Reggaeton: Casa de Leones, Hector 'El Father', Nigga, Wisin y Yandel, Eve

Let's get the end-of-year parties started with some dembow!

The 'Hottest reggaeton duo of 2007' award goes to Jowell y Randy, proof is "Shorty" off the excellent Casa de Leones CD (see previous article). Everything is kept quite low-brow at the start, a human beatbox groove with some delicate piano and synth touches. But in the chorus, the subtle addition of an accentuated beat makes your booty move instantly to the urban goodness. The rhythm is more dance than reggaeton, but I like it nada mas. More Jowell y Randy? Google for "Velandote" or "Primero Bailalo".

Hector El Father on the other hand, isn't exactly known for his subtility. Though "Pa' La Tumba" will definitely get a party started - a chaos of merengue beats and rapping reggaetoneros. It's quite the cacaphony, but it works on the feet. His trademark tongue-in-cheek humour is mostly in the hilariously crappy video (below) - Hector trying to keep his cool while doing a dull boysband dance, surrounded by dozens of beautiful women. That doesn't even need a parody.

"Te Quiero" by Panamanian rapper Nigga (who wisely changed his name to DJ Flex for the US market) can be quite irritating, but it's the nicest of the latest wave of romantic reggae panameño songs. I don't think I've talked about this movement yet, which is mainly characterized by one-hit wonders scoring continent-wide approval with 'soft' reggae-pop songs (also see La Factoria, Makano). Notice the slow beat, the distinctly more caribbean sound and the extreme radio-friendliness :)

Hit-of-the-moment "Sexy Movimiento" is way too much women, cars and bling for me (video), but thankfully Wisin y Yandel are not just endlessly recycling the same track on their latest Los Extraterrestres."Quisiera Saber/Control" is a bilingual duet with Eve, a welcome change in the testosterone-dominated genre. Again it's the rhythm making the difference, leaning more towards dance music than reggaeton, while the song keeps a special urban appeal. Now if they would only learn to shut the hell up during that last minute...

Keep an eye on the blog for our Best of 2007 list, with the final results of our reader poll (which is still open for voting - on your right!).

Casa de Leones - Shorty mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon
Hector 'El Father' - Pa' La Tumba mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon
Nigga - Te Quiero mp3 buy@Amazon
Wisin y Yandel ft. Eve - Quisiera Saber mp3 buy@iTunes buy@Amazon

Casa de Leones - Shorty

Hector 'El Father' - Pa' La Tumba

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Reggaeton: Calle 13, La Factoria, East African Reggaeton

It's going well with reggaeton! The genre received a big recognition last week at the Latin Grammys, where debuting rappers Calle 13 took home 3 awards (for best new artist, best urban music album, and best music video). At the same time, the awards comittee seems to be giving a signal to old-school rappers like Daddy Yankee and Hector El Father, that their 'gangsta' efforts won't live up to the new generation of less aggressive, more socially conscient raps (like Calle 13 and Tego Calderón). Have a listen to a new song leaked from their upcoming sophomore album, "La Crema", and compare it to this shit Hector's been up to lately.


As you might know, reggaeton not only originates from Puerto Rico, but also has roots in Panama (previous article). And now it seems the reggae panameño is reviving, with artists like Mach & Daddy appearing all over Latin America and the USA.
One of the first reggaeton songs I ever heard was Todavía by La Factoría, a group consisting of two sexy female singers and two macho latino DJs. A continent-wide hit back in 2003 :) Now La Factoría is back with "Dale", a contagious song in the typical panameño sound: not just a heavy beat, but lots of horns, piano tunes and electronica to support the joyful and sunny lyrics.

Even in Africa people are starting to dig reggaeton. Jean-Luc sent me this (german) article about 'raggaton' from Tanzania, where bands like East African Reggaeton Crew and Ray C are emerging in the same way the original Spanish 'reggaeton' originated: by mixing Jamaican ragga/dancehall tunes with aggressive and sexual hiphop-like raps. Check out some songs at SwahiliRemix.com.

Calle 13 - La Crema mp3
La Factoría - Dale mp3 video pre-order @ CD Universe

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Reggaeton de Panama: Mach & Daddy, Jimmy Bad Boy

Both artists are unknown to me, but I like their sunny pop songs very much. There's a special summer-night feeling about them that makes me wanna go to the beach and dance below the setting sun. Maybe it's because of the smoothed-down reggaeton beat that characterizes both songs, or maybe because of the easily sung along choruses... And is it a coincidence that both artists are from Panama?

Mach & Daddy's "Pasame La Botella" is intrinsically a sad song, about boozing over a lost girlfriend, but the groovy rhythm makes up for all that. No wonder its a big hit in all of Latinoamerica (especially with verano coming to Central America now).

Jimmy Bad Boy is supposedly a reggaeton artist, but he shamelessly stole the chord progression of "Bailando" from pop artists Bacilos (listen carefully to Caraluna, another very sunny song). Anyway who cares, Bailando is a nice song that makes you feel like jumping up and down all night long.

Mach & Daddy - Pasame La Botella mp3 video buy@iTunes
Jimmy Bad Boy - Bailando mp3 video

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