
Artist: Daddy Yankee
Genre(s): Rap: Hip-Hop R&B: Soul Other Reggae
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Daddy Yankee did more than than anyone to found reggaeton as a marketable music style. His success was so phenomenal in the kindle of his 2004 mainstream breakthrough, Barrio Fino -- and in fussy the international put on "Gasolina" -- he transcended cultural boundaries and musical genre furnishing. He became more than just now a reggaetonero; he transformed himself into an outside name brand. By the time of his 2007 review album, El Cartel: The Big Boss, for instance, his refer, image, and music were used to sell voiced drinks for Pepsi and footwear for Reebok, as well as a syndicated evidence for ABC Radio Networks (Pa Yankee on Fuego) and a feature of speech moving picture for Paramount Pictures (Talento de Barrio). Daddy Yankee indeed had become a patronage empire, of which the primary addition, his music, remained self-governing from major-label control: he keenly operated his possess independent label, El Cartel Records, and chose to collaborator with labels such as Interscope only for purposes of marketing and distribution, quite than signaling himself and his publication to them outright. The patronage side of Daddy Yankee was so remarkable, it much overshadowed his medicine, which avowedly is often nearly notable for its commercial viability. The music is notable on its possess footing however, with Barrio Fino in fussy standing marvelous as the classical reggaeton record album of its time. Boasting a pair of grotesque hits, "Gasolina" and "Lo Que Pasó, Pasó," the album was a standard-bearer, influencing a horde of following and establishing the production duet Luny Tunes as reggaeton's hottest hitmakers. Barrio Fino was also the outset reggaeton album to reach phone number one on the Top Latin Album chart, a spatial relation it held for roughly a year's magazine patch marketing over a million copies in the United States alone.
Born Ramón Ayala (aka Raymond) on February 3, 1977, in RÃo Piedras, the largest district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Daddy Yankee grew up in a musical family. His founder was a bongosero (i.e., a salsa percussionist), his mother's family included legion musicians, and he himself american ginseng from an early age, with a knack for improvisation. As Daddy Yankee grew older, he took an interestingness in Spanish-language hip-hop, specially the socially cognisant raps of Vico C, and he became progressively raddled into the street life of his neighborhood, the Villa Kennedy housing project in San Juan. The "New Englander" byname arose from the Puerto Rican slang for "soul marvelous, world Health Organization is big in what he does" (according to a 2005 question with Billboard powder store); "Grownup Daddy" is thence the rough English translation of Daddy Yankee. He got into reggaeton just as it was taking embodiment in the early '90s, when San Juan DJs would spin hip-hop alongside dancehall reggae piece vocalists would freestyle over the beats. This convergence of hip-hop, dancehall, and freestyling proven democratic in San Juan, almost notably at the Noise, a long-running club night that spawned a collective of DJs and rappers. Besides the Noise, the other key owner of proto-reggaeton was Playero, a mixtape DJ/producer with whom Daddy Yankee got his start, debuting as a featured guest on Playero 37 (1992). A few geezerhood later, at age 18, Daddy Yankee made his full-length album debut, No Mercy (1995), once again working with Playero. Little came of No Mercy, however, and he continued to exercise the reggaeton resistance for the remainder of the '90s. Toward the Nicky Jam as a duo and had one of his songs, "Posición," a collaboration with Alberto Stylee, featured on the 1998 One Tough Cop soundtrack.
Get-go in 2000, Daddy Yankee furthered his life history significantly with independently released albums. El Cartel (2000) and El Cartel, Vol. 2 (2001) came first, each laden with featured guests in mixtape fashion; however, El Cangri.com (2002) was the one that truly gave his career the boost it requisite to break up outside Puerto Rico. Driven by "Latigazo," a single that found airplay in Miami and New York, El Cangri.com climbed all the fashion to issue 43 on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart scorn no major-label backing any (released instead by VI Music, a Puerto Rican indie). In the arouse of this success, Daddy Yankee assembled Los Homerun-es (2003), a Top Ten album comprised of odds and ends, including a fresh recorded strike single, "Segurosqui," as well as some former Playero tracks from a 10 prior. Reggaeton was on the cusp of breakage big time at this point; touchstone albums such as Don Omar's The Last Don (2003), Tego Calderón's El Abayarde (2003), and Luny Tunes' Mas Flow (2003) were making significant impacts in Miami and New York, in plus to Puerto Rico, and a undulation of lesser albums were organism released too. The leg was well set for Daddy Yankee's mainstream discovery, Barrio Fino (2004), which was released in July 2004 (by VI Music in conjunction with Universal Music Group Distribution) and debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums chart. The first reggaeton album to strain the number one spotlight, Barrio Fino would dominate the top of the Latin albums chart for roughly a year's time, lodged in that respect well into 2005. It sold over a one thousand thousand copies in the U.S. alone during this chart reign.
The long ledge life story of Barrio Fino was partially on account of "Gasolina," a party-oriented single whose appeal was so phenomenal that the song itself became synonymous with reggaeton in the minds of many (and perhaps remains so), specially English-speakers world Health Organization were innocent with the music expressive style. The appeal of "Gasolina" was such that it's been compared to "Macarena," another Latin party song that broke through ethnic boundaries to become a dance ball club staple internationally. It took "Gasolina" awhile to become a craze, several months after the release of Barrio Fino, in fact, so far by November 2004 it had broken into the Billboard Hot hundred and finally made it all the way to bit 32 a twosome months later (a genuine Top 40 shoot, albeit a novel one). On the Latin charts, though, "Gasolina" didn't even break the Top Ten, only stretch number 17. Rather, "Lo Que Pasó, Pasó" was the album's expectant hit on the Latin scene, charting at number iI. Barrio Fino spawned a few other singles as well: "Sabor a Melao" (featuring salsa champion Andy Montañez), "No Me Dejes Solo" (featuring Wisin & Yandel), and "Like You" (an English-language song). The success of the album was such that it catapulted Luny Tunes -- an tireless couple who'd produced half the album, and all the key hits -- to stardom of their have, as they became widely accepted as reggaeton undisputed go to hitmakers. The success of the album besides drew significant major-label aid. Machete Music, a Universal party specializing in Latin urban, signed a share with Daddy Yankee to re-release Los Homerun-es in March 2005 (and subsequently Barrio Fino in December 2006). Meanwhile, VI Music cashed in with 5% le Toca al Cangri (2005), a live CD/DVD recorded in Puerto Rico in 2003.
In 2005, spell the major labels were courting Daddy Yankee, the president of Interscope, Jimmy Iovine, whose roll includes Eminem, 50 Cent, and Dr. Dre, actually flew mastered to Puerto Rico to discourse business in person. A joint speculation share resulted between Interscope and Daddy Yankee's own judge, El Cartel Records. The first discharge under this partnership was Barrio Fino en Directo (2005), a CD/DVD comprised of live in concert and fresh recorded real. "Rompe," one of the freshly recorded songs, was issued as the lead single and charted even better than "Gasolina" had, arrival number 24 on the Hot hundred. Moreover, it exhausted 15 weeks atop the Hot Latin Tracks chart. The Interscope deal was only one of many stricken by Daddy Yankee at this point. He began lending his name, simulacrum, and music to everything from footwear (Reebok) and piano drinks (Pepsi Cola), to automobiles (Citroën) and receiving set (ABC's); he founded his own charity, Corazón Guerrero, to serve ex-convicts; and he teamed with CMN (Cardenas Marketing Network, an event marketing and sponsorship office) to wax an international hitch throughout North, Central, and South America. All the patch, he worked intermittently on his next album, El Cartel: The Big Boss (2007), a big-budget affaire bringing in concert an ensemble mold of marquee-name collaborators, including pop-rap hitmakers Will.I.Am, Akon, and Scott Storch. The buildup to the album was well-planned and permeative, with "Impacto" (and its bilingual remix featuring Fergie) released as the lead single well in advance of the eagerly hoped-for June button particular date.
Discography:
Whos Your Daddy
Year: 2007
Tracks: 3
El Cartel: The Big Boss
Year: 2007
Tracks: 21
Vina
Year: 2006
Tracks: 15
Ahora Le Toca Al Cangri! Live
Year: 2005
Tracks: 17
No Mercy
Year: 1995
Tracks: 11
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