Reggae en Español
Encyclopedia
Reggae en Español is reggae
and dancehall
music recorded in the Spanish language by artists of Latin America
n origin. It originated in the mid-1970s in Panama and 1980s in Puerto Rico, but today reggae en Español is well dominated by Puerto Rican reggae bands. Reggae en Español goes by several names, including: Plena, roots reggae, regga tradicional boricua, and reggaeton. It is also known as roots en Español in Puerto Rico because reggae is well dominated and sung in Spanish in Puerto Rico. Reggae Español is a particular style musically adapted from the Jamaican reggae and dance hall into the Spanish language.
Currently, reggae en Español contains three main sub-genres: Reggae 110, Reggae bultrón and Romantic Flow, known as Romantikeo
in Puerto Rico
. In addition, and although technically they would not fall into the category of Reggae Español because their beats are not directly derived from Jamaican Dancehall rhythms, Reggae en Español also includes 2 music fusions: Reggae Soca and Reggaeton
.
as a musical genre has its origins in Jamaica
, and it became popular throughout the 1970s in the black-immigrant communities of the other British West Indies, North America, and Great Britain. Puerto Rico and Central America did not escape that musical expansion. Jamaican Reggae was embraced in the Spanish-speaking world first in Panama by the descendants of black workers that immigrated to the Isthmus
during the construction of the Panama Railroad (mid-19th century), the railways for the banana
companies (late 19th century), and the Panama Canal
(early 20th century). Prior to the period of construction of the Panama Canal
(1904–1915), most of the Afro-Caribbean communities in Panama where of Jamaican descent, but with the construction of the canal these communities grew in diversity with immigrants from other parts of the Caribbean such as Barbados
, Martinique
, Guadeloupe
, Haiti
, Trinidad
, French and British Guyanas
and other Caribbean
Islands.
By the 1970s and already equipped with a rich Afro-Caribbean community, early attempts of Plena or Reggae en Español were produced as a hobby by Panamanian DJ's of afro-caribbean heritage as well as Puerto Rican DJ's like DJ playero, who improvised lyrics in patois
. These lyrics were often humorous or had double meanings.
In 1977, a Guyanese immigrant, appropriately nicknamed as Guyana, along with a local DJ known as Wassabanga introduced for first time the Reggae
rhythms in Panama with lyrics in Spanish. Wassabanga's music along with later interpreters such as Rastanini and Calito Soul, were perhaps the first remarkable cases of Reggae Español, at a time when many Panamanians were already developing a musical and spiritual bond with the Mecca of reggae music (Kingston, Jamaica
), a bond catalyzed mainly by the call to arms issued by the music of Bob Marley
.
(district of Panama), where the later popular Nando Boom
reggae singer used to play during the weekends. At this time, Jamaican reggae was making its way to Puerto Rico by many Jamaican imports from its nearby island. Jamaican music and immigrants from St Thomas and Jamaica were moving to Puerto Rico, especially to the communities near Loiza, Puerto Rico.
Hernando Brin, better known as Super Nandi, was Rastanini's brother and was in the group "The Cheb". Brin and the group all belonged to the Rastafari Movement. In 1984, Brin produced the first record in the world of Reggae in Spanish on Vinyl
, called "Treatmen", composed by Calvin Calderon (Omega), Hactor Wakler, Erick Green (Gringo) and Hernando Brin (Super Nandi). The record was produced by record label "Prodim" in Panama, and it included the first song by Rastanini called "Padre por favor educa a los niños" (Daddy please educate the children).
In the early-mid 1980s, Panamanians like Renato, El General
, Nando Boom
, El Maleante, and Chicho Man started to take Jamaican dancehall
songs and beats, singing over them with Spanish lyrics, most of the time preserving the melodies and the rhythms. They also sped up riddim
s, and added Hispanic and Latino elements to them. This style was called Reggaeespañol, Reggae en Español, or La plena. The music continued to grow throughout the 1980s, with many stars developing in Panama. To this date, El General has been widely regarded as the "Padre Del Reggae en Español" or "Father of Spanish Reggae", due to his unique sound with Latino rhythms.
Between the 1980s and 1990s, the Panamanian artist Chicho Man, where the suffix "Man" was borrowed from the name of the Jamaican singer Yellowman
and the prefix "Chicho", given to him by one of his brothers, emerged as one of the greater exponents of Panamanian Reggae. In his short five-year career as an artist, he notoriously introduced the "romantic" element in Spanish Reggae, and produced only one LP
which included songs like: "La noche que te conocí", "Lady in red", "Llega Navidad","Muévela", "No quiero ir a isla Coiba" and "Un nuevo estilo". His songs were recorded in a warehouse, where a Panamanian producer called Calito LPD produced reggae instrumental tracks and recorded them in cassette
. While in the peak of his career, his fame reached the United States
but an issue with the US authorities left him in prison and led him to make a "pact" with God, whereby if he could get out of it, he would devote his talent to preach the Christian gospel. So after prison and after losing everything, he announced his withdrawal from the "Plena" scene to become a Christian preacher.
, then came great artists such as Aldo Ranks, El Renegado, Jam & Suppose who sang the hit "Camión lleno de gun". Jr. Ranks and Tony Bull, they already had good records with Danger Man
and they formed the musical group called The Killamanjaros. By the other side in the year 1991, the singer Apache Ness with Papa Chan, Kafu Banton, Calito Soul, Wassa Banga, and Original Dan decided to join together and create the foundation "One Love One Blood" singing about urban street experiences under the rhythm called Reggae Bultron.
Late in Panama, the romanticism had mixed with the reggae
and born the reggae romántico (romantic reggae), now better known as Romantic Flow, as called by the singer Flex
. Those who remained alive the reggae with romantic lyrics are the following: Nigga
, El Roockie
, El Aspirante, Kathy Phillips, Eddy Lover, Tommy Real, Makano
, Catherine, and groups like: Raíces y Cultura and La Factoría
who became famous by the Panamanian producer Irving DiBlasio.
In 1990, Panamanians developed the rhythm Reggae 110, with explicit lyrics and songs with double meaning, where producers mix instrumental reggae tracks as in the production of The Creation
with songs as: "Pa la cerca" by Papa Chan. In this year, in Puerto Rico under the influence of Panama
nians, they were singing what they call "Underground", when they mixed reggae en español with Hip hop
and other Latino-American rhythms, then born as Reggaeton
.
In 1996, considered the golden age of Panamanian reggae, appeared the productions Los Cuentos de la Cripta, La Mafia by the producer El Chombo
, with songs like: "Las chicas quieren chorizo" ("The Girls Like Chorizo
") by Wassabanga, El Cubo de Leche sung by Jam & Suppose and Estaban Celebrando by Aldo Ranks.
In the year 1997, the first Puerto Rican artists who visited Panama were: Ivy Queen
, Baby Rasta & Gringo, with productions like "Cierra los ojos bien" by Baby Rasta, "Reggae Respect" by Ivy Queen. Puerto Ricans also dominated reggae en español as well as their reggaeton.
In 1999, the Panamanian reggae became accepted internationally on productions as: Papi chulo
by Lorna
, "El Gato Volador" ("The Flying Cat") by Los Cracker Jack composed by Carlos Córdoba and Steve Valois, with the producer El Chombo
in the productions of Los Cuentos de la Cripta 3, under Sony Music.
Later, the Panamanian productions divided into: Reggae 110, Dancehall
and Roots Reggae
, with peace and reflexion lyrics, like in Jamaica
n Reggae
. Today the reggae-en-español market is controlled by many Puerto Rican musicians and bands, such as Cultura Profética
, which have been very successful.
from Puerto Rico. The most notable omitted difference between Spanish reggae/dancehall and reggaeton is the move away from a percussion-based music genre. Reggaeton is Puerto Rican and is based on a percussion/drum pattern known as dembow. Reggae en Español, on the other hand, comes to resemble Jamaica
n reggae and dancehall in most aspects. Musicians who play reggae en Español have long abandoned the use of dembow (Poco man jam riddim
), and have adopted newly imported or newly created Jamaican-inspired riddims.
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
music recorded in the Spanish language by artists of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n origin. It originated in the mid-1970s in Panama and 1980s in Puerto Rico, but today reggae en Español is well dominated by Puerto Rican reggae bands. Reggae en Español goes by several names, including: Plena, roots reggae, regga tradicional boricua, and reggaeton. It is also known as roots en Español in Puerto Rico because reggae is well dominated and sung in Spanish in Puerto Rico. Reggae Español is a particular style musically adapted from the Jamaican reggae and dance hall into the Spanish language.
Currently, reggae en Español contains three main sub-genres: Reggae 110, Reggae bultrón and Romantic Flow, known as Romantikeo
Romantikeo
Romantiqueo is a sub-genre of reggaeton. It is a fusion of Pop, R&B, and zouk with reggaeton. The name Romantiqueo comes from the words "romantic" and "mixeo" . Romantiqueo's main musical engine is based on Reggaeton, however it comes to resembles R&B very often...
in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. In addition, and although technically they would not fall into the category of Reggae Español because their beats are not directly derived from Jamaican Dancehall rhythms, Reggae en Español also includes 2 music fusions: Reggae Soca and Reggaeton
Reggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
.
History
Early Developments
ReggaeReggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
as a musical genre has its origins in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, and it became popular throughout the 1970s in the black-immigrant communities of the other British West Indies, North America, and Great Britain. Puerto Rico and Central America did not escape that musical expansion. Jamaican Reggae was embraced in the Spanish-speaking world first in Panama by the descendants of black workers that immigrated to the Isthmus
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
during the construction of the Panama Railroad (mid-19th century), the railways for the banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
companies (late 19th century), and the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
(early 20th century). Prior to the period of construction of the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
(1904–1915), most of the Afro-Caribbean communities in Panama where of Jamaican descent, but with the construction of the canal these communities grew in diversity with immigrants from other parts of the Caribbean such as Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
, Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, French and British Guyanas
Guyanas
Guyana is a country in South America.Guyana, Guayana, or Guiana may also refer to:*Guayana Esequiba, the territory of Guyana claimed by Venezuela*Guayana Region, an administrative region of Venezuela...
and other Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
Islands.
By the 1970s and already equipped with a rich Afro-Caribbean community, early attempts of Plena or Reggae en Español were produced as a hobby by Panamanian DJ's of afro-caribbean heritage as well as Puerto Rican DJ's like DJ playero, who improvised lyrics in patois
Patois
Patois is any language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. It can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects, and other forms of native or local speech, but not commonly to jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant...
. These lyrics were often humorous or had double meanings.
In 1977, a Guyanese immigrant, appropriately nicknamed as Guyana, along with a local DJ known as Wassabanga introduced for first time the Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
rhythms in Panama with lyrics in Spanish. Wassabanga's music along with later interpreters such as Rastanini and Calito Soul, were perhaps the first remarkable cases of Reggae Español, at a time when many Panamanians were already developing a musical and spiritual bond with the Mecca of reggae music (Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
), a bond catalyzed mainly by the call to arms issued by the music of Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
.
First generation
In 1978, people could listen to and dance to this genre at Rancho Grande in the Disco Club "Disco Machine" and in the open dance floor "El Compa" in PedregalPedregal
Pedregal is a town in the Chiriquí province of Panama.- Sources :* – World-Gazetteer.com...
(district of Panama), where the later popular Nando Boom
Nando Boom
Nando Boom is a Reggaeton and Reggae en Español group from Panamá led by Fernando Brown.Brown began singing in 1977, and Nando Boom started in 1985...
reggae singer used to play during the weekends. At this time, Jamaican reggae was making its way to Puerto Rico by many Jamaican imports from its nearby island. Jamaican music and immigrants from St Thomas and Jamaica were moving to Puerto Rico, especially to the communities near Loiza, Puerto Rico.
Hernando Brin, better known as Super Nandi, was Rastanini's brother and was in the group "The Cheb". Brin and the group all belonged to the Rastafari Movement. In 1984, Brin produced the first record in the world of Reggae in Spanish on Vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, called "Treatmen", composed by Calvin Calderon (Omega), Hactor Wakler, Erick Green (Gringo) and Hernando Brin (Super Nandi). The record was produced by record label "Prodim" in Panama, and it included the first song by Rastanini called "Padre por favor educa a los niños" (Daddy please educate the children).
In the early-mid 1980s, Panamanians like Renato, El General
El General
El General is a Panamanian Reggae artist considered by some to be one of the Fathers of Reggaeton. During the early 1990s, he initiated the Spanish spoken dancehall that would later become reggaeton...
, Nando Boom
Nando Boom
Nando Boom is a Reggaeton and Reggae en Español group from Panamá led by Fernando Brown.Brown began singing in 1977, and Nando Boom started in 1985...
, El Maleante, and Chicho Man started to take Jamaican dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
songs and beats, singing over them with Spanish lyrics, most of the time preserving the melodies and the rhythms. They also sped up riddim
Riddim
Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm," but in dancehall/reggae parlance it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song. Thus, a dancehall song consists of the riddim plus the "voicing" sung by the deejay. The resulting song structure may be taken for...
s, and added Hispanic and Latino elements to them. This style was called Reggaeespañol, Reggae en Español, or La plena. The music continued to grow throughout the 1980s, with many stars developing in Panama. To this date, El General has been widely regarded as the "Padre Del Reggae en Español" or "Father of Spanish Reggae", due to his unique sound with Latino rhythms.
Between the 1980s and 1990s, the Panamanian artist Chicho Man, where the suffix "Man" was borrowed from the name of the Jamaican singer Yellowman
Yellowman
Yellowman is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay, widely known as King Yellowman...
and the prefix "Chicho", given to him by one of his brothers, emerged as one of the greater exponents of Panamanian Reggae. In his short five-year career as an artist, he notoriously introduced the "romantic" element in Spanish Reggae, and produced only one LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
which included songs like: "La noche que te conocí", "Lady in red", "Llega Navidad","Muévela", "No quiero ir a isla Coiba" and "Un nuevo estilo". His songs were recorded in a warehouse, where a Panamanian producer called Calito LPD produced reggae instrumental tracks and recorded them in cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
. While in the peak of his career, his fame reached the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
but an issue with the US authorities left him in prison and led him to make a "pact" with God, whereby if he could get out of it, he would devote his talent to preach the Christian gospel. So after prison and after losing everything, he announced his withdrawal from the "Plena" scene to become a Christian preacher.
Second generation
In the decade of the '90s, in Panama, the genre had grown. In 1996 after the Panamanians were listening a little less to artists like Nando BoomNando Boom
Nando Boom is a Reggaeton and Reggae en Español group from Panamá led by Fernando Brown.Brown began singing in 1977, and Nando Boom started in 1985...
, then came great artists such as Aldo Ranks, El Renegado, Jam & Suppose who sang the hit "Camión lleno de gun". Jr. Ranks and Tony Bull, they already had good records with Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
and they formed the musical group called The Killamanjaros. By the other side in the year 1991, the singer Apache Ness with Papa Chan, Kafu Banton, Calito Soul, Wassa Banga, and Original Dan decided to join together and create the foundation "One Love One Blood" singing about urban street experiences under the rhythm called Reggae Bultron.
Late in Panama, the romanticism had mixed with the reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and born the reggae romántico (romantic reggae), now better known as Romantic Flow, as called by the singer Flex
Flex
-Computing:* Adobe Flex, technologies for developing rich internet applications* Flex, a family of automatic test equipment produced by Teradyne* Flex lexical analyser, a free software alternative to lex* Flex machine, multiple systems...
. Those who remained alive the reggae with romantic lyrics are the following: Nigga
Nigga
Nigga is a term used in African American Vernacular English that began as an eye dialect form of the word nigger .- Use in language :In practice, its use and meaning are...
, El Roockie
El Roockie
Iván Bladimir Banista, better known as El Roockie or The Roockie is a Panamanian reggae recording artist, currently signed to Luny Tunes' Mas Flow Inc...
, El Aspirante, Kathy Phillips, Eddy Lover, Tommy Real, Makano
Makano
Makano is a small town and commune in the Cercle of Kita in the Kayes Region of south-western Mali. As of 1998 the commune had a population of 10,306.-External links:*...
, Catherine, and groups like: Raíces y Cultura and La Factoría
La Factoría
La Factoría is a Panamanian Reggaeton and Reggae en Español group led by Marlen Romero better known by her stage name Demphra. Initially the group was formed by Marlen Romero , Johanna Mendoza , Edgardo Miranda and Pablo Maestre...
who became famous by the Panamanian producer Irving DiBlasio.
In 1990, Panamanians developed the rhythm Reggae 110, with explicit lyrics and songs with double meaning, where producers mix instrumental reggae tracks as in the production of The Creation
The Creation
The Creation is an oratorio written between 1796 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn , and considered by many to be his masterpiece. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the biblical Book of Genesis and in Paradise Lost...
with songs as: "Pa la cerca" by Papa Chan. In this year, in Puerto Rico under the influence of Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
nians, they were singing what they call "Underground", when they mixed reggae en español with Hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
and other Latino-American rhythms, then born as Reggaeton
Reggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
.
In 1996, considered the golden age of Panamanian reggae, appeared the productions Los Cuentos de la Cripta, La Mafia by the producer El Chombo
El Chombo
El Chombo, real name Rodney 'Dirty Sanchez' Clark is an American-born Panamanian producer and artist, known for his song "Chacarron Macarron"...
, with songs like: "Las chicas quieren chorizo" ("The Girls Like Chorizo
Chorizo
Chorizo is a term encompassing several types of pork sausages originating from the Iberian Peninsula.In English, it is usually pronounced , , or , but sometimes ....
") by Wassabanga, El Cubo de Leche sung by Jam & Suppose and Estaban Celebrando by Aldo Ranks.
In the year 1997, the first Puerto Rican artists who visited Panama were: Ivy Queen
Ivy Queen
Ivy Queen is a Puerto Rican Latin Grammy nominated reggaeton composer and singer. She is most commonly known as "La Reina del Reggaeton" . She is also known as the Queen of Rivalries.-Early years:...
, Baby Rasta & Gringo, with productions like "Cierra los ojos bien" by Baby Rasta, "Reggae Respect" by Ivy Queen. Puerto Ricans also dominated reggae en español as well as their reggaeton.
In 1999, the Panamanian reggae became accepted internationally on productions as: Papi chulo
Papi chulo... (te traigo el mmmm...)
"Papi Chulo... " is a 2003 song recorded by rapper and reggaeton artist Lorna. Released as her debut single in 2003 summer, the song achieved a huge success in many countries, becoming a top five hit in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy.-Song information:Sponsored by NRJ, the song also...
by Lorna
Lorna (rapper)
Lorna Zarina Aponte , better known simply as Lorna, is a female rapper and reggaeton artist best known for her song "Papi chulo... "...
, "El Gato Volador" ("The Flying Cat") by Los Cracker Jack composed by Carlos Córdoba and Steve Valois, with the producer El Chombo
El Chombo
El Chombo, real name Rodney 'Dirty Sanchez' Clark is an American-born Panamanian producer and artist, known for his song "Chacarron Macarron"...
in the productions of Los Cuentos de la Cripta 3, under Sony Music.
Later, the Panamanian productions divided into: Reggae 110, Dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
and Roots Reggae
Roots reggae
Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of the artists concerned, including the spiritual side of Rastafari and with the honoring of God, called Jah by rastafarians. It also is identified with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor...
, with peace and reflexion lyrics, like in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
. Today the reggae-en-español market is controlled by many Puerto Rican musicians and bands, such as Cultura Profética
Cultura Profética
Cultura Profética is a Puerto Rican reggae band that debuted in 1996. They have toured in Puerto Rico and across the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Mexico and the United States...
, which have been very successful.
Reggaeton
Reggae en Español is the antecessor of reggaetonReggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
from Puerto Rico. The most notable omitted difference between Spanish reggae/dancehall and reggaeton is the move away from a percussion-based music genre. Reggaeton is Puerto Rican and is based on a percussion/drum pattern known as dembow. Reggae en Español, on the other hand, comes to resemble Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n reggae and dancehall in most aspects. Musicians who play reggae en Español have long abandoned the use of dembow (Poco man jam riddim
Riddim
Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm," but in dancehall/reggae parlance it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song. Thus, a dancehall song consists of the riddim plus the "voicing" sung by the deejay. The resulting song structure may be taken for...
), and have adopted newly imported or newly created Jamaican-inspired riddims.