Latin hip-hop is hip-hop music that is recorded by artists in the United States of Hispanic and Latino descent along with Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean, North America, Central America, South America, and Spain.
Chicano rap is a subgenre of hip hop that embodies aspects of Southwest Mexican American or Chicano culture. It is typically performed by rappers and musicians of Mexican descent.
Martha Ivelisse Pesante Rodríguez, known professionally as Ivy Queen, is a Puerto Rican singer, rapper, songwriter, and actress. She is considered one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre, commonly referred to as the Queen of Reggaeton.
Andre Levins, also known as A+ is an American rapper. As a teenager he released albums in 1996 and in 1999.
Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous is the debut studio album by American hip hop artist Big L, and the only to be released during his lifetime. It was released on March 28, 1995 by Columbia Records. Recording sessions took place primarily at Powerplay Studios in Queens, New York in mid-to-late 1994. Production was handled by Buckwild, Lord Finesse, Showbiz and Craig Boogie.
The Pocket Dwellers are a Canadian seven-member experimental hip-hop group from the Toronto area. The band's main genre is hip-hop, but their music is influenced by jazz, funk, soul and breakbeat.
"Vato" is the first single by Snoop Dogg from his album Tha Blue Carpet Treatment. The song features B-Real and was produced by The Neptunes. The word "vato" is Chicano slang for "homie".
Real is the fourth studio album by Puerto Rican reggaetón recording artist Ivy Queen, released on November 21, 2004, by Universal Music Latino. Initially to be Queen's debut full-length English-language studio album, it featured collaborations with hip hop and fellow reggaetón artists Hector El Father, Fat Joe, Getto & Gastam, La India, Gran Omar and Mickey Perfecto. The album was primarily produced by Rafi Mercenario, and included guest production by American producer Swizz Beatz, Puerto Rican producers Ecko, Noriega, Monserrate and DJ Nelson. The executive producers were Goguito "Willy" Guadalupe, Gran Omar and Queen.
"Let's Get Down" is a song by American rapper Bow Wow, released on June 24, 2003 as the first single off his third album Unleashed (2003). The song was written by Shad Moss, Phalon Alexander, Rahman Griffin and a then-unknown T.I. It was produced by Jazze Pha and features rapper Birdman under his former alias "Baby". It's the first song to be released by Bow Wow without the "Lil'" moniker in his name after making his film debut in 2002's Like Mike and releasing his cover of "Basketball" for the film's soundtrack. Bow Wow said that following the name change, he wanted to do the same with his music by contributing more into the songwriting process of the album and release a single that matched his new image.
My Own is the second studio album by American rapper Young Bleed. It was released on October 19, 1999 through Priority Records. Recording sessions took place at Bluff Road Recording Studio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Production was handled by Steve Below, Happy Perez, Carlos "Big Los" Wilkerson, KC Easterwood, and Young Bleed himself, who also served as executive producer together with Paul "Uncle Pauly" Franklin. It features guest appearances from Jennifer Brumfield, Gram, Daz Dillinger, Lay-Lo, Lucky Knuckles and Too $hort. The album peaked at number 61 on the Billboard 200 and number 17 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in the United States.
Dysfunktional Family is the soundtrack to George Gallo-directed 2003 documentary stand-up comedy film Dysfunktional Family. It was released on March 11, 2003 through the newly reformed Death Row Records, which at the time was known as Tha Row Records. Production was handled by the label's production team, Tha Row Hitters, as well as China Black, Flash Technology, Irv Gotti, Just Blaze, Juvenile, Sir Jinx and Skip "17 Freeze" Wayne. It features contributions from Crooked I, Eastwood, Danny Boy, Ganxsta Ridd, Kurupt, Spider Loc, Ashanti, Gail Gotti, Ja Rule, Jay-Z, Juvenile, Michel'le, N.I.N.A., Virginya Slim, Phobia, Skip "17 Freeze" Wayne, Young Buck, and film star Eddie Griffin. The album was a minor success, peaking at #95 on the Billboard 200, #14 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, #6 on the Top Soundtracks and #4 on the Independent Albums.
A New Breed of Female is the only studio album by American hip hop group II Tru. It was released on September 9, 1997 via Mo Thugs/Relativity Records. Recording sessions took place at Private Island Trax in Los Angeles. Production was primarily handled by Archie Blaine, as well as Krayzie Bone, who served as executive producer together with Layzie Bone. It features guest appearances from fellow Mo Thugs members Ken Dawg, Tombstone and Sin of the Graveyard Shift, Flesh-n-Bone, Layzie Bone and Krayzie Bone.
Zakiya A. Munnerlyn is a former American R&B/soul singer who released a self-titled studio album on DV8 Records in 1997. Two singles from the album, "Love Like Mine" and "My Love Won't Fade Away", entered Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
"Chika Ideal" is a song by Puerto Rican recording artist Ivy Queen from her fourth studio album Real (2004). It was written by Martha Ivelisse Pesante, produced by Rafi Mercenario and released as the lead single from the album in May 2004 on Universal Music Latino and Perfect Image.
"Dile" (English: Tell Her) is a song by Puerto Rican reggaetón recording artist Ivy Queen, from her fourth studio album, Real (2004). It was composed by Queen along with Eliel Osorio and Alvaro Arroyo, produced by DJ Nelson and Noriega and released as the lead single from the album on via Airplay in November 2004. It ended 2005 within the top 40 Tropical Songs in Billboard magazine. The musical style as well as the lyrical content is very similar to the song released by Don Omar by the same name, the same year.
Latin Rhythm Albums is a record chart published by Billboard magazine. Like all Billboard album charts, the chart is based on sales, which are compiled by Nielsen SoundScan based on sales data from merchants representing more than 90 percent of the U.S. music retail market. The sample includes sales at music stores, the music departments of electronics and department stores, direct-to-consumer transactions, and Internet sales of physical albums or digital downloads. A limited array of verifiable sales from concert venues is also tabulated. The chart is composed of studio, live, and compilation releases by Latin artists performing in the Latin hip hop, urban, dance and reggaeton, the most popular Latin Rhythm music genres. It joins the main Latin Albums chart along with its respective genre components: the Latin Pop Albums, Tropical Albums, and Regional Mexican Albums charts.
Latin music is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all arbitrary category for various styles of music from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the United States inspired by older Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese music genres, as well as music that is sung in the Spanish and/or Portuguese language.
Mark Saint Juste also known as Mark St. Juste is an entrepreneur, television, film and record producer, author and former school teacher. Over the course of his entertainment career he has written, produced and distributed music that has reached the Billboard charts under his independent record label and production company, Street Street Communications. He also wrote, produced and directed Peep Diss Videos, a prime time syndicated Hip-Hop TV show on broadcast television and three documentary films, Shake City 101, Black Beach and Black Beach Weekend. Saint Juste has worked with some of hip-hops most notable artists to successfully explore the realities of hip-hop and leverage its positive messages for the advancement of communities.
This is a list of notable events in Latin music that took place in 2005.