June 12, 2024 • 27 mins
At last, on Becoming an Icon, we’re exploring Daddy Yankee's journey to earn his rightful throne as the King of Reggaeton! In this episode, we'll delve into a brief history of reggaeton, Daddy Yankee’s childhood in San Juan, his short stint as a baseball player, and his musical beginnings. Discover how Daddy Yankee helped establish the genre's credibility, setting the stage for world domination.
Lilliana Vazquez and Joseph Carrillo are the hosts of Becoming An Icon with production support by Santiago Sierra, Nick Milanes, Rodrigo Crespo and Ameyalli Negrete of Sonoro Media in partnership with iHeart Radio's My Cultura Podcast network.
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Follow Lilliana Vazquez on Instagram and Twitter @lillianavazquez
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Joseph, I think we're about to usher in a becoming
an icon.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
First, wait, the first time that we've not had Margarita's
before starting?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Okay, stop, we do not drink Margarita's before we record
the podcast. Okay, we don't. Don't listen to him, y'all,
he's been drinking. The first time we've covered an artist
who's currently retired.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Whoa well, I mean, Nikki retired, Doja retired? Then they
kept making music? How long is that gonna last?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Facts? But this artist made a promise to Baby Jesus
about it?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Right? I believe it when I see it, or when
I don't hear anything, I guess. But shouldn't we introduce
who we're talking about?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
A good call? So today's icon is the King of
Regathon a big Box, otherwise known as Daddy Yankee, who
announced his retirement from the biz back in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
And then said it goodbye to a roaring crowd at
his final clonsert in its native Puerto Rico. Last year.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
He said that he's stepping away from music to focus
on his Christianity, which sounds a little surprising coming from
the guy who wrote saban as Blancas along.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
We've countless other booty shaking bangers over the course of
three whole decades and over thirty million albums sold.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
It's more than enough success to totally justify hanging it up.
But you know us, we are never ready to say
goodbye to our icons again.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I will believe it when I don't hear it, all right,
don't see it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Point is possibly more than I think any other icon
we've covered. We're living in the world Daddy Yankee built
right now. Irl.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
That is a very bold statement, Chica.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I know, but think about it, Okay, just like stay
with me here. There is the world before Reggaton and
the world after Reggathon, and who was right there when
we changed over?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Who else but El exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
And to be clear, it's not to say that he
invented reggathon. We're going to have more on that in
just a little bit for all you music historians.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
But basically, without Daddy Yankee, your weekly New Music Friday
playlist would look very different.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
My workout playlist would basically be unrecognizable. I mean, like
my get Ready remix Forgetting Done Done. So my point
is this, Daddy Yankee brought Reggaton to the masses and
played a massive role in shaping the genre.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Let's take a look at how the King of Reggathon
earned his thrown.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I'm your host Lillianavasquez and I'm Joseph Carrio and this
is Becoming an Icon Week, the podcast where we give
you the rundown on how today's most famous Latin X
stars have shaped pop culture.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And given the world some extra couple.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Sit back and get comfortable.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Because we are going in the only way we know
how with when I view us, when assays.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
And a lot of opinions as we relive their greatest
achievements on our journey to find out what makes them
still iconic.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Before we dive in, let's mix it up a little
bit remake to understand how Daddy Yankee became the icon
that he is today, you kind of need to understand
when and where he came of age Puerto Rico's underground
music scene of the nineteen nineties.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Daddy Yankee didn't invent Ragaeton. Rayton is a product of
the MC and DJ's remixing and experimenting with dancehall beats
that originated in Jamaica and other largely Afro Caribbean islands.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Hence the reggae part of Reggathon.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I actually didn't know that really.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
See listen, always learning, always learning, forever a student. Okay,
So from there you would think that the music just
kind of like made its way across Haiti in the
dr and landed smack dab in Puerto Rico. But it's
a little bit more roundabout than that.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Before we keep going, this is just going to be
a quick primer for the non Regaton scholars. Listen. If
you really want to go deep, you'll want to check
out loud The History of Reggaeton, another great podcast hosted
by Regaeton Roy y'll t lativ coween.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And by the way, like I'm not asking you to
turn off our podcast right now, but as soon as
ours is over, goes straight to that immediately. What we're
about to give you is just a little Regaton appetizer,
just a little app you know, to give you a
sense of the singular moment in musical history that Daddy
Yankee was a part of. So before where too Rican reggaethon,
(05:09):
there was reggae in Espanol and that came from Panama.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
What a twist, Okay.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
So here's how it happened. So, the famous Panama Canal
was dug largely by West Indian and especially Jamaican immigrant labor,
and after the canal was finished, the workers and their
families settled down in Panama City and formed a really
tight immigrant community.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
The clubs or dance halls all of this community played
music that was similar to reggae, but a few ticks
faster and with harder beats.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
And at these dance halls, young artists like DJ Renato,
Reggae Sam and DJ Franchito hyped the crowd in Spanish.
Thus reggae in Espanol was born.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Soon they started recording Spanish language covers of popular dancehall
songs along with original tracks, and just like that, reggae
en Espanol found its way to Spanish speaking islands like
Puerto Rico.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Just as Ramon Ayala Junior, the boy who would go
on to be known as Daddy Yankee, was beginning to
develop an interest in American hip hop, which you might
say is the second ingredient in Puerto Rican reggaton, but
more on that later.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
So that's the short one.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Was beginning to develop an interest in America.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
In Hi regaton will cross borders and become something else entirely. Now,
without further ado, let's your turn to our leading man.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Ramon Ayala Junior was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico,
on February third, nineteen seventy six. Joseph, want to go
like full flow Alder Mercado on this one for bodingen.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Maybe okay ah Caia, you little rule breaker with your
son in Aquarius, you're not afraid to push the envelope
in the name of innovation.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
You want to do things your way, and your fullest
surprise is hi berro mira la lunin pieces with your
moon in Pisces. You're not above insecurity and passivity, but
don't wait and see embrace your creativity and you'll reap
the rewards of your imagination.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
The cape suits you, Joseph, it really does you know
what I mean? I mean we're looking for two point zero.
We're looking for two point zero now. Ramon Ayala's father,
Ramon Senior, was a bongo player for salsa artists in
the area, making Daddy Yankee. I think our third icon
in a row this season to have a musician as
a parent.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Mm hmm. His mother Rosa. Meanwhile, was a beautician who
also came from a family of musicians. Ramond Junior, aka
future Daddy Yankee, would years later describe his mother as
a fighter.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And she's the one who actually introduced him to American
pop artist of the nineteen eighties, most importantly, Michael Jackson.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Perhaps even more than his music, the King of Pop's
lavish cinema videos made a huge impression on Dramon Junior.
He cites Jackson as an artist who showed him what
it meant to be an entertainer, from his work ethic
to his charisma.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Just picture young little Daddy Yankee. Like that sounds so weird,
Little Daddy Yankee. Okay, so the picture a young Ramon
huddled around the TV set with his two brothers. This
family of five lived in a small Gasaillon or housing
project named Via Kennedy.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Jac Kennedy was and is one of the many housing
projects throughout someone.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
The Gasadiels tended to be heavily policed and subject to prejudice.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Still, Ramon Junior's family managed to get by, but that
doesn't mean they avoided all the pitfalls of poverty.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
At Ramond Senior struggled with addiction all throughout his son's childhood,
turning to alcohol as well as illegal drugs.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Eventually he would get clean, but his addiction would leave
a significant impact on his son's life. An addiction wasn't
the only way the shadow of poverty would darken Ramond
Junior's child.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Ramond Junior was a lover of the great American pastime baseball.
As early as the age of six, he dreamt of
playing for who else, the New York Yankees.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
He was just a peewee ball player in the middle
of a game when suddenly a gunman strode from the
stands to the home plate and shot Ramond's coach point blank.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Reflecting on this experience as an adult, daddy, Yankee would say,
I went to his burial and seeing him right there,
I couldn't sleep. Back in those days, a manager or
coach for a kid represents a role model, and you
don't understand what really happened until you get to a
certain age.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Nonetheless, Ramon Junior continued to find joy and escape through baseball.
More and more. He would show immense talent as a
third baseman.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And all the while he also showed he had a
knack for music. When the family went caroling during the holidays,
he would make up rhymes on the spot just for fun,
which would probably they earned most Latino kids a strung
pinch on the back on the arm from Abuela So
I guess Yankee was lucky in some ways.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Not surprisingly as a teenager, his natural talent for music
and improvisation would lead to his next great love rap.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Around the age of fourteen, Ramon fell in love with
now Classic Queen's hip hop group Run DMC Run DMC.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Michael Jackson. Obviously dadd Yankee spent his weekday afternoons glued
to MTV. He's one of all us.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
But perhaps most importantly, Ramond Junior's biggest hip hop influence
was one of Puerto Rico's own, Vico C. Born in
Brooklyn and raised just ten miles from Daddy Yankee's barrion,
San Juan, Vico C inspired a whole generation of Puerto
Rican rappers.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Before vicoc rap in Espanol wasn't really a thing in
Puerto Rico. Vico C made home recordings straight to storebock
cassette tapes and distributed him himself.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Original mixtape Call It Right. Like the original mixtape Now
When young Puerto Ricans like Ramond Junior heard Vigo see,
it was a revelation. He showed them what they were
capable of, and from there young DJs and empces spread
like wildfire.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Often the emceeeds would rhyme over beats reminiscent of hip
hop from New York. By the nineties, the Brooklyn's boombob sound.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Was a very on trend, which is to say that
from early on, Puerto Rican's relationship with New Aricans and
other Latinos in the northeastern US is a key part
of the story. But remember, La Isla had beats of
its own.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
By the time Daddy Yankee was wrapping, reggae Espanol had
evolved throughout the eighties and was beginning to sound like
what we now call reggaeton thanks to the iconic dem
bo rhythm.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
The youth of poor barrios like Ramond Juniors couldn't get
enough of it. But the authorities, well, they had some
other feelings.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Much like dancehall and Panama, Puerto Rican reggaeton and rap
Espanol was quickly marginalized and heavily policed, and in the nineties,
the police in Puerto Rico were super militarized.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Oh yeah, they conducted raids on music stores and confiscated
reggaeton cassette tapes. With the backing of laws against obscenity,
rapperos like Daddy Yankee were subject to fines and vilified
on local TV and radio.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
But this didn't stop youth culture from doing its thing.
That Raperos just took the culture further underground, recording music
in garages with minimal equipment and selling music out of
the trunks of cars.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
And even with Los Federals breathing down their necks, there
was one place young regaton fans could gather, a now
legendary club called The Noise.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Located in La Perla, the poorest neighborhood in San Juan.
The Noise was founded by DJ Negro, the producer who
worked with Daddy Yankee's favorite Raperro Vicosi. See guys, It's
all connected.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
It's all all connected. It's here at the Noise where
Daddy Yankee, at sixteen, gets on stage and begins to
make a name for himself, along with other pioneering reggaeton
netos like Deego Calleron We see Nyandell and Spoiler Future
front of me Nikki jam Jeoze.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
But every rapper needs a producer, and Daddy Yankee's man
behind the deck was one DJ Plaeto.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
DJ Plato began releasing mixtapes of original beats that range
from the boom up of the nineties Brooklyn to upbeat
reggaeton of his own scene.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
These tapes also feature local rappers, and the standout was
the teenage Daddy Yankee.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
If you guys have not taken a moment down music
history lane, go back to this song right. This is
called so fer Sigemn not de thingas and this truly
is the first Daddy Yankee as we know him song.
What did you think when you first heard it? And
does it sound like today is regeton? Or does it
(14:01):
sound like old people's ragaton.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Not the old people's rageton? You know what, I'm not
going to be able to tell you honestly what the
first thing I heard? I naturally started moving my hips
and gyrating in my seat, so like I just wanted
to dance. You know. It kind of gave me this
like Afrikaans dance, Like I just kind of wanted to
like shake my body. So I wasn't necessarily listening, I
(14:25):
could just feel the beat.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Now, let's talk about what Daddy Yankee's actually saying in
this song, because for reference, you guys, you might hear
the song and think that he sounds like a mature man.
Like you hear the song, you're like, oh, he's like
in his twenties, or he's like twenty two or twenty
four thirty. But Joseph, did you know that this is
a teenage Daddy Yankee. He is fifteen years old rapping
on this song.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
This is little Sun Yankee. Oh my god, he's fifteen?
Wait is it is? That's not illegal? Right? Like fifteen?
I don't know. How can you work? You can't do
some You could do a whole bunch of shit.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I'll tell you that these nineties kids, the people that
are born in the eighties and nineties are wild. You
and I are a testament. We were left at home alone.
We were making our own Wow, we were making our
own TV dinners. We were rapping on albums like come On.
Children of the eighties and nineties are wild. But yes,
Daddy Yankee was only fifteen years old when he recorded
this song. But you can already hear how advanced he
(15:23):
is lyrically, you could already hear the style that would
become synonymous with his music. And we talked about what
Daddy Yankee was saying in the song. Supposedly, and I
don't want to get too deep in the weeds on
this because there's a lot of controversy about this, but
supposedly they say that this is the first time anyone
ever used the word reggaeton ever in the history of music.
(15:47):
But again, people get upset about it because obviously Daddy
Yankee did not invent regaton. We're all saying that we
can all agree, correct, right.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Okay, But you know what, I'm going to tell you
something with that. It's just funny because it doesn't mean
that people said that before. Because I said the word
shut your butt a long, long time ago, and all
of a sudden, someone of the Kardashians, they said, shut
your butt, And I'm just I'm using that as a phrase.
But Chloe said, shut your butt. I been saying shut
your butt for a very long time. In this recent season,
(16:18):
she said shut your butt. So people say other words
like reggaeton. They could say all those words before someone
actually says it on a microsphone and it seems like
it's the first time it's ever been heard exactly, do
you know what I'm saying? So it's like, no, maybe
reggaeton was used before. Do we think that he made
up the word? No, right, we don't.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Know if he was the first person or the guy
that invented the phrase reggaeton, But previous to this, people
were calling it reggae and espanol, which is a little cumbersome,
like it doesn't quite roll off the tongue the same
way that reggaeton does. So thank you Daddy Yankee for
putting it in a song and for changing the title,
because we don't need to be saying reggae and espanol
(16:58):
like too long. Nobody got time for that. At the
end of the day, we saw how gifted he was
as an MC rap was neither Ramon Junior's only love
nor his first love.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
And for as much attention as he was getting in
the underground as a RAPPERO Ramon was also getting a
reputation as a star athlete. Soon after Pa and Ta
Cuadro dropped, Ramon was about to receive the opportunity of
a lifetime Liliana.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
That's so formal. Why are you being so formal?
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Right? Now are you there? Okay, listen, I have to
ask you something. What have you ever experienced a blessing
in disguise?
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Oh my god?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yes, of course, like someone who's like shut the door
on you and then it turns into something else. Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
When I had just moved to Philadelphia, I auditioned to
be a host on QBC stop. Yes I did, Yes,
I did. And I went for weeks. It was rounds
and rounds of interviews and auditions and live selling and
training and fittings. And I got to the last round
(18:10):
and I didn't get it. Wow, And I got the news.
I was leaving the doctor's office. I was in a
hallway about to get on an elevator, and I broke
down in tears. I was like, my life on television
is over. I will never be on TV. I will NET,
I swear to God. I cooked like what I called Patrick,
and I was like, this is it. This is the
end for me. I will never have a career in television.
And well we know how that worked out, so yes,
(18:33):
for sure, I think. Listen, it's very much like old school.
It's like sliding doors, right, I mean when one closes.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Another one opens, right, Yeah, if not, you just go
in through the window. That's what I did.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
And that's kind of what's about to happen to Daddy Yankee,
because in nineteen ninety four, Ramond drew the attention of
a scout from the Seattle Mariners. At the age of seventeen,
he was on the verge of signing a contract to
join the team's third baseman.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Everyone who had seen him play knew that he was
going places, and his dream of joining the major leagues
was about to become a reality.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Still, he continues to record with Playerro. One day, the
two get together to work on a new mixtape in
Dramond's neighborhood via Kennedy. It's January sixth, which is Three
Kings Day for all of you non practicing Catholics.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
So Ramond decides to take a break and heads outside.
He greets his neighbors and it seems like any other afternoon.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
When suddenly, gunshots split the air. Dramond sees bullets flying
in opposite directions. Violence has erupted on his street. He sprints,
desperate to get himself out of the crossfire. He's running, running,
running as fast as he can, and in an instant,
his leg crumbles underneath him.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
He's been hit by a stray bullet, which ends up
being lodged in his hip. He stumbles to the ground
and crawls underneath a parked van. To this day, he
says the shelter of the van is the one thing
that kept him alive amid the shooting.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
After the gunfire ceases, but Ramons hospitalized and it takes
him over a year to recover from his injury. Over
a year spent in a wheelchair and on crutches, steadily
regaining his string, but he never fully regains his mobility,
meaning he'll never dawn.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
An MLB uniform Lying in the hospital at Ramon fixates
on his dash dreams. He had proven that he had
what it takes. Everyone had been rooting for him, and
his big chance was gone in an instant.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Today, Daddy Yankee says he thanks God for that bullet.
It remains lodged in his hip. Doctors have determined that
it would be riskier to remove it than to leave
it be. A metal pres thesis in his leg helps
him walk, but his mobility has been limited since that
fateful day.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
His dreams of playing the major leagues had slipped through
his fingers, but in the years that followed he would
find a new dream and grab on with both hands.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Shortly after Ramon's recovery, he became a father. At nineteen,
he married his high school sweetheart, Mireds Gonzalez, with whom
he remains married to until this.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Day, oh Wow, And upon the birth of his first daughter,
yami Let, Ramon decided to put all of his focus
on what he was good at, rapping.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
After years of mixtapes, he again got together with DJ
Plaiero and put out a proper debut album in nineteen
ninety five called No Mercy.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
The name of the cover simply reads a yank. At
the time, Ramon went by names like Winchester Trentai Trienta
and winchesta Yankee.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
The album features a couple of old school sounding rap
tracks with boombab beats, but the overwhelmingly majority of the
tracks are classic dance hall style reggaeton.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
After Ramon's injury, the album was an opening sobo for
his commitment to music. Reggaton was quickly becoming the prevailing
sound of the Sanjuan underground and Young Yankee and DJ
Plaiero were staking their claim.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
And soon they would find themselves making noise outside of
Puerto Rico.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Ramon hustled selling cassette copies of No Mercy, just like
his hero Vicosi had done. The buzz grew bigger and bigger,
but he wasn't the only one hustling. In fact, a
few key members of this scene were working to make
ripples beyond the island.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
The same year, Daddy Yankee dropped his debut, formative Puerto
Rican reggaton producer Nico Canada teamed up with New York's
Tony Touch for nineteen ninety five's Watauba.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
It was a mixtape featuring Puerto Rican drapertos like Daddy Yankee,
Alberto Style, and don Cezina, as well as New York
rappers like Matt Lyon and Karas One.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
On a single disc, Reggaeton and nineties Boom Bob stood
shoulder to shoulder. These were the most cutting edge sounds
coming out of two different underground scenes that were more
than fifteen hundred miles apart. He had somehow still connected
because of the love between Neu Urrikans and their motherland.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
But for Daddy Yankee, wa would prove to be a
warm up. Nineteen ninety seven's Bodicua Guerreno First Combat would
up the antie with two full discs, one boombab one.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Regaton Nkokanada linked up with DJ Playerro Yankee's longtime collaborator,
and the pair spent two months in a hotel room
in New York City for yet another crossover between Puerto
Rico's top reggazoneros and New York's best and brightest.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
MCS Mexicano seven seven seven Eddie d Daddy Yankee Busta Rhymes,
Q tip that Joe was even there.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Everybody was there, but the biggest name of the bunch,
the one that you're like gonna be like wit what
he was there?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Who Nas what?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Uh huh? Nas was hot off the success of his
nineteen ninety four debut Illmatic. His nineteen ninety six follow up,
It Was Written, had sold a quarter of a million copies.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Where hip hop was concerned, Nas was the artist to watch,
and on Brigua Guerrero he split a track with Daddy
Yankee titled The Prophecy.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yankee intros the track with a classic dancehall affect, wrapping
the island and shouting out Knos, who shouts him back
from New York, saying, Puerto Rico, we roll.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
In with you. NAS's verse is a hip hop anthem
about surviving and thriving. He uses gangster vibes to show
how he overcomes tough times and ends up on top
of La Pablo escomar.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
But Yankeees verse turns that gangster imagery on his head.
He calls out those who aspire to live large, only
to be done in by their own deeds. He quotes
his mother, your.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Future depends on the sowing of your works. He continues,
Live by the sword, Die by the sword. Another wordrds,
make no enemies, trust no bitch, and I am not
looking to make enemies with him. On Brigua Guerrero. It
just gives me this dark and over policed sound, like
(25:03):
I feel like this was definitely He's coming for you.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
You know what's fuddy is? I do think in my
head there is a sound to Daddy Yankee. So when
we were researching this episode and we're listening to some
of these older discs, I don't associate that sound with him, right,
It's really different, Like I know it pops up here
and there but for the most part, like you like
to always say, Regaeton is like music you can shake
(25:29):
your ass too. I mean, I'm sure you could shake
your ass to this song.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
But it'd be a little different, right, you know, It's
funny hearing Daddy Yankee like, I mean, yes, it's kind
of similar. But like if I heard this first from
Daddy Yankee, I would be like, whoa, this is kind
of from a dark place. Like I wouldn't associate this
with the ass shaking Daddy Yankee. If you heard this first,
like I would be like, oh, I'm not going to
listen to his music. That's just not my vibe. So
it's cool that he dabbled with this, but it's just very,
(25:56):
very different.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
It is different, and I think it just shows you
his range, right, and I think the entire project, I
think what's so special about this, and we talk about
this all the time, is that there is such a
connection between Puerto Rico and New York City, right specifically
like the Bronx, they just share so much. And obviously
(26:18):
they share an island, but they share music, they share culture,
they share you know, an underground hip hop scene. They're
really both products of this kind of over police, underserved
neighborhood vibe that you see in both of these places,
despite being so far away from each other geographically. The
first disc of Bricoa Guerero showed New York hip hop
heads that Puerto Ricos rapperos could flow with the best
(26:41):
of them.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Then, on the second disc, Di and Nicocanada brought their
reggaeton a game from start to finish, introducing New York's
underground to the sound of Puerto.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Ricos, and Daddy Yankee is there on both discs, first
going toe to toe with hip hop's biggest rising star
before showing how it's done down in the Tropics.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
This was crucial to Daddy Yankee's success and to the
coming success of reggaeton as a whole. From Jamaica to Kanama,
to Puerto Rico to New York and back again. It
was clear that reggaeton wasn't a fact, but a part
of something deeper.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
And by helping establish the genre's credibility in New York,
Daddy Yankee had all but set the stage for himself
to dominate but stardom.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Kintestovitch, for example, could Daddy Yankee really make no enemies.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
On the next Becoming an Icon Daddy Yankees rise from
the underground to the top. Becoming an Icon is presented
by Sonoo and Iheart's Michael Duda podcast Network. Listen to
Becoming an Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or
wherever you get your podcast
Joseph, I think we're about to usher in a becoming
an icon.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
First, wait, the first time that we've not had Margarita's
before starting?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Okay, stop, we do not drink Margarita's before we record
the podcast. Okay, we don't. Don't listen to him, y'all,
he's been drinking. The first time we've covered an artist
who's currently retired.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Whoa well, I mean, Nikki retired, Doja retired? Then they
kept making music? How long is that gonna last?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Facts? But this artist made a promise to Baby Jesus
about it?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Right? I believe it when I see it, or when
I don't hear anything, I guess. But shouldn't we introduce
who we're talking about?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
A good call? So today's icon is the King of
Regathon a big Box, otherwise known as Daddy Yankee, who
announced his retirement from the biz back in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
And then said it goodbye to a roaring crowd at
his final clonsert in its native Puerto Rico. Last year.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
He said that he's stepping away from music to focus
on his Christianity, which sounds a little surprising coming from
the guy who wrote saban as Blancas along.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
We've countless other booty shaking bangers over the course of
three whole decades and over thirty million albums sold.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
It's more than enough success to totally justify hanging it up.
But you know us, we are never ready to say
goodbye to our icons again.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I will believe it when I don't hear it, all right,
don't see it.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Point is possibly more than I think any other icon
we've covered. We're living in the world Daddy Yankee built
right now. Irl.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
That is a very bold statement, Chica.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
I know, but think about it, Okay, just like stay
with me here. There is the world before Reggaton and
the world after Reggathon, and who was right there when
we changed over?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Who else but El exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
And to be clear, it's not to say that he
invented reggathon. We're going to have more on that in
just a little bit for all you music historians.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
But basically, without Daddy Yankee, your weekly New Music Friday
playlist would look very different.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
My workout playlist would basically be unrecognizable. I mean, like
my get Ready remix Forgetting Done Done. So my point
is this, Daddy Yankee brought Reggaton to the masses and
played a massive role in shaping the genre.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Let's take a look at how the King of Reggathon
earned his thrown.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I'm your host Lillianavasquez and I'm Joseph Carrio and this
is Becoming an Icon Week, the podcast where we give
you the rundown on how today's most famous Latin X
stars have shaped pop culture.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And given the world some extra couple.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Sit back and get comfortable.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Because we are going in the only way we know
how with when I view us, when assays.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
And a lot of opinions as we relive their greatest
achievements on our journey to find out what makes them
still iconic.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Before we dive in, let's mix it up a little
bit remake to understand how Daddy Yankee became the icon
that he is today, you kind of need to understand
when and where he came of age Puerto Rico's underground
music scene of the nineteen nineties.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Daddy Yankee didn't invent Ragaeton. Rayton is a product of
the MC and DJ's remixing and experimenting with dancehall beats
that originated in Jamaica and other largely Afro Caribbean islands.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Hence the reggae part of Reggathon.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I actually didn't know that really.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
See listen, always learning, always learning, forever a student. Okay,
So from there you would think that the music just
kind of like made its way across Haiti in the
dr and landed smack dab in Puerto Rico. But it's
a little bit more roundabout than that.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Before we keep going, this is just going to be
a quick primer for the non Regaton scholars. Listen. If
you really want to go deep, you'll want to check
out loud The History of Reggaeton, another great podcast hosted
by Regaeton Roy y'll t lativ coween.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
And by the way, like I'm not asking you to
turn off our podcast right now, but as soon as
ours is over, goes straight to that immediately. What we're
about to give you is just a little Regaton appetizer,
just a little app you know, to give you a
sense of the singular moment in musical history that Daddy
Yankee was a part of. So before where too Rican reggaethon,
(05:09):
there was reggae in Espanol and that came from Panama.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
What a twist, Okay.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
So here's how it happened. So, the famous Panama Canal
was dug largely by West Indian and especially Jamaican immigrant labor,
and after the canal was finished, the workers and their
families settled down in Panama City and formed a really
tight immigrant community.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
The clubs or dance halls all of this community played
music that was similar to reggae, but a few ticks
faster and with harder beats.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
And at these dance halls, young artists like DJ Renato,
Reggae Sam and DJ Franchito hyped the crowd in Spanish.
Thus reggae in Espanol was born.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Soon they started recording Spanish language covers of popular dancehall
songs along with original tracks, and just like that, reggae
en Espanol found its way to Spanish speaking islands like
Puerto Rico.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Just as Ramon Ayala Junior, the boy who would go
on to be known as Daddy Yankee, was beginning to
develop an interest in American hip hop, which you might
say is the second ingredient in Puerto Rican reggaton, but
more on that later.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
So that's the short one.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Was beginning to develop an interest in America.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
In Hi regaton will cross borders and become something else entirely. Now,
without further ado, let's your turn to our leading man.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Ramon Ayala Junior was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico,
on February third, nineteen seventy six. Joseph, want to go
like full flow Alder Mercado on this one for bodingen.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Maybe okay ah Caia, you little rule breaker with your
son in Aquarius, you're not afraid to push the envelope
in the name of innovation.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
You want to do things your way, and your fullest
surprise is hi berro mira la lunin pieces with your
moon in Pisces. You're not above insecurity and passivity, but
don't wait and see embrace your creativity and you'll reap
the rewards of your imagination.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
The cape suits you, Joseph, it really does you know
what I mean? I mean we're looking for two point zero.
We're looking for two point zero now. Ramon Ayala's father,
Ramon Senior, was a bongo player for salsa artists in
the area, making Daddy Yankee. I think our third icon
in a row this season to have a musician as
a parent.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Mm hmm. His mother Rosa. Meanwhile, was a beautician who
also came from a family of musicians. Ramond Junior, aka
future Daddy Yankee, would years later describe his mother as
a fighter.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And she's the one who actually introduced him to American
pop artist of the nineteen eighties, most importantly, Michael Jackson.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Perhaps even more than his music, the King of Pop's
lavish cinema videos made a huge impression on Dramon Junior.
He cites Jackson as an artist who showed him what
it meant to be an entertainer, from his work ethic
to his charisma.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Just picture young little Daddy Yankee. Like that sounds so weird,
Little Daddy Yankee. Okay, so the picture a young Ramon
huddled around the TV set with his two brothers. This
family of five lived in a small Gasaillon or housing
project named Via Kennedy.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Jac Kennedy was and is one of the many housing
projects throughout someone.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
The Gasadiels tended to be heavily policed and subject to prejudice.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Still, Ramon Junior's family managed to get by, but that
doesn't mean they avoided all the pitfalls of poverty.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
At Ramond Senior struggled with addiction all throughout his son's childhood,
turning to alcohol as well as illegal drugs.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Eventually he would get clean, but his addiction would leave
a significant impact on his son's life. An addiction wasn't
the only way the shadow of poverty would darken Ramond
Junior's child.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Ramond Junior was a lover of the great American pastime baseball.
As early as the age of six, he dreamt of
playing for who else, the New York Yankees.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
He was just a peewee ball player in the middle
of a game when suddenly a gunman strode from the
stands to the home plate and shot Ramond's coach point blank.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Reflecting on this experience as an adult, daddy, Yankee would say,
I went to his burial and seeing him right there,
I couldn't sleep. Back in those days, a manager or
coach for a kid represents a role model, and you
don't understand what really happened until you get to a
certain age.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Nonetheless, Ramon Junior continued to find joy and escape through baseball.
More and more. He would show immense talent as a
third baseman.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And all the while he also showed he had a
knack for music. When the family went caroling during the holidays,
he would make up rhymes on the spot just for fun,
which would probably they earned most Latino kids a strung
pinch on the back on the arm from Abuela So
I guess Yankee was lucky in some ways.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Not surprisingly as a teenager, his natural talent for music
and improvisation would lead to his next great love rap.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Around the age of fourteen, Ramon fell in love with
now Classic Queen's hip hop group Run DMC Run DMC.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Michael Jackson. Obviously dadd Yankee spent his weekday afternoons glued
to MTV. He's one of all us.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
But perhaps most importantly, Ramond Junior's biggest hip hop influence
was one of Puerto Rico's own, Vico C. Born in
Brooklyn and raised just ten miles from Daddy Yankee's barrion,
San Juan, Vico C inspired a whole generation of Puerto
Rican rappers.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Before vicoc rap in Espanol wasn't really a thing in
Puerto Rico. Vico C made home recordings straight to storebock
cassette tapes and distributed him himself.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Original mixtape Call It Right. Like the original mixtape Now
When young Puerto Ricans like Ramond Junior heard Vigo see,
it was a revelation. He showed them what they were
capable of, and from there young DJs and empces spread
like wildfire.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Often the emceeeds would rhyme over beats reminiscent of hip
hop from New York. By the nineties, the Brooklyn's boombob sound.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Was a very on trend, which is to say that
from early on, Puerto Rican's relationship with New Aricans and
other Latinos in the northeastern US is a key part
of the story. But remember, La Isla had beats of
its own.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
By the time Daddy Yankee was wrapping, reggae Espanol had
evolved throughout the eighties and was beginning to sound like
what we now call reggaeton thanks to the iconic dem
bo rhythm.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
The youth of poor barrios like Ramond Juniors couldn't get
enough of it. But the authorities, well, they had some
other feelings.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Much like dancehall and Panama, Puerto Rican reggaeton and rap
Espanol was quickly marginalized and heavily policed, and in the nineties,
the police in Puerto Rico were super militarized.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Oh yeah, they conducted raids on music stores and confiscated
reggaeton cassette tapes. With the backing of laws against obscenity,
rapperos like Daddy Yankee were subject to fines and vilified
on local TV and radio.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
But this didn't stop youth culture from doing its thing.
That Raperos just took the culture further underground, recording music
in garages with minimal equipment and selling music out of
the trunks of cars.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
And even with Los Federals breathing down their necks, there
was one place young regaton fans could gather, a now
legendary club called The Noise.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Located in La Perla, the poorest neighborhood in San Juan.
The Noise was founded by DJ Negro, the producer who
worked with Daddy Yankee's favorite Raperro Vicosi. See guys, It's
all connected.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
It's all all connected. It's here at the Noise where
Daddy Yankee, at sixteen, gets on stage and begins to
make a name for himself, along with other pioneering reggaeton
netos like Deego Calleron We see Nyandell and Spoiler Future
front of me Nikki jam Jeoze.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
But every rapper needs a producer, and Daddy Yankee's man
behind the deck was one DJ Plaeto.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
DJ Plato began releasing mixtapes of original beats that range
from the boom up of the nineties Brooklyn to upbeat
reggaeton of his own scene.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
These tapes also feature local rappers, and the standout was
the teenage Daddy Yankee.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
If you guys have not taken a moment down music
history lane, go back to this song right. This is
called so fer Sigemn not de thingas and this truly
is the first Daddy Yankee as we know him song.
What did you think when you first heard it? And
does it sound like today is regeton? Or does it
(14:01):
sound like old people's ragaton.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Not the old people's rageton? You know what, I'm not
going to be able to tell you honestly what the
first thing I heard? I naturally started moving my hips
and gyrating in my seat, so like I just wanted
to dance. You know. It kind of gave me this
like Afrikaans dance, Like I just kind of wanted to
like shake my body. So I wasn't necessarily listening, I
(14:25):
could just feel the beat.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Now, let's talk about what Daddy Yankee's actually saying in
this song, because for reference, you guys, you might hear
the song and think that he sounds like a mature man.
Like you hear the song, you're like, oh, he's like
in his twenties, or he's like twenty two or twenty
four thirty. But Joseph, did you know that this is
a teenage Daddy Yankee. He is fifteen years old rapping
on this song.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
This is little Sun Yankee. Oh my god, he's fifteen?
Wait is it is? That's not illegal? Right? Like fifteen?
I don't know. How can you work? You can't do
some You could do a whole bunch of shit.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
I'll tell you that these nineties kids, the people that
are born in the eighties and nineties are wild. You
and I are a testament. We were left at home alone.
We were making our own Wow, we were making our
own TV dinners. We were rapping on albums like come On.
Children of the eighties and nineties are wild. But yes,
Daddy Yankee was only fifteen years old when he recorded
this song. But you can already hear how advanced he
(15:23):
is lyrically, you could already hear the style that would
become synonymous with his music. And we talked about what
Daddy Yankee was saying in the song. Supposedly, and I
don't want to get too deep in the weeds on
this because there's a lot of controversy about this, but
supposedly they say that this is the first time anyone
ever used the word reggaeton ever in the history of music.
(15:47):
But again, people get upset about it because obviously Daddy
Yankee did not invent regaton. We're all saying that we
can all agree, correct, right.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Okay, But you know what, I'm going to tell you
something with that. It's just funny because it doesn't mean
that people said that before. Because I said the word
shut your butt a long, long time ago, and all
of a sudden, someone of the Kardashians, they said, shut
your butt, And I'm just I'm using that as a phrase.
But Chloe said, shut your butt. I been saying shut
your butt for a very long time. In this recent season,
(16:18):
she said shut your butt. So people say other words
like reggaeton. They could say all those words before someone
actually says it on a microsphone and it seems like
it's the first time it's ever been heard exactly, do
you know what I'm saying? So it's like, no, maybe
reggaeton was used before. Do we think that he made
up the word? No, right, we don't.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Know if he was the first person or the guy
that invented the phrase reggaeton, But previous to this, people
were calling it reggae and espanol, which is a little cumbersome,
like it doesn't quite roll off the tongue the same
way that reggaeton does. So thank you Daddy Yankee for
putting it in a song and for changing the title,
because we don't need to be saying reggae and espanol
(16:58):
like too long. Nobody got time for that. At the
end of the day, we saw how gifted he was
as an MC rap was neither Ramon Junior's only love
nor his first love.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
And for as much attention as he was getting in
the underground as a RAPPERO Ramon was also getting a
reputation as a star athlete. Soon after Pa and Ta
Cuadro dropped, Ramon was about to receive the opportunity of
a lifetime Liliana.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
That's so formal. Why are you being so formal?
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Right? Now are you there? Okay, listen, I have to
ask you something. What have you ever experienced a blessing
in disguise?
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Oh my god?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yes, of course, like someone who's like shut the door
on you and then it turns into something else. Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
When I had just moved to Philadelphia, I auditioned to
be a host on QBC stop. Yes I did, Yes,
I did. And I went for weeks. It was rounds
and rounds of interviews and auditions and live selling and
training and fittings. And I got to the last round
(18:10):
and I didn't get it. Wow, And I got the news.
I was leaving the doctor's office. I was in a
hallway about to get on an elevator, and I broke
down in tears. I was like, my life on television
is over. I will never be on TV. I will NET,
I swear to God. I cooked like what I called Patrick,
and I was like, this is it. This is the
end for me. I will never have a career in television.
And well we know how that worked out, so yes,
(18:33):
for sure, I think. Listen, it's very much like old school.
It's like sliding doors, right, I mean when one closes.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Another one opens, right, Yeah, if not, you just go
in through the window. That's what I did.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
And that's kind of what's about to happen to Daddy Yankee,
because in nineteen ninety four, Ramond drew the attention of
a scout from the Seattle Mariners. At the age of seventeen,
he was on the verge of signing a contract to
join the team's third baseman.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Everyone who had seen him play knew that he was
going places, and his dream of joining the major leagues
was about to become a reality.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Still, he continues to record with Playerro. One day, the
two get together to work on a new mixtape in
Dramond's neighborhood via Kennedy. It's January sixth, which is Three
Kings Day for all of you non practicing Catholics.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
So Ramond decides to take a break and heads outside.
He greets his neighbors and it seems like any other afternoon.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
When suddenly, gunshots split the air. Dramond sees bullets flying
in opposite directions. Violence has erupted on his street. He sprints,
desperate to get himself out of the crossfire. He's running, running,
running as fast as he can, and in an instant,
his leg crumbles underneath him.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
He's been hit by a stray bullet, which ends up
being lodged in his hip. He stumbles to the ground
and crawls underneath a parked van. To this day, he
says the shelter of the van is the one thing
that kept him alive amid the shooting.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
After the gunfire ceases, but Ramons hospitalized and it takes
him over a year to recover from his injury. Over
a year spent in a wheelchair and on crutches, steadily
regaining his string, but he never fully regains his mobility,
meaning he'll never dawn.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
An MLB uniform Lying in the hospital at Ramon fixates
on his dash dreams. He had proven that he had
what it takes. Everyone had been rooting for him, and
his big chance was gone in an instant.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Today, Daddy Yankee says he thanks God for that bullet.
It remains lodged in his hip. Doctors have determined that
it would be riskier to remove it than to leave
it be. A metal pres thesis in his leg helps
him walk, but his mobility has been limited since that
fateful day.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
His dreams of playing the major leagues had slipped through
his fingers, but in the years that followed he would
find a new dream and grab on with both hands.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Shortly after Ramon's recovery, he became a father. At nineteen,
he married his high school sweetheart, Mireds Gonzalez, with whom
he remains married to until this.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Day, oh Wow, And upon the birth of his first daughter,
yami Let, Ramon decided to put all of his focus
on what he was good at, rapping.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
After years of mixtapes, he again got together with DJ
Plaiero and put out a proper debut album in nineteen
ninety five called No Mercy.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
The name of the cover simply reads a yank. At
the time, Ramon went by names like Winchester Trentai Trienta
and winchesta Yankee.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
The album features a couple of old school sounding rap
tracks with boombab beats, but the overwhelmingly majority of the
tracks are classic dance hall style reggaeton.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
After Ramon's injury, the album was an opening sobo for
his commitment to music. Reggaton was quickly becoming the prevailing
sound of the Sanjuan underground and Young Yankee and DJ
Plaiero were staking their claim.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
And soon they would find themselves making noise outside of
Puerto Rico.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Ramon hustled selling cassette copies of No Mercy, just like
his hero Vicosi had done. The buzz grew bigger and bigger,
but he wasn't the only one hustling. In fact, a
few key members of this scene were working to make
ripples beyond the island.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
The same year, Daddy Yankee dropped his debut, formative Puerto
Rican reggaton producer Nico Canada teamed up with New York's
Tony Touch for nineteen ninety five's Watauba.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
It was a mixtape featuring Puerto Rican drapertos like Daddy Yankee,
Alberto Style, and don Cezina, as well as New York
rappers like Matt Lyon and Karas One.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
On a single disc, Reggaeton and nineties Boom Bob stood
shoulder to shoulder. These were the most cutting edge sounds
coming out of two different underground scenes that were more
than fifteen hundred miles apart. He had somehow still connected
because of the love between Neu Urrikans and their motherland.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
But for Daddy Yankee, wa would prove to be a
warm up. Nineteen ninety seven's Bodicua Guerreno First Combat would
up the antie with two full discs, one boombab one.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Regaton Nkokanada linked up with DJ Playerro Yankee's longtime collaborator,
and the pair spent two months in a hotel room
in New York City for yet another crossover between Puerto
Rico's top reggazoneros and New York's best and brightest.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
MCS Mexicano seven seven seven Eddie d Daddy Yankee Busta Rhymes,
Q tip that Joe was even there.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Everybody was there, but the biggest name of the bunch,
the one that you're like gonna be like wit what
he was there?
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Who Nas what?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Uh huh? Nas was hot off the success of his
nineteen ninety four debut Illmatic. His nineteen ninety six follow up,
It Was Written, had sold a quarter of a million copies.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Where hip hop was concerned, Nas was the artist to watch,
and on Brigua Guerrero he split a track with Daddy
Yankee titled The Prophecy.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
Yankee intros the track with a classic dancehall affect, wrapping
the island and shouting out Knos, who shouts him back
from New York, saying, Puerto Rico, we roll.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
In with you. NAS's verse is a hip hop anthem
about surviving and thriving. He uses gangster vibes to show
how he overcomes tough times and ends up on top
of La Pablo escomar.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
But Yankeees verse turns that gangster imagery on his head.
He calls out those who aspire to live large, only
to be done in by their own deeds. He quotes
his mother, your.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Future depends on the sowing of your works. He continues,
Live by the sword, Die by the sword. Another wordrds,
make no enemies, trust no bitch, and I am not
looking to make enemies with him. On Brigua Guerrero. It
just gives me this dark and over policed sound, like
(25:03):
I feel like this was definitely He's coming for you.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
You know what's fuddy is? I do think in my
head there is a sound to Daddy Yankee. So when
we were researching this episode and we're listening to some
of these older discs, I don't associate that sound with him, right,
It's really different, Like I know it pops up here
and there but for the most part, like you like
to always say, Regaeton is like music you can shake
(25:29):
your ass too. I mean, I'm sure you could shake
your ass to this song.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
But it'd be a little different, right, you know, It's
funny hearing Daddy Yankee like, I mean, yes, it's kind
of similar. But like if I heard this first from
Daddy Yankee, I would be like, whoa, this is kind
of from a dark place. Like I wouldn't associate this
with the ass shaking Daddy Yankee. If you heard this first,
like I would be like, oh, I'm not going to
listen to his music. That's just not my vibe. So
it's cool that he dabbled with this, but it's just very,
(25:56):
very different.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
It is different, and I think it just shows you
his range, right, and I think the entire project, I
think what's so special about this, and we talk about
this all the time, is that there is such a
connection between Puerto Rico and New York City, right specifically
like the Bronx, they just share so much. And obviously
(26:18):
they share an island, but they share music, they share culture,
they share you know, an underground hip hop scene. They're
really both products of this kind of over police, underserved
neighborhood vibe that you see in both of these places,
despite being so far away from each other geographically. The
first disc of Bricoa Guerero showed New York hip hop
heads that Puerto Ricos rapperos could flow with the best
(26:41):
of them.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Then, on the second disc, Di and Nicocanada brought their
reggaeton a game from start to finish, introducing New York's
underground to the sound of Puerto.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Ricos, and Daddy Yankee is there on both discs, first
going toe to toe with hip hop's biggest rising star
before showing how it's done down in the Tropics.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
This was crucial to Daddy Yankee's success and to the
coming success of reggaeton as a whole. From Jamaica to Kanama,
to Puerto Rico to New York and back again. It
was clear that reggaeton wasn't a fact, but a part
of something deeper.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
And by helping establish the genre's credibility in New York,
Daddy Yankee had all but set the stage for himself
to dominate but stardom.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Kintestovitch, for example, could Daddy Yankee really make no enemies.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
On the next Becoming an Icon Daddy Yankees rise from
the underground to the top. Becoming an Icon is presented
by Sonoo and Iheart's Michael Duda podcast Network. Listen to
Becoming an Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or
wherever you get your podcast
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Lilliana Vazquez
Joseph Carrillo
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