Reggaeton: Limi-T 21, Rakim y Ken-Y, Tony Haze & Shaka Black

More new blood in reggaeton! While oldschool bigshots like Don Omar and Tito El Bambino prepare their new album (release: next month), yet unknown artists take the lead.

Rakim y Ken-Y are reggaeton's American Idol: they won El Draft, a talent quest on Puerto Rican television especially for young reggaeton artists. This month they released their first album Masterpiece, produced by Raphy Pina (a big name), and "Dame Lo Que Quiero" is the first single. It's a traditional reggaeton track focused on beats & samples, with lyrics about dancing, so nothing new really. The one thing that makes this song stand out, is Ken-Y's voice in the chorus, it's fresh and with an edge.

Tony Haze & Shaka Black are also releasing their first album next month (No Hay Mas Na Que Hablar). Single "La Tripleta" is promising, though not really standing out. Most samples & beats are copied from other songs, but the ones they created themselves are a lot better, I especially like the "human beatbox" reggaeton beat at the beginning and ending of the song. Hopefully the rest of the album will include more originality than cheap copies.

But we saved the best for the last: award-winning merengue band Limi-T 21 made an exceptional song with "El Baile Pegao". They call it merengueton, and once you heard it, you won't be able to get it out of your head. The song builds up to a climax, excellent dancefloor material. My only point of criticism is that the fast bit should be longer, but otherwise: a great blend of tropical & urban rhythm.

Rakim y Ken-Y - Dame Lo Que Quiero mp3 buy@iTunes
Tony Haze & Shaka Black - La Tripleta mp3
Limi-T 21 - El Baile Pegao mp3 buy@iTunes