page_title: Reggaeton
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Reggaeton / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Daddy Yankee performing in Panama City, Florida, United States during Spring Break 2006.Español: Daddy Yankee presentándose en Panama City, Florida, Estados Unidos durante el Spring Break 2006.
context_page_description: Reggaeton, also known as reggaetón and reguetón, is a music style which originated in Puerto Rico during the late 1990s. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, Latin American, and Caribbean music. Vocals include rapping and singing, typically in Spanish.
  Reggaeton is regarded as one of the most popular music genres in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, in countries including Puerto Rico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela. Over the past decade, the genre has seen increased popularity across Latin America, as well as acceptance within mainstream Western music.
context_section_description: Often mistaken for reggae or reggae en Español, reggaeton is a younger genre which originated in the clubs of San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1991. It became known as "underground" music, due to its circulation through informal networks and performances at unofficial venues. DJ Playero and DJ Nelson were inspired by hip hop and Latin American music to produce "riddims", the first reggaeton tracks. As Caribbean and African-American music gained momentum in Puerto Rico, reggae rap in Spanish marked the beginning of the Boricua underground and was a creative outlet for many young people. This created an inconspicuous-yet-prominent underground youth culture which sought to express itself. As a youth culture existing on the fringes of society and the law, it has often been criticized. The Puerto Rican police launched a campaign against underground music by confiscating cassette tapes from music stores under penal obscenity codes, levying fines and demonizing rappers in the media. Bootleg recordings and word of mouth became the primary means of distribution for this music until 1998, when it coalesced into modern reggaeton. The genre's popularity increased when it was discovered by international audiences during the early 2000s.
  The new genre, simply called "underground" and later "perreo", had explicit lyrics about drugs, violence, poverty, friendship, love and sex. These themes, depicting the troubles of inner-city life, can still be found in reggaeton. "Underground" music was recorded in marquesinas (Puerto Rican carports) and distributed in the streets on cassettes. The marquesinas were crucial to the development of Puerto Rico's underground scene because of the state's "fear of losing the ability to manipulate 'taste'". Marquesinas were often in public "housing complexes such as Villa Kennedy and Jurutungo". Despite being recorded in housing projects, most of the marquesinas were good quality (which helped increase their popularity among Puerto Rican youth of all social classes). The availability and quality of the cassettes led to reggaeton's popularity, which crossed socioeconomic barriers in the Puerto Rican music scene. The most popular cassettes in the early 1990s were DJ Negro's The Noise I and II and DJ Playero's 37 and 38. Gerardo Cruet (who created the recordings) spread the genre from the marginalized residential areas into other sectors of society, particularly private schools.
  By the mid-1990s, "underground" cassettes were being sold in music stores. The genre caught up to middle-class youth, and found its way into the media. By this time, Puerto Rico had several clubs dedicated to the underground scene; Club Rappers in Carolina and PlayMakers in Puerto Nuevo were the most notable. Bobby "Digital" Dixon's "Dem Bow" production was played in clubs. Underground music was not originally intended to be club music. In South Florida, DJ Laz and Hugo Diaz of the Diaz Brothers were popularizing the genre from Palm Beach to Miami.
  Underground music in Puerto Rico was harshly criticized. In February 1995, there was a government-sponsored campaign against underground music and its cultural influence. Puerto Rican police raided six record stores in San Juan, hundreds of cassettes were confiscated and fines imposed in accordance with Laws 112 and 117 against obscenity. The Department of Education banned baggy clothing and underground music from schools. For months after the raids local media demonized rappers, calling them "irresponsible corrupters of the public order."
  In 1995, DJ Negro released The Noise 3 with a mockup label reading, "Non-explicit lyrics". The album had no cursing until the last song. It was a hit, and underground music continued to seep into the mainstream. Senator Velda González of the Popular Democratic Party and the media continued to view the movement as a social nuisance.
  During the mid-1990s, the Puerto Rican police and National Guard confiscated reggaeton tapes and CDs to get "obscene" lyrics out of the hands of consumers. Schools banned hip hop clothing and music to quell reggaeton's influence. In 2002
caption: Daddy Yankee is known as the "King of Reggaetón".[11]
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