A year ago, hardly anyone in the United States had heard of reggaeton. Now, reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee has everyone screaming, “Dame mas gasolina!” and it’s hard to turn on the radio and switch to an urban station without hearing this Latin influenced reggae.

Although reggaeton has been around for nearly 30 years, the emergence of artists like Daddy Yankee have catapulted the genre into the mainstream airwaves. Collaborations with hip-hop artists like Lil Jon, Pitbull, and N.O.R.E., have also brought reggaeton to the forefront.

“Hip-hop gave reggaeton that little push it needed to cross over,” said Jason Barcenilla, a 22-year-old broadcast and electronic communication arts senior.

Popular Hip-Hop artist N.O.R.E. triumphed over speculation that he would have less credibility in the hip-hop world if he crossed over into reggaeton but proved otherwise with his latest chart topper,
“Oye Mi Canto,” which featured Puerto Rican singers Nina Sky.

Along with Lil Jon, Pitbull also contributed to the reggaeton phenomena by featuring reggaeton songs and rhyming over reggaeton beats in his hip-hop album. R&B megastar Usher even had special guest Daddy Yankee perform during his February concert in Puerto Rico.

“Reggaeton is so popular because it has such a different sound from anything else,” said Barcenilla.

While reggaeton is very similar to reggae, a notable difference are the extra claps and high hats derived from Bomba and Plena. These beats, often referred to as “riddims,” are combined with reggae style or hip-hop vocals.

“It’s so popular here because there’s a huge Latino population in the Bay Area,” said Barcenilla.
Barcenilla is an intern at San Francisco radio station Wild 94.9, and is part of their party crew and street promotion team. Recently, Wild 94.9 held their first Reggaeton Latin Fest concert, which brought over 8,000 attendees. Daddy Yankee will be making his first West Coast appearance at another Wild 94.9 concert, Invasion Del Reggaeton, on April 29 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.

The Bay Area has one of the nation’s fastest growing Latino populations. The Hispanic population of San Francisco alone was 109,853 in 2000, according to the Association of Bay Area Governments. The estimated Hispanic population for the year 2010 jumps to 117,308.

South Bay radio station 102.5 KDON puts so much reggaeton in its music rotation that talks of a reggaeton specialty show are in the works, according to on-air personality and promotions director Eric Rosado, also known as Eric “The Funky 1.”

In the mid 1970’s Jamaican immigrants brought reggae music to Latin America during the building of the Panama Canal, according to Reggaetonline.net. Then, in 1985, rapper Victor C produced the first Spanish hip-hop record. Toward the middle of the decade, Puerto Ricans made their own reggae material and began producing the first recorded reggaeton tracks.

Since then, reggaeton has flourished throughout the Latin American islands, and spread to New York, Florida, and throughout places in the United States with a dense Latin American population like the Bay Area. Even before it hit mainstream, reggaeton was played on Latin radio stations and in Latin clubs.

“Reggaeton is nothing new to me,” said Rosado, who commends reggaeton artist Queen Ivy as being a pioneer in the music genere. “I’ve always heard it at family parties in between all the Salsa and Meringue songs (since) there would always be a reggaeton track here and there.”

However, last year’s Mixshow Power Summit held in Puerto Rico helped introduce the rest of the world to reggaeton. Members of the music industry and over 1000 DJs, including SF State biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology senior John Bui, attended the event.

“At the resort I stayed at, they played Gasolina over and over and over,” said Bui, 23. “The thugs and old ladies were both going crazy to it.”

Bui, a member of Style Beyond Compare (SBC DJs), makes reggaeton a regular part of his set especially when he caters to a Latin crowd. Still, the popular songs are enjoyed by all crowds. Many popular songs out right now have a reggaeton remix, including 50 Cent’s "Candyshop." Reggaeton provides a happy club vibe amidst hardcore Southern “crunk” music and Bay Area rap music, said Bui.
“You see more smiles when you play reggaeton,” said Bui. “People are happy to dance to it.”