Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, known professionally as Daddy Yankee, is a Puerto Rican semi-retired rapper and singer who rose to worldwide prominence in 2004 with the song "Gasolina". Dubbed the "King of Reggaeton", he is often cited as an influence by other Hispanic urban performers. He retired on December 3, 2023, after completing his final stage performance on his "La Meta" tour in Puerto Rico.
Luny Tunes is an American reggaeton production duo consisting of Francisco Saldaña (Luny) and Víctor Cabrera (Tunes) who have been known for creating unique musical rhythms for some of the most popular reggaeton artists since the early 2000s.
Barrio Fino is the third studio album by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, released on July 13, 2004, in the United States by VI Music and El Cartel Records and internationally by Machete Music and Polydor Records. Released two years after his previous studio album, El Cangri.com (2002), the album was recorded in Puerto Rico between 2003 and 2004. It explores themes ranging from dance, sex, romance, introspection, and protest against political corruption and violence against women. Barrio Fino was instrumental in popularizing reggaeton in the mainstream market, enhancing Daddy Yankee's career, as well as cementing his status as one of the most successful Latin artists of the 2000s. The album is reported to have sold over 8 million copies in the world.
Barrio Fino en Directo is the second live album by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, released on December 13, 2005, by El Cartel Records and distributed by Interescope Records. The album is a live collection of songs from Daddy Yankee's previous album Barrio Fino recorded during his tour Barrio Fino World Tour at several locations including the United States, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It was the first Daddy Yankee album to had a Parental Advisory sticker and first and only album to include a skit. It also includes a DVD featuring interviews, concerts and the making of the music videos. A re-release of the album, Tormenta Tropical, Vol. 1, was released on July 4, 2006. It includes all of the new recorded songs, and two of the live tracks from the album. The album differs from Barrio Fino en Directo because it does not include a DVD.
El Cartel Records is a Puerto Rican record company. The release of Barrio Fino, Daddy Yankee's first commercially successful album, is notable for being the label's first distributed album.
El Cartel: The Big Boss is the fourth studio album and eighth overall by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee. It was released on June 5, 2007, by El Cartel Records through Interscope Records and It is the third installment following El Cartel (1997) and El Cartel II (2001). It explores lyrics and themes ranging from immigration, tabloid rumors, romance, dance and protest against political corruption. The album production persecutes an aggressive sound and was focus on hardcore reggaeton and Latin urban mixed with elements of tropical rhythms, R&B and straight-up hip-hop on a few tracks. The album's theme was to solidified the artist status at the top of Latin music industry and rivals. It features guest appearances Akon, Fergie, Will.i.am, Nicole Scherzinger, Héctor el Father and contains the contributions of producers such as Scott Storch, Luny Tunes, Tainy, and Mr. Collipark.
VI Music is a Puerto Rican record label specializing in the reggaeton genre, founded by reggaeton producers Mario VI, Álex Gárgolas and Juan Vidal. The record label came to prominence after securing a joint venture with Universal Music Latino and Machete Music. Their albums include gold and platinum productions such as "The Last Don" and "King of Kings" by Don Omar, Barrio Fino by Daddy Yankee, "A la Reconquista" and "La Historia Live" by Héctor & Tito, "Los MVP" by Angel & Khriz and "Sin Límite" by Magnate & Valentino among many others. During the height of their popularity, VI Music had some of the most successful reggaeton acts signed to their label. The company has not released an album since 2009 after most of their artists left or had their contracts sold to Universal Music Latino, most notably Don Omar. Álex Gárgolas left the company and went on to discover and manage Farruko during his first international successes. Mario VI currently hosts his own radio show "La Jungla" in Puerto Rico alongside legendary radio personality El Coyote.
El Cangri.com is the second studio album by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee. It was released in 2002 by VI Music. The album was a success in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic with songs "Latigazo", "Muévete y Perrea", "¡Dimelo!" and "Ella Está Soltera". "Latigazo" also received mainstream success in Spanish-language radio stations in Miami and New York City in the United States. According to Yankee himself, he manufactured and distributed the record and sold over 50,000 copies.
Diva is the third studio album by Puerto Rican reggaetón recording artist Ivy Queen. It was released on August 23, 2003 and independently distributed by Real Music Group after being dropped from Sony Discos. The recording followed her two previous studio albums which were commercially unsuccessful and a hiatus from her musical career beginning in 1999. It featured collaborations with Latin hip hop artists including Mexicano 777, Bimbo and K-7 while the album's production was handled by a variety of musical producers; Luny Tunes, DJ Nelson, Noriega, and Iván Joy were enlisted, while DJ Adam produced a majority of the tracks. Lyrically, the album explored female empowerment, infidelity, heartbreak and love with "a veritable compendium of her artistic passion, femininity, and culture". The musical styles of the recording alternate between reggaetón and hip-hop while Queen experiments with R&B, dancehall, and pop balladry.
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 Latino 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 Ivy Queen.
Wisin vs. Yandel: Los Extraterrestres is the fifth studio album by Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel, released on November 6, 2007, by Machete Music. On November 13, 2008, the album received the Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album and Lo Nuestro Award for Urban Album of the Year. Also, the album won Grammy Award for Best Latin Urban Album on 2009.
Monserrate and DJ Urba are reggaeton producers from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, respectively. They have been on the business for some years, but they really got a start when Daddy Yankee hired them to produce his Barrio Fino Album. Then they followed up with the Barrio Fino en Directo Album. They are aligned with Luny Tunes's Mas Flow Inc and Daddy Yankee's El Cartel Records.
"Like You" is a song by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee from his third studio and first commercially released album Barrio Fino which was highly responsible for reggaeton's mainstream exposure in 2004. It was co-written by Daddy Yankee and Eddie Ávila in the English language, and produced by Luny Tunes. The song was released as the album's sixth single internationally. In the United States, the song was successful in the mainstream market but could not rank on Latin charts due to language barriers.
"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.
This is a list of notable events in Latin music that took place in 2004.
Rafy Mercenario is a Puerto Rican reggaeton producer. He has produced hits for several artists including R.K.M & Ken-Y, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar and Ivy Queen.
"Shaky Shaky" is a single by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee that was intended to appear on his unreleased studio album El Disco Duro. The song was recorded in December 2015 as a freestyle during a recording session in Puerto Rico and later released on April 8, 2016 by El Cartel Records. The song was written by Daddy Yankee, Urbani "Urba" Mota and Luis "Rome" Romero. It was produced by Los Evo Jedis, the duo of Urbani Mota and Luis Romero.
"Segurosqui" is a single by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee from his first compilation album Los Homerun-es, released on September 23, 2003. A music video including "Segurosqui" and "Gata Gangster" featuring Puerto Rican singer Don Omar was directed by David Impelluso and released in order to promote the album. A remix version produced by Puerto Rican record producer Eliel was also included on the album.
The Barrio Fino World Tour was a concert tour by reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee to promote his third studio album, Barrio Fino (2004). This was his first large tour and his first arena tour in the United States becoming the first reggaeton act to do so. The tour visited Latin America and United States and consisted of three legs. In December 2005, Yankee released Barrio Fino en Directo with featured videos and songs recorded live on this tour. Also, contained a DVD with footage of the tour in Colombia, Puerto Rico, Ecuador and Dominican Republic.
The Talento de Barrio World Tour was the third concert tour by reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee to promote his album Talento de Barrio. The tour had two legs, the first in the United States and the last one in Latin America. It kick of at Viña del mar 2009 international festival and ended at Mar de Plata, Argentina on December 15, 2009.
