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.
Reggaeton, 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 evolved from dancehall, with elements of hip hop, Latin American, and Caribbean music. Vocals include toasting/rapping and singing, typically in Spanish.
Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, known professionally as Daddy Yankee, is a Puerto Rican former rapper 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.
Nick Rivera Caminero, known by his stage name Nicky Jam, is an American singer. He is best known for hits such as "X", "Travesuras", "El Perdón", "Hasta el Amanecer", and "El Amante"; the later three are from his 2017 album Fénix. He has frequently collaborated with other Latin artists such as Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Ozuna, Plan B and Anuel AA. While his early music exemplified traditional fast-paced reggaeton, his newer compositions place more emphasis on sung vocals and romantic lyrics.
Talento de barrio is a film released on October 10, 2008, by Maya Entertainment, starring Daddy Yankee. The film was directed by José Iván Santiago, and written by George Rivera and Ángel M. Sanjurjo, with additional material by Edgar Soberón Torchia. It was also the first movie Daddy Yankee co-produced. In the United States it was a major success, although it was not launched in all the country. It was shown in the major cities like New York City, Los Angeles, and some parts of New Jersey.
Juan Luis Morera Luna, best known by his stage name Wisin, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton rapper, singer and record producer, best known as a member of the reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel. Wisin is noted for his unique and aggressive style of rapping.
Pina Records is a Puerto Rico-based record label founded by music producer Rafael "Raphy" Antonio Pina Nieves in 1996. Pina Records is one of the longest-running reggaetón record labels; in 2026, the label will celebrate its 30-year anniversary. One of the genre’s most successful labels, Pina Records' biggest artists include the likes of Daddy Yankee, Natti Natasha, Plan B and R.K.M & Ken-Y.
Lito & Polaco were a Puerto Rican hip hop duo from Carolina, Puerto Rico.
...Distinto a los demás is the debut extended play by American singer Nicky Jam. Released in 1995, he was 14 years old when he recorded the album.
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.
Josías de la Cruz, known professionally as Nely el Arma Secreta, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton producer, introduced in the genre by Luny Tunes.
José Fernando Cosculluela Suárez, known professionally as Cosculluela, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer and songwriter. In 2018, he was caught up in a controversy after fellow rapper Anuel AA released a diss track.
Jessy Terrero is a Dominican film and music video director.
R.K.M & Ken-Y is a reggaeton duo formed in 2003 by José Nieves (R.K.M) and Kenny Vázquez (Ken-Y). The artists are renowned in the Latin music world for being the first to successfully fuse mainstream pop music with the reggaeton street rhythms of Puerto Rico and expose the style to a wide international audience. The sound introduced by R.K.M & Ken-Y would go on to inspire the pop reggaeton songs of successful acts such as CNCO, J Balvin, and Maluma. The duo had a very successful career with the Spanish-speaking audience of Latin America, the United States, and Spain until their separation in 2013. In June 2017, the duo announced their official return by Pina Records. In mid-2021 the Duo confirmed that they are on hiatus and are currently working on their solo projects.
American singer Nicky Jam has released six studio albums, three compilation albums, one EP, one mixtape, and 30 singles as a lead artist.
El Disco Duro is an unreleased and later cancelled studio album by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee. It was originally scheduled to be released during early 2017 under its original title King Daddy II: Elemento DY, a sequel to his previous album King Daddy, produced by Los de la Nazza, a production duo that worked with Daddy Yankee from 2007 to 2014. The album was to include "Sígueme y Te Sigo", "Dura", "Vaivén" and "Shaky Shaky" as singles, which were released between March 2015 and April 2016.
Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee has released 98 music videos and one film. His first music videos were directed for various underground mixtapes during the 1990s decade, in which he appeared as a guest artist. No videos were filmed for his debut studio album No Mercy (1995). Three clips were filmed for his second studio album El Cangri.com (2002), including "Latigazo", directed by Puerto Rican rapper and producer Eddie Dee, which introduced his music in New York City and Miami in the United States. In 2002, he made a brief appearance in the documentary Big Pun: Still Not a Player.
Omar David Hernández Colón, known as Darkiel, is a Puerto Rican reggaeton singer and actor, born in Lares. He is better known for his role in the Netflix biographical series of Nicky Jam called Nicky Jam: El Ganador.
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.
The Premios Tu Música Urbano is a music industry awards ceremony presented by television network Telemundo Puerto Rico to recognize artists who "transcended and boosted the success of Latin urban music around the world" for the past year. The show has been held annually at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico, since 2019, produced by Telemundo, Sora & Company and Mr. & Mrs. Entertainment, and broadcast by Telemundo Puerto Rico and by Telemundo. The awards were founded after an obvious lack of recognition of reggaetón, urbano and Latin trap artists was observed at the Latin Grammy Awards, as well as the (former) absence of any Latin urbano/reggaetón categories at the American Grammy Awards. Both organizations have since expanded their representation and categories.
