A veteran emcee and producer, Vico C has been cooking up hits for over a decade, finding chart success in Puerto Rico as well as the States. Fusing hip-hop, reggae, and traditional Spanish music, he’s released over a dozen albums since the early 1990s, and laid beats for such artists as Lisa M.... Leer Más →
Growing up with a stepfather who DJ’d and exposed them to many different styles, identical twins Natalie and Nicole Albino from Queens, N.Y., became interested in music at a young age. Eventually, they both started singing and writing songs, in addition to learning multiple instruments. In 2000,... Leer Más →
Reggaeton star Tego Calderon grew up in a household where salsero Ismael Rivera was god (“Our Elvis Presley,” Calderon says) and music was central. But Calderon’s musical sensibility is less about the salsa of his native Puerto Rico and more about the sounds that move urban Latinos... Leer Más →
Like their northern counterparts, most reggaeton and Latin hip-hop acts brag about their connections to the streets or their exploits in the clubs, but Calle 13 brothers Residente and Visitante grew up more concerned about their art-school credits than street cred. Their mother was an actress with Teatro... Leer Más →
He may just be the first bona fide romantic reggaetonero to emerge on the scene. Flex uses the beats that drive reggaeton, but you won’t hear him telling women to “dale”…he’s more of a gentleman than that. Unfortunately this young gentlemen also struggles valiantly to stay... Leer Más →
Reggaeton’s resident rude girl, Ivy Queen (aka Maria Ivelisse Pesante) was born on March 4th, 1972 in Anasco, Puerto Rico. A gifted singer, Pesante actually got her start as a songwriter, but at the age of eighteen she made an abrupt about face and moved to Puerto Rico, where she began working... Leer Más →
Born William Omar Landron in Puerto Rico, Don Omar got his start in reggaeton producing tracks for Hector El Bambino, who would later become known as Hector El Father. His talent caught the ear of other artists, and before long, he was a respected songwriter and artist in his own right. The Last Don... Leer Más →
If Wisin y Yandel’s “Rakata” wasn’t replaying itself endlessly in your head at the end of 2005, it’s probably because you weren’t listening to the right radio station. For any lover of the genre, that spitfire track off Luny Tunes’ Mas Flow compilation helped... Leer Más →
Born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico in 1977, Daddy Yankee (aka Raymond Ayala) got his start singing with DJ Playero while he was still in his teens. After a few appearances on compilations, he released his platinum-selling debut El Cartel De Yankee I in 2000, which was quickly followed by El Cartel De Yankee... Leer Más →
Widely acknowledged by younger reggaeton stars as the granddaddy of the genre, Panama’s El General (aka Edgardo Franco) never got the fame he deserved. Radio stations weren’t ready for his tropical-infused Spanish-language dancehall when he dropped “Tu Pum Pum” in 1988, and the... Leer Más →
Adassa’s got a voice that’s all out of proportion to her diminutive frame. When she takes the mic, it sounds like she’s channeling Ivy Queen half the time. But Adassa’s not just a voice: she’s also an accomplished songwriter whose wide range of influences lifts her above... Leer Más →
The brainchild of producer and reggaeton impresario Elias de Leon (hence the play on words: Casa de Leones), this quintet gathers several charting reggaeton acts to create, in de Leon’s conception, a Wu Tang-esque conglomerate. Despite de Leon’s prominence — the head of White Lion Records,... Leer Más →
Hector El Father didn’t have a reputation for … well, moderation in his heyday as one half of pioneering reggaeton duo Hector & Tito. As a bambino, he was part of the first wave of reggaeton coming out of Puerto Rico, with all the rawness and hedonism that implies. The group was the... Leer Más →
Luny Tunes are to reggaeton what the Neptunes were to rap at the turn of the 21st century; their beats have animated just about every hit on the books, from Daddy Yankee’s ubiquitous “Gasolina” and “Lo Que Paso, Paso” to Tego Calderon’s “Guasa, Guasa” and... Leer Más →
Budding reggaeton stars Angel y Khriz have been generating buzz since Hector “El Father” signed them to his MVP label and featured their platinum single “Cazando Voy” on 2002′s MVP. The duo moved from guesting on mix tapes and other artists’ songs to releasing their... Leer Más →
Originally known as Noreaga, N.O.R.E. first emerged with Capone on their “L.A., L.A.” single and brilliant debut The War Report (1997). While his partner in rhyme was sent back upstate, Nore went to work, releasing a strong first solo album N.O.R.E. in 1998. His decidedly unconventional rhyme... Leer Más →