DJ Playero

Last updated

Playero DJ /DJ Playero
Birth namePedro Gerardo Torruellas Brito
Also known as
  • The Majestic
  • Playero
  • Playe
  • DJ Playe
  • Play
  • DJ Play
Born (1964-11-02) 2 November 1964 (age 59)
Neighborhood Villa Kennedy, Santurce, Puerto Rico
Genres Reggaeton
Occupation(s)
  • DJ
  • record producer
Instrument(s)DJ mixer
Years active1990–present
Labels
Website

Pedro Gerardo Torruellas Brito (born 2 November 1964), better known as Playero DJ, DJ Playero, Playe, Play, is a Puerto Rican DJ who was a key figure in the dissemination of reggaeton during its formative period in the 1990s in San Juan, Puerto Rico. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Beginning in the early 1990s, he intended to do what DJ Tony Touch was already doing in New York, who was releasing a series of mixtapes, mixing popular and classic songs off most known musical styles like Reggae, Hip Hop and House. It is rumored that Playero gained his name for always using colorful t-shirts that resembled the spirit of the Summer season, and people wore them when going to the beach and they were called "Summer T'shirts", which translated in Spanish would be "Camisas Playeras".

Mixtapes

Though Playero's mixtapes presumably started in Number 1 and synthesized hip-hop and dancehall/reggae rhythms, it is not known that Volumes 1 to 33 do already exist. Playero #34 made its appearance on the Internet some years ago and it was heard by people around the world realizing that this mixtape was putting together dancehall, hip hop and Puerto Rican singers freestyling in Spanish-language.

These tape and the following 35 and 36 circulated around the barrios of San Juan and were highly influential upon the generation that would go on to define reggaeton in the coming decade. Most of these tapes were sold by Playero himself and the singers who had recorded in them. That's how Daddy Yankee got his start with DJ Playero, debuting on the mixtape Playero 34, which was recorded in a small studio in one of Puerto Rico's caseríos and was originally released in 1992. [3] It contained several jamaican dancehall songs which were mixed and edited like "Freaks" (Lil Vicious).

Career

DJ Playero was an aspiring producer at the time, he worked in the first LP of The Pioneer Lisa M (Trampa 1990) and (No Lo Derrumbes 1990) 3-2 Get Funky (3-2 Get Funky, 1993; Return of the Funky Ones, 1994), Ranking Stone (Different Styles, 1995), Wiso G (Estoy Aqui, 1996), and Wendellman (Wendellman, 1996). During the late 1990s, as the proto-reggaeton style began to grow popular thanks to 'The Noise', a club-based collective that issued a long-running series of CDs. Playero en DVD: Su Trayectoria (2003) was the culmination of this activity, aiming to cement his legacy as one of the key reggaeton pioneers.[ citation needed ]

Discography

Mixtapes

Studio albums

Compilations

Instrumental albums

Live albums

Bootlegs

CD singles

Other albums to which he has collaborated

Filmography

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daddy Yankee</span> Puerto Rican rapper and singer (born 1976)

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<i>El Abayarde</i> 2002 studio album by Tego Calderón

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<i>Playero 38</i> 1993 studio album by DJ Playero

Playero 38 is DJ Playero's 2nd album, recorded sometime between 1993. With the success of Playero 37: Underground, The Noise: Underground, The Noise Vol. 1 and The Noise Vol. 2 giving reggaeton great momentum, DJ Playero released Playero 38: Underground. It established the dembow as the official rhythm of reggaeton, while lifting the genre to mainstream status. However, as with Playero 37, many of the lyrics focus on promoting the use of marijuana, and this added to the negative perception the genre gained in its early stages. Consequently, the government of Puerto Rico confiscated thousands of reggaeton records, because of the lack of disclosure about their explicit content.

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<i>No Mercy</i> (Daddy Yankee album) 1995 studio album by Daddy Yankee

No Mercy is the debut studio album by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee and was released in April 1995 by independent labels White Lion Records and BM Records. Daddy Yankee made the album alongside reggaeton pioneer DJ Playero. This album had rhythms of hip hop, reggae and dancehall. During this time, Daddy Yankee was known as "Winchesta 30-30" or "Winchesta Yankee". After his completion of No Mercy, he began to sell his cassettes in various stores and clubs, and performing for free in high school dances and private parties. After his mild success of No Mercy, many producers and artists began to work with him, taking then the name "Daddy Yankee".

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daddy Yankee discography</span>

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<i>Playero 37</i> 1992 studio album by DJ Playero

Playero 37 is DJ Playero's first studio album. It is considered a landmark album and influential in the creation of the music genre now known as "Reggaeton". The album was released in December of 1992. Playero recorded and mixed the album in one week inside his home located in Villa Kennedy, Puerto Rico. The album consists of fusions between Hip Hop and Jamaican Dancehall Riddims with Latino rappers rhyming over the beats in Spanish. The first pressing which is a rarity was released only in cassette tape. Around a few hundred original copies were sold while most people who received the initial version copied from those original tapes.

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References

  1. Jason Birchmeier. "Biography Playero". Allmusic. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  2. Raquel Z. Rivera; Wayne Marshall; Deborah Pacini Hernandez (2010). Reggaeton. Duke University Press. ISBN   978-0822392323 . Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  3. Daddy Yankee; DJ Playero (18 December 2015). "History of Daddy Yankee and his debut on Playero #34 - Underground Reggae - The Mixtape (1992) "posted by Daddy Yankee on his Instagram Account" (ESP)". Instagram. Daddy Yankee. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  4. ZDP Underground. "Discography of DJ Playero". ZDP Underground. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  5. ZDP Underground. "Discography of DJ Playero". ZDP Underground. Retrieved 11 December 2015.