Reggaeton here to stay, says singer

Daddy Yankee says genre that mixes reggae, hip-hop, rap is evolving

FRED SHUSTER

Los Angeles Daily News

Daddy Yankee says rumors of reggaeton's demise are entirely exaggerated.

The Puerto Rican superstar, whose song "Gasolina" is reggaeton's biggest crossover hit, insists the music is surely evolving. But whatever happens, he adds, the ubiquitous blend of tropical rhythms, reggae, hip-hop and rap, is here to stay.

"It's part of the landscape," said the singer-producer known to his mom as Raymond Ayala. "It has been used in hip-hop, rap, all the top hit styles. People who don't even know what they're listening to love it. It can only get stronger. Those that say reggaeton is going away are just jealous."

Daddy Yankee is part of the reggaeton cross-cultural reach. On his forthcoming album, the colorful, high-energy performer sings in Spanish and English and collaborates with hitmakers Pharrell Williams and the Black Eyed Peas. He promises the finished album will be as danceable as anything on the multimillion-selling "Barrio Fino," the summer '04 breakthrough disc that spawned "Gasolina."

Along with the new album, Yankee is planning a musical based on the life of the late salsa great Celia Cruz.

"Everyone knows her name, but not everyone knows what her life was like," he said.

Everyone also now knows the name Daddy Yankee.

At the Billboard Latin Music Awards show in Miami, where he scored three trophies (Latin album artist, top reggaeton album, and as part of the collaboration resulting in Billboard's reggaeton song of the year), Yankee was surrounded by dancers sporting jungle camouflage. The energy level was high, and the audience responded in kind.

But success didn't arrive as quickly as it might seem for Yankee. He tells of rejection by multiple record companies and a blackout of his music on Puerto Rican radio and TV. Although reggaeton's single-minded Spanish-language lyrics mostly deal with sex, Yankee believes they should also address social issues such as violence, gangs and drug abuse.

The highly danceable music, which resembles an electronic offspring of polka, first grabbed hold in Puerto Rico before making inroads in major Latino markets in Miami, Los Angeles and New York. But some say the music is running out of steam.

"Impossible," Yankee, 29, counters. "It's already taken over in America, and now it's exploding in Europe. It's like reggae or Brazilian or African music -- reggaeton is good music, even if you don't understand the language. We use a lot of R&B and live instruments, just like the latest hip-hop, but we have this meeting of the Caribbean and rap worlds."