Programmer), Carlos Marine (Ecuador), Mario Villacorta (El Salvador), Donna Tonaso (Nicaragua) and Jesus Lopez (Former VP of Latin North America at BMG International).
The credit belongs to these people and some that were not mentioned, that helped make the Reggaeton Movement possible. Again “Reggaeton” means “Big Spanish Reggae Movement” promoted around the world. My father never cared about credit only creativity and anyone that knows him, knows that. It was a movement of unity by the sound of music, so that Latinos today can have an identity.
For The Full Documented True Story Go Here:
http://www.reggaeinthecarolinas.tv/the-real-truth-about-reggaeton