In Jamaican dancehall music, a riddim is the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the term consist of the riddim plus the voicing sung by the deejay. A given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens—or even hundreds—of songs, not only in recordings but also in live performances.
The music of the Dominican Republic is primarily influenced by Western European music, with Sub-Saharan African and native Taino influences. The Dominican Republic is mainly known for its merengue and bachata music, both of which are the most famous styles of music in the Dominican Republic, and have been exported and popularized around the world.
The Music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. The most conspicuous musical sources of Puerto Rico have primarily included African, Taino Indigenous, and European influences. Puerto Rican music culture today comprises a wide and rich variety of genres, ranging from essentially native genres such as bomba, jíbaro, seis, danza, and plena to more recent hybrid genres such as salsa, Latin trap and reggaeton. Broadly conceived, the realm of "Puerto Rican music" should naturally comprise the music culture of the millions of people of Puerto Rican descent who have lived in the United States, especially in New York City. Their music, from salsa to the boleros of Rafael Hernández, cannot be separated from the music culture of Puerto Rico itself.
Panama is a Central American country, inhabited mostly by mestizos. The music of Panama is heavily based on the folk music of Spain, particularly that of Andalusia and was influenced first by the indigenous populations of Kunas, Teribes, Ngobe Bugle and others, and then by the black population who were brought over, first as slaves from Africa, between the 16th century and the 19th century, and then voluntarily to work on the Panamanian Railroad and Canal projects between the 1840s and 1914.
Reggaeton, also known as reggaetón, reguetón and reggüetón,, is a modern style of popular and electronic music that originated in Panamá during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puerto Rican musicians. It has been popularized and dominated by artists from Puerto Rico since the early 1990s.
Tegui Calderón Rosario is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer and actor. He began his musical career in 1996 and was supported by the famous Puerto Rican rapper Eddie Dee, who invited him on his second studio album, El Terrorista de la Lírica, released in 2000. Calderón reached international success in 2003 with his first album, El Abayarde, which sold 300,000 copies worldwide and was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award. His importance in reggaeton music led him to participate in Eddie Dee's 12 Discípulos album in 2004. He released three more studio albums between 2006 and 2015, varying in styles, focusing more in hip hop and African music rather than reggaeton in The Underdog/El Subestimado (2006) and El Abayarde Contraataca (2007). His fourth studio album, El Que Sabe, Sabe, released in 2015, won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album. In the same year, he announced that he is planning a studio album alongside the Puerto Rican singer Yandel titled El Blanco y el Negro.
There are several subgenres of reggae music including various predecessors to the form.
Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon OD, better known by his stage name Shabba Ranks, is a Jamaican dancehall musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of the most popular Jamaican musicians in the world. Throughout his prominence in his home country as a dancehall artist, he gained popularity in North America with his studio album, Just Reality, in 1990. He released two studio albums, As Raw as Ever and X-tra Naked, which both won a Grammy Award as Best Reggae Album in 1992 and 1993, respectively. He is notoriously popular for "Mr. Loverman" and "Ting-A-Ling", which were globally acclaimed and deemed his signature songs.
Edgardo Armando Franco, better known as El General, is a Panamanian former reggae artist considered by some to be one of the fathers of "Reggae en Español". During the early 1990s, he was one of the artists who initiated the Spanish-language dancehall variety of reggae music. Early examples of this were the international and somewhat mainstream songs, "Te Ves Buena" and "Tu Pum Pum". “Tu Pum Pum" emerged after a friend of El General invited him to collaborate with a Jamaican producer that was searching for a “different sound in Panama." Both songs, performed in Spanish deejaying style, were very successful in North America. After getting his foot in the door of the commercial market, many other Spanish-language dancehall reggae artists became famous in the mainstream as well. He has a unique, easy to listen to style of dance music and has produced many well-known songs all over Latin America. This style is called reggae en Español, because he makes dancehall reggae music with Spanish-language lyrics. El General retired in 2004 and became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
The dembowbeat or dembow riddim is a musical rhythm best known for its use as the core percussion element in reggaeton music, having taken its name from the 1990 dancehall song "Dem Bow" by Shabba Ranks. The rhythm, first developed by Jamaican and Panamanian producers in the early 1990s as reggaeton was beginning to form, employs the tresillo pattern that is common in Latin American music and ultimately originates in sub-Saharan African musical traditions.
Oswald Priest, better known as Mad Lion, is a dancehall, ragga musician and rapper. He frequently collaborates with fellow hip hop artist KRS-One. His awards include the 1994 Source Award as Reggae Artist of the Year, and the 1995 Source Award as Reggae Hip-Hop Artist of the Year.
Bachatón is a fusion genre of reggaeton from Panama and Puerto Rico as well as bachata from the Dominican Republic. Bachaton combines bachata melodies and reggaeton style beats, lyrics, rapping, and disc jockeying. The word "bachatón" is a combination of "bachata" and "reggaeton". "Bachatón" was coined and widely accepted in 2005. It is a subgenre of reggaeton and bachata.
Just Reality is the second solo studio album by Jamaican dancehall/reggae recording artist Shabba Ranks. It was released in 1990 via VP Records, and produced by Bobby "Digital" Dixon.
"Noche de Entierro (Nuestro Amor)" (English: "Night to Bury (Our Love)") is a reggaeton song performed by artists Daddy Yankee, Wisin & Yandel, Héctor el Father, Zion and Tony Tun Tun. The song was produced by Luny Tunes, Tainy and Doble A & Nales and written by Gabriel Padilla. The song was featured in Mas Flow: Los Benjamins and is one of the most successful songs in the history of the genre. It is usually seen as a sequel to "Mayor Que Yo". "Noche de Entierro" features music instruments like flute, accordion, guitar, bass and electronic keyboard.
Nelson Díaz Martinez, known professionally as DJ Nelson is a Puerto Rican DJ and record producer who played a significant role in the development and popularization of reggaeton. He first made a name for himself as part of the Noise, a club-centered collective that was spawned in 1994. The Noise—composed of DJs, MCs, producers, and club coordinators—hosted a long-lasting series of club nights in San Juan that were vital to the development and popularization of reggaeton. DJ Nelson earned credit as one of the top Noise DJs, and he also served as a producer and arranger for the collective's music.
"Rakata" is the debut single by Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel, released on January 27, 2005, by Machete Music. It is from the Luny Tunes-produced compilation Mas Flow 2, and was later included on Wisin & Yandel's fifth studio album Pa'l Mundo. The song was produced by Luny Tunes and Nely "El Arma Secreta". It is known to be one of their signature songs, as well as being their first major-charting single. Since the single's release, it has become one of the top-selling singles of 2005 and 2006 during the mainstream success years of reggaeton music. It was nominated for Best Latin/Reggaetón Track at the 22nd Annual International Dance Music Awards in 2007, which was ultimately won by Shakira and Wyclef Jean for their number one single "Hips Don't Lie".
In Panama, dancehall reggae sung in Spanish language by artists of Latin American origin is known as Reggae en Español. It originated in the late 1980s in Panama. Reggae en Español goes by several names; in Panama, it is called "La Plena panameña".
Urbano music or Latin urban is a transnational umbrella category including many different genres and styles. As an umbrella term it includes a wide and diverse set of genres and styles such as dancehall, dembow, urban champeta, funk carioca, Latin hip hop and reggaeton. The commercial breakthrough of this music took place in 2017 with artists from Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico, the United States, Venezuela and even non-Spanish-speaking nations, such as Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken.
Vladimir Félix, known professionally as DJ Blass, is a Puerto Rican record producer. He has worked with renowned reggaeton artists such as Daddy Yankee, Nicky Jam, Plan B and Wisin & Yandel. DJ Blass is a founding member of the Reggaeton Group @ria 51 whom created the style of music known as "Perreo" via their Reggaeton Sex productions.. DJ Blass is considered a pioneer in the development of the modern Reggaeton sound. He is noted for being among the first in bringing new fusions for the Reggaeton genre including influences from Electronic Music, Hip Hop, Dancehall Reggae and R&B. DJ Blass has produced renowned songs such as "Sientelo" by Lumidee & Speedy, "Latigazo" by Daddy Yankee, "Reggaeton" by J Balvin, "No Te Veo" by Casa De Leones, "Loco" from Jowell & Randy, "Dembow" by Yandel, "El Amor Con La Ropa" by Speedy and many others.
