Perreo 101: Evolution of Roots
A Script of Episode 2 featuring Darell, DJ Blass, Mista Greenz and Maicol Superstar
Featuring exclusive interviews with some of the biggest Icons of Reggaeton’s Underground. The Island of Puerto Rico is a resilient one and its music is testament to its resistance against a number of powerful political forces against its people. Religious leaders joining forces with the Police in the 1990s to arrest supporters of Reggaeton.
Reggaeton is the most impactful genre in all of Latin music, the numbers don’t lie. This subgenre of Underground in Puerto Rico, a fusion of Panamanian Dancehall & Spanish Reggae was the global sound of political resistance created in Puerto Rico. Many question its process of origination of this iconic sound, I do too. Reggaeton without Reggae is a ton of pop. The Prefix ‘Reggae’ is derivative of Panama’s Spanish Reggae and after decades of wondering, with the help of some of those who were physically there, I am able to illustrate how the bridge between the two countries was created.
Reggaeton is a compilation of a number of genres. But as the Artist behind the #1 song ‘Te Bote’ on the Latin Billboards Chart 2018 Darell said: ‘There is no Reggaeton Without Reggae? It’s true without Reggae there is no Reggaeton. The Grammy Nominated Producer Mista Greenz said, “ Maicol Superstar: , of course Reggaeton wouldn’t exist without fusions of genres such as bomba, hip hop, rap, soca, dancehall salsa and calypso especially Reggae because of its immediate ties with Panama and Jamaica’s subculture’s formation of Spanish Reggae.
Reggae met the spanish language by way of the formation of a subculture. Not Panamanians, but Jamaican-Panamanians dating back to the construction of the Panama Canal. In 1903 50,000 people migrated from Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados and other countries to Panama. Their treatment in comparison to whites, creoles(Mestizos) and native blacks was horrible. Native Afro Panamanians resented West Indians immigrants because they felt like they were making life harder for them by taking up resources, increased xenophobia, the list goes on. Native blacks who were Hispanic, were nicknamed as “Spanish” and patois speaking Black West Indians Immigrants in Panama were nicknamed as “Chombos.” The xenophobia was out of this world. Tensions rose so high that laws were created to limit the immigration of West Indians coming in from those countries especially if they were not Spanish-speaking.
By the 1960s Black Panamanins organized themselves politically both in office as well in labor unions, this includes West Indians as well. Their work dealt with discrimination in a number of industries well into the 70s and so on and so forth. I’m going to pause there with the history lesson to focus on these points, Over a hundred and so years ago, West Indian Blacks including Jamaicans, Trinidadians and Basians immigrated to Panama and 60 years after they arrived, some learned Spanish and some did not; and the ones who did not assimilate were treated like dirt because of efforts to distance non-spanish speakers from the rest,
With this in mind, the West-Indian Panamanians brought over their languages, accents, their cuisine and their music. Reggae was being explored in Panama as early as the 1970s in communities such as Rio Abajo and Colon, by a Guyanese Panamanian by the name of Guyana and DJ Wasabanga. Now,what is Reggae? We know what it sounds like: but what is it?
Stylistically It’s a compilation of R&B, Jazz, and mento. Dancehall is defined as a more sparse version of this, stylistically anyways. We’ve covered how the West Indians made it to Panama, what they brought with them culturally, the xenophobia they faced and when Reggae and the Spanish Language first started.
In order to understand Spanish Reggae you must understand that there are two groups of Panamanians, they’re not the same and did not even like each other. You must understand the social dynamics between the ‘Chombos’ and the ‘Spanish’. Unlike in other social hierarchy systems in Panama it did not go explicitly by skin color but by their Spanish and their accent when they spoke it.
With this being said, the creation of Spanish Reggae and its popularization was an act of rebellion. Native Black,White/Mestizo Panamanians were so xenophobic that laws were created to limit the migration of Caribbean blacks.
Now, there is a lot of tension regarding Panamanians originality and contribution to Spanish Reggae. That confusion stems from the ignorance of separating Panamanians and West Indians. You simply can’t separate the two anymore. There are Panamanian Jamaicans, Panamanian Guyanese, Panamanian Trinidadians, Basians, etc. They’re subcultures in otherwords, the Reggae produced from these groups are as West Indian as they are Panamanian but again don’t confuse Panamanians who are not of West Indian descent, and/or the “Spanish” with the “Chombos.”
Now that we have all of this context, lets process the fact that Reggae didn’t go from Jamaica to Puerto Rico directly. Panama was the buffer. Panama may have had the issue of xenophobia between the “Spanish” and the “Chombos” but all of Latinamerica struggles with classism, racism, colorism and or xenophobia. With that in mind, why would white latinos seek music of Black people without a buffer? Why would White Spanish speaking Latinos bother with a genre in a language they didn’t understand? Patois is black. If los “Spanish” didn’t want to learn it and discriminated others for it and they were Black, collectively everyone needs to take a step back and ask themselves if they’re being honest with racism in Latin America and the order of events regarding Reggaeton’s origins.
Even in the music industry today, Black Latino artists are a rarity in Reggaeton, that’s not a coincidence. Many look at the history and trajectory of American Rap and assume because Reggaeton’s lyrical style is rapped that its popularization happened in the same fashion, that is false. Majority of Rappers are and always have been Black in the American market while majority of Reggaeton artists are White Latinos. Although that wasn’t the case in the early 2000s with artists like Kartier, Angel Doze, Jomar ‘El Caballo Negro’, OG Black,Glory Glou, La Sista, Ivy Queen, Tego Calderon and many more.
Reggaeton is a derivative of (Spanish) Reggae, Hip-Hop, Dembow, Bomba, Puerto Rican Underground which includes a large fusion of genres. If you turn on any award show White Latinos are the minority represented despite these sounds being largely Black.
While the civil rights movement influenced the creation of Rap in America, Xenophobia from “Los Spanish” Whites, Mestizos as well as tension with Americans who occupied Military zones in Panama and attempted to impose their jim crow ways on Panama inspired the creation of Spanish Reggae in Panama. Fastforwarding political tensions with a slew of respectability-politics influenced the creation of Underground in Puerto Rico as well as the bridge from Puerto Rico to Panama.
The Bridge
“Reggaeton, as you’ve stated so well wouldn’t exist without Reggae” — Maicol Superstar. He continues, Alberto Stylee went to Panama to study the sound for months* Spanish Reggae, Dancehall and Reggaeton are sisters. Their compositions are extremely similar, you grab a couple of riddims, add and overemphasize the percussion or a variation of the ‘dembow’ instrumentation as the underlying beat, incorporate elements o Dancehall, Lyricism of Spanish Rap/Hip Hop and you have Reggaeton. If you repeat these steps minus the lyricism of Spanish Rap while slowing the tempos and you’ll create Spanish Reggae. Both recipes incorporates tempos, riddims, unique sequences, and the Spanish language, but its execution is not as easy as it sounds.
As important as Panamanian subcultures and Puerto Rico is to the genre — I can’t exclude the efforts of PanLatino Rappers including Nuyoricans and New York Panamanians. Reggaeton is multifaceted. West coast rap in regards to Latin artists had a different social structure and influence which produced their infamous narco and gangsta rap. In order to fully understand its sound, you have to understand the respectability politics.
Tego is cited as hearing Panamanian music during this time and describing it as “puro reggae” growing up in a predominantly white latino community its astounding as to how people would exclude Panama as the buffer between Puerto Rico and Jamaica, why would white latinos touch a black languaged genre without an introduction by someone else? Every genre that has been popularized by whites required a buffer, someone to tell them “it is cool.”
Class and Race go hand in hand in Latin america, majority of those protesting its sound in Puerto Rico were white puerto ricans, Reggaeton was considered to be “Poor people’s music.” but just because the poor were of different races doesn’t mean the taste in music was. Especially for those who hope to “move up” within the classes, it has been and will always be the truth in Latino culture you are what you surround yourself with. It’s a tough bullet to bite but it does not make it any less true.
New York Panamanians Dont get enough credit. Panamanians dont get enough credit. Heavily critiqued for formally sampling and creating covers of popular Reggae tracks i.e. Dembow by Nando Boom is a cover of Shabba Ranks Dembow, my argument stands:These black Latinos were the first to interact with the genre and sample Reggae and Dancehall riddims to explore the music. That in it of itself is revolutionary bc of classism, racism and xenophobia Black Latinos faced not just in Latin America but in the united states. Do they speak spanish, is it latino enough, they’re dark skinned but speak spanish? How in tune are you really with Latin culture? You say you’re Afro Latino are you “african latinos” Where is Panama? The gaslighting denial and stupidity is based in racism and xenophobia and the fact remains if these “chombos” didnt touch Reggae nobody else would have. Alberto Stylee’s fascination that led him to stay in Panama for at least 6 months during the 90s was the acceptance of the genre so openly via carnivals and festivals in Panama that was not occuring in Puerto Rico. The fact remains the “higher class” did not want to touch that “low class poor people’s music” with a 10 foot pole until it was popular. Today as it was in the 90s Panamanians and Jamaicans live side by side in communities like East Flatbush, their music studios neighbors to each other as well. New York Panamanians mirrored the music created in Panama, their anti-colonial resistance included production of Reggae with and without the Spanish language. The glorification of the beauty of Black Latina women that has since been lost in translation as well as unfortunate hyper machista and anti gay sentiments exemplified in iconic records such as ‘Dembow’ by Nando Boom.
Nuyoricans
N.O.R.E. Big Pun, Residente although he was born in Puerto Rico, Chino XL, Lloyd Banks left their imprint on the genre by exemplifying their lyrical styles in Spanish, Spanglish and English. Notoriously creating some of the most iconic records influential in the genre or as a sister to the genre in Hip Hop/Rap as well as contributing to cross overs crucial to Reggaeton’s identity as a pan-latino genre.
Reggaeton Pioneer Daddy Yankee regularly credits West Side’s most notorious group for its hip-hop influence Cypress Hill, one of the first latino hip hop group — and certainly the first to get a star on the hollywood walk of fame.
Latinos were heavily involved in Rap battles also called Underground both in New York and Puerto Rico. New York influences such as Cypress Hill, Biggest Rap influences in puerto Rico include Vico C. In puerto rico the censorship was so high that record stores were regularly raided, and although small efforts were made to bring the conversation of what it is to the forefront policemen like the Police Chief Pedro Toledo are quoted for calling the music “pornographic expression constitutes an incitement to violence and pornograph.” He was dedicated to devouring Reggaeton, he said it “diminished the quality of life of Puerto Ricans” and him and many other alike were using the fear of this expression to influence grandparents and parents to censor their households.
They called this art “violent” but were unable to prove in court how it influences reality. My comment on this is, the machista and classist reality of Latino culture begs the control of women, women’s pleasure, and women’s sexuality as well as what is respectable and what isn’t. Some may critique reggaeton for being disgusting towards women but it is a two way street. Women aren’t two dimensional, Attention: men, contrary to popular belief women like sex just as much as men and that doesn't make them jezebels or whores, and if it does keep that same energy.
Going back to Reggaeton, the 1980s and 1990s were full of persecution. Record stores raided, censorship activists coming to the forefront, it is what made the iconic nightclub “The Noise” pinnacle to Reggaeton’s musical evolution, and popularization into the fourth generation today.
I’d categorize the first generation as the featured in Playero, Nelson and Alberto Stylee’s work. Mixtapes introduced a compilation of styles by a variety of artists. The tapes overemphasized Puerto Rican’s unique compilation of riddims + lyrical style that differentiated their music from that of Panama’s. Some artists like Tego Calderon described Panama’s sound as “puro reggae” Pure reggae as it was, but it was reggae unique to Panama’s subculture and second generation of Panamanian Caribbeans, los chombos.
Artists like Guaynaa with hits like ‘Rebota’ are able to make it popularly because why? The over simplification of the Reggaeton sound exemplified in his song is desperately missed. For a time Wisin Y Yandel were criticized for using pop beats to mask the rawness of the percussion in Reggaeton but they were ahead of their time,considering that it is all you hear today with songs like ‘Te bote’ which has a faster tempo of course, or Willy Williem and J Balvin’s Mi Gente which is a medley of sounds of course, but still utilizing Pop to mask the Dembow’ in Reggaeton, making the percussion softer.
I can’t leave the Dominican Republic. La Hispaniola’s most notorious sound of the moment, ‘Dembow music’ , this derivative of Jamaican Dembow features sounds more concentrated in Brazilian Funk, and an incorporation of a number of other genres and riddims. Its quirky personality is the glue that binds together an array of classes and races in Quisqueya as its popularity has proven a steady path out of poverty for some of the biggest artists today.
Mr Manyao is credited for being one of the first Dembowseros. In a brief catch up with him he’s exclusively let us know about his plans to collaborate with Panamanian artists. In 2019 el ‘bow’ has made its way back around full circle with artists like Sech one of the first Panamanians to breakout internationally alongside the Puertoricans who’ve notoriously dominated the industry since Reggaeton’s inception. Besides obvious talent, the reasons why-grow complex. I’m excited as Panama is now reinvited to the table publicly anyways that the rejuvenation of the genre can now commence.
It’s no secret that Reggaeton’s white washed sound is burning (some) of the ears of millions of its fans. We get it, artists have to do what they can to evolve into the next era of the industry but many just like myself miss the gritty nastiness that scared most away in the first place.
Reggaeton Sex, Fatal Fantassy, Playero, Sandungue Mixtapes by Blass, The mixtapes, the compilation of albums created by DJs I miss that. I miss the sense of urgency exemplified in Perreo. It is no secret that the doggystyled imitation of dance is inspired by the variations of beats per minute during sex. Ha, I got you there, but all of the different styles of Reggaeton including but not limited to Perreo, Sandungeo, Bellakeo, Guayeteo, Sobeteo, Malianteo, and so forth are literal artistic expressions of the movements of sex.
Circling back to the sense of urgency, Perreo today or Neo-perreo as some like to claim it, is a watered down version of these different gems of art. The chief of police “Pedro Toledo ‘’ wasn’t over exaggerating by calling Reggaeton “pornographic expression” but the art just like life itself is multifaceted. Race, Class, Respectability, Reggaeton, excuse me, Perreo is political. As much as artists hate to analyze their words as many have expressed to me–their metaphoric expressions on life have opened the door for a revolution, because Ricky Rosello Renuncio (Resigned), Spanish Reggae dominates all other forms of art and influence in Panama and Dembow is steadily cultivating the expression of the younger generation in Dominican Republic. It’s just like Maicol Superstar said “every country has its own bow.” Until next time this is Reggaeton With Gata Perreo 101.
