The Yankee and the Beautiful

Golpe de Estado

Reggaetoneros respond to the mounting climate of violence in Puerto Rico and the ineptitude of the commonwealth government in dealing with this crisis. 

Check out  Franco el Gorilla's Lyrics...

 

Esto va a hacer fuerte y se que estremece
Hombre mata a esposa y se suicida frente a un hijo de diez meses
Gobierno mas estadísticas? que les parece, cuantos es que valen los jueces
Lo que suena dramática es la problemática
De personas fanáticas a las automáticas
No dejen las noticias y ya no son simpáticas
Por estadísticas, esta sociedad esta errática

Padre violando menores y en la iglesia pidiendo to’ colores
Asinamientos en las prisiones, no me hablen de valores si no son mejores si en el capitolio pa' mentir ganan millones

Uno de enero del 2010 se muere Kevin un niño inocente
Estudiante, pelotero.. un hijo excelente
Trancando el año nos visten de luto impresionante
Lo único seguro es la muerte.

Check out the rest of the lyrics here.

Reggaeton and "Hurban Renewal"

What up mi gente! I'm back from Mexico and trying to get back into the swing of regular blogging again, but in the meantime please check out "Huban Renewal" -- a fantastic post by Wayne Marshall on the hurban music boom and bust, reggaeton, and Dominican dembow.

Chévere!

La Musica del Futuro?

Friends and followers of this blog might remember that I have written about Deevani (Ines Rooney) and how she upsets a linear narrative about reggaeton's development by highlighting a number of often neglected circuits.

Here is her latest collaboration with Fuego (from Chosen Few) called "Que Buena Tu Ta."  While I have qualms about some of the imagery in the video, I do think sonically it's interesting to consider the fact that these two Dominican artists, one singing in Hindi, are able to skillfully blend Bhragra-pop, mambo urbano, and reggaeton thus highlighting the various movements of  what we recognize today as "Caribbean rhythms."

Pretty dope if you ask me.  Thoughts?

Looking Backward at Reggaeton’s Futurity

What up mi gente! As promised here are my comments from Princeton's "Reggaeton: Critical Perspectives" roundtable.  Feel free to hit me up with any thoughts...

Looking Backward at Reggaeton’s Futurity

I want to thank Alex[andra Vazquez] for organizing this panel and inviting me to participate.  She asked that I say a few words about the future of reggaeton, and where I think the genre is going both socially and sonically.  I found this to be a surprisingly difficult assignment, mainly because it is a challenging task to speculate about the futurity of a genre that has already been declared dead on multiple occasions.  Like Mark Twain, however, the reports of reggaeton’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, but it nonetheless remains important to consider why critics and others have been so quick to write obituaries for a genre that seems to be alive and kicking. 

This discourse is not new, instead it is something that tends to (re)appear at moments of increased visibility and growth.  Back before reggaeton was reggaeton, when it was simply known as underground, the genre was at the center of a moral panic in Puerto Rico that resulted in efforts to ban it from the airwaves and the confiscation of hundreds of cassettes due to allegations that the music violated local obscenity laws.  Dismissed as porquería, or trash, detractors assumed that the genre would die a swift death at the hands of Puerto Rican authorities who sought to contain its social impact because it was too black, too poor, too American, too sexual, and too crass.  And Raquel [Z. Rivera] does a great job of breaking this down in her chapter “Policing Morality, Mano Dura Stylee,” for those of you who are interested.  Despite efforts to contain and even eradicate the genre, reggaeton was able to break into the market and achieve international success and recognition.  It is at this moment that the pronouncements of reggaeton’s death were once again being sounded.  So, I’m interested in why at a time when reggaeton was becoming increasingly successful in commercial terms and cultivating a wider fan base, would critics, and even reggaetoneros themselves, say that reggaeton is dead?

Like similar pronouncements in salsa and hip-hop, the death of reggaeton comes at a moment when the genre perceived as moving away from, or beyond, its original audience and social milieu.  The death of reggaeton encapsulates competing and often conflicting notions of what the genre was, what it is, and where it is going, both sonically and socially.  Similar to Nas’s 2005 assertion that “Hip Hop is Dead,” some reggaetoneros seems to be looking backwards in order to construct a more authentic future for reggaeton. 

Here I am thinking of Las Guanabanas’ recent mixtape called Regreso al Underground [Return to the Underground] which calls for a return to reggaeton’s “roots.”  This past is reduced to the genre’s early emphasis on themes of smoking weed, drinking, screwing and partying.  

This turn, or I should say nostalgic return, to underground aesthetics is no doubt in response to the increasing popularity of the reggaeton romantic ballad known as Romantiqueo, or ReggaePop.  Artists such as Ñejo & Dalmata, Guelo Star, J-King & Maximan, and Jamsha have all dismissed romantiqueo as inauthentic and as an affront to reggaeton’s masculinity.  On the track “Sendo Cabron,” Guelo Star announces, “Somos los reyes del underground.  Reggaeton for Life!  Fuck ReggaePop!  Pop Lollipop-ers.”  

Guelo Star attempts to reassert a certain mode of reggaeton masculinity, by questioning and challenging the heterosexuality of artists who perform romantiqueo.  I see this move by Guelo Star, and other artists like the ones I previously mentioned, as attempting to negotiate shifting understandings of class, race, nation, sexuality, and masculinity within reggaeton after its explosion in the international music scene. 

All this is to say that if we are to speculate about the future of reggaeton we have to take into account the significance of its many deaths and resurrections, in addition to how reggaetoneros reach into the past in order to formulate a reggaeton futurity.  Calling time of death as well as the injunction to return to an idealized and nostalgic past can thus be understood a means for reggaetoneros to reconstitute themselves within reggaeton’s constantly shifting terrain.

Reggaeton: Critical Perspectives @ Princeton University 11.12.09

Above is the palmcard for a roundtable discussion I'll be participating in at Princeton University this Thursday @ 4:30pm.  The panel will also feature scholars and artists Raquel Z. Rivera, Wayne Marshall, Miguel Luciano, Ines "Deevani" Rooney and DJ El Niño.

I'm very excited to participate in this event, it promises to be off-the-chain.   I am also really excited about the opportunity to meet Ines Rooney-Saldana aka Deevani, the hindi-vocalist on the tracks "Mirame," "Flow Natural," "Dancing," and the new song "Que Buena Tu Ta"  with Fuego of Chosen Few.

Followers of this blog know I have written about Deevani in my work on the reggaeton subgenre of bhangraton, so I'm really looking forward to hearing her take on the (sub)genre and where it is headed.

If you're in the Princeton area check us out.  I'll be posting my remarks from the panel on Friday.

Mayor of San Juan calls Residente Calle 13 a "Tecato"

The government is responding to Residente’s comments about the governor during the MTV Premios Latino by cracking down on his chances to address the public.  The Mayor of San Juan, Jorge Santini, recently canceled the Coors Light Circotic show that Calle 13 was supposed to appear at on October 31st at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente.  Santini said he was compelled to do this as  punishment for Residente's comments.  What did "Ley 7" affect free speech too?

In response to Residente’s insult Fortuno responded not by addressing the lay-offs and "Ley 7” but by speaking about how Residente, and musica urbana more generally, disrespect the women of Puerto Rico. Santini went so far as to call Residente a “tecato” [junkie].  In this way the conservative forces of Puerto Rico have attempted to use a discourse of concern for women and feminist agendas, in addition to attempts to marry musicia urbana to drugs and drug use, in order to avoid actually having to answer for the effects of neoliberalism on Puerto Ricans and the growing discontent among many sectors of the population.

Pathetic.

Tortilleras Unidas! The Radical Feminist Queer Sex Positive Potential of Reggaeton

"Dembow dembow sometimes I use a dildo, oh no, oh no, I even got one that glows."

Celiany Rivera Valazquez introduced me to this amazing video by La Perfomera (Awilda Rodriguez). I love this video and it really nails all the radical feminist queer sex positive potential I see in reggaeton music and culture. Because so much of the discourse about reggaeton focuses on how it oppresses women, we often miss how women are engaging with and transforming the genre into a vehicle to address the complexities of sexuality and desire. The emphasis on reggaeton's hetero-masculinity also obscures how reggaeton, perreo, and la pista, provide spaces for homosocial and homoerotic bonding among women (women dancing perreo with other women is a common sight and practice, although it often gets dismissed as for the benefit of males, which is too simplistic an analysis of whats going on). This video gestures towards the pleasures of reggaeton for women and has fun with it.

Anyway, more thoughts to come, but in the meantime enjoy this fantastic video by La Performera.

El Filósofo del Rap

Punketon

Musicologo ft. Menes - "Llamado De Emergencia" (Los De La Nazza)

De La Ghetto: "Tu Eres La Mejor"

De La Ghetto remakes Drake's "Best I Ever Had"

Guelo Star: "Muerte Al Auto-tune"

zSHARE - Guelo Star - Muerte al Auto-Tune.mp3

Guelo Star's version of Jay-Z's "D.O.A."

"Abusadora" Nominated for VMA Best Pop Video

As Entertainment Weekly's Simon Vozick-Levinson's puts it:

The list of nominees in the Best Pop Video category of this year’s MTV Video Music Awards starts off predictably enough: Beyonce’s “Single Ladies,” Britney Spears’ “Womanizer,” Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” Cobra Starship’s “Good Girls Go Bad.” And then there’s the fifth nominee, Wisin y Yandel’s “Abusadora.” Go ahead, fans of those first four artists. We’ll excuse you if you exclaim, “Wisin y who?!“

El Duo de la Historia were the only Latino/a artists nominated for a premio this year, so this is pretty big considering that they are a reggaeton act as opposed to a more straight-forward pop act.

Of course depending on how people view this nomination, this might only lend credence to the claim that reggaeton is dead.

Puerto Rican Hipsterism pt. 3: Jowell's "Reggaeton Mullet"

Last week Solo Para Reggaeton blogged that "Jowell Invents Reggaeton Mullet." I was intrigued, and then once I saw the photo stoked! More Puerto Rican Hipsterism!


Talento de Victoria says:

Not much to say about this one, just check out that picture! Obviously it's pretty awesome. Reggaeton has a way of doing that to things that would otherwise suck. He looks like a Japanese international student or a Puerto Rican version of Kenny Powers. I like it.

I like it too. I liked it even more when I found out that Jowell donated his hair to make wigs for children who lost their hair when they underwent chemotherapy. Jowell talked about his new do' with Primera Hora, check it out:

This Nonsense Again?: Controversy Over "Sexy Robotica"

Telemundo posted about Don Omar's new video for "Sexy Robotica" and asked: "¿Canción y video ofensivo?"

From the post:

La nueva canción de Don Omar "Sexy Robótica" está en el medio de la controversia tanto por su letra como por su video musical. En el video se ven dos chicas besándose usando lengua y en la letra de la canción Don hace referencia a drogas como extasis, cocaína entre otras. Muchos críticos dicen que la canción insita a los jovenes a la promiscuidad. Tu tienes la última palabra. Opina.

[Don Omar's new song "Sexy Robotica" is in the middle of a controversy over its lyrics and music video. In the video you see two women tongue kissing and in the lyrics Don refers to drugs such as Ecstasy and cocaine among others. Many critics say that this song incites youth to promiscuity. You have the last word. Opinions.]

Really?

Yes, I think I'm going to go have massive amounts of anonymous sex while coked up and I owe it all to Don Omar.

Please.

This line of thinking is really insulting. If what they're really mad about is the depiction of two women kissing and the other "sexy robotic" moments that take place in the video than they should admit it instead of fronting like they give a shit about the well being of "the youth". This is about policing what the overall population sees, not just "youth," but youthful innocence provides a sympathetic rallying cry for such censorship.

Anyway, check out the full comments at Telemundo ... they tend to fall on familiar terrain (Fuck reggaeton, it's evil vs. Fuck you, you don't understand), but its still worth checking out.

Reggaeton's Inclusion in Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Last week Merriam-Webster added "reggaeton" as an entry. Peep the definition:

reg·gae·ton
Pronunciation:
\ˌre-gā-ˈtōn, ˌrā-\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
American Spanish reggaetón, from reggae reggae + -ton (as in Spanish maratón marathon)
Date:
2002

: popular music of Puerto Rican origin that combines rap with Caribbean rhythms

Raquel Rivera on reggaeton's inclusion in Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

The first thing that struck me about the news is that "reggaeton" made it into this English-language dictionary before it made it into the Diccionario de La Real Academia Española. Neither "reggaetón" nor "reguetón" has made it into the RAE dictionary yet. Hhhmmmm...

Read the whole post at Reggaetonica.

Estilo Blanco of Solo Para Reggaeton on reggaeton's inclusion in Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

And you see that definition? It's wrong! While I would love to see a dictionary that defines everything in relation to Puerto Rico, this definition completely ignores Reggaeton hotspots like Panama, The Dominican Republic, and oh, I don't know, the freaking BRONX.

Read the whole post at Solo Para Reggaeton.

Reggaeton Revolutionaries

Following up on the previous post, with a special tip of the fitted to Wayne Marshall...

Wayne left a comment on the previous post linking to another Reuters piece entitled "Cuba's Fidel Castro honored with a reggaeton song." Cubaton artist Baby Lores wrote a song about Castro after rumors circulated that the reggaetonero had defected during his last trip to Europe. In the video for the song, while taking "traitors" to task, he is seen getting a tattoo of "El Jefe" on his shoulder.

In the last post I mentioned that to me it seemed like a lot of the rhetoric about reggaeton's "neoliberal" properties had to do with how Cuban revolutionary authorities perceive reggaeton as a product produced by Puerto Rico's neocolonial relationship with the United States. Baby Lores makes that point extremely clear at one point towards the end of the song when he says (roughly translated) "Let me see how I explain, don't confuse Cuba with Puerto Rico, excuse me for saying it this way, but instead of two I prefer only one flag." I thought it was pretty interesting that Lores takes Puerto Ricans and Cuban exiles to task in nearly the same breath, for effectively being gusanos. I don't really know what to make of it yet, but there is something interesting happening here around ownership claims and authenticity -- distancing Puerto Rico (and simultaneously the U.S.) in order to make reggaeton acceptable for consumption within Cuba.

I'll leave you with a YouTube response by Frankoraz:

He says: "Sentí la necesidad de representar al pueblo cubano que vive dentro y fuera de la isla. Esta es la respuesta indignada al irracional tema de Baby Lores "Creo", dedicado a la Revolución Cubana." [I felt the need to represent Cubans who live in and outside of the island. This is an angry response to Baby Lores' irrational song "Creo"].

Neoliberalism and Reggaeton

Reuters recently published a pieced entitled "Reggaeton fever shakes up Cuba's culture" the article cites an now infamous (in reggaeton circles anyway) quote by Juventud Rebelde that calls reggaeton a "reflection of 'neoliberal thinking'."

I think the development and growth of reggaeton in Cuba has been fascinating (if you are interested check out Geoff Baker's work) and illuminates much about the ways in which different musical forms/genres circulate as cultural and ideological commodities.

The idea of reggaeton being a product of neoliberalism is intriguing. Clearly the flows of neoliberal capital and its circuits facilitated the spread of technologies and people that enabled the different permutations of reggaeton within the Caribbean, the Americas, and globally.

More than anything else, I wonder what seeing reggaeton as a neoliberal commidity says about how Cuban authorities think about the neocolonial relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico and the forces of diaspora (not only between Puerto Rico and the U.S., but broadly speaking) in forging reggaeton, essentially outside of the Cuban nation (and well any nation really). Reggaeton is largely positioned as outside of the Cuban nation, seen as an import from the yanquis via Puerto Rico, which is why Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto is quoted in the Reuters piece as saying that reggaeton needs to be "pushed away." Reggaeton is agringado, a corrupting influence on Cuba's revolutionary ideals.

While reggaeton is (often mis)understood as a Puerto Rican, or even an American phenomenon, the more authorities and cultural brokers attempt to place reggaeton within some kind of national frame the more obvious it becomes that reggaeton exist in between and outside of national boundaries.

Maybe that is what makes reggaeton so threatening, what incites all these national panics? Well, besides sex and race, but of course those things are tied up within the nation too...

Now I'm just ranting though....thoughts?

The Reggaetón Factor in the U.S. Elections

*Originially published at NACLA (North American Congress on Latin America)

Who would have thought when Daddy Yankee released "Gasolina" in 2004 that four short years later the song would become the butt of jokes about John McCain and offshore drilling? If there were still sectors of U.S. society that didn’t know about reggaetón, this year’s presidential race certainly changed that.

Daddy Yankee (Raymond Ayala) endorses McCain before a shrieking crowd of high school girls in Arizona.

Daddy Yankee caused a stir in August when he publicly endorsed Republican presidential candidate John McCain. The reggaetonero recently made headlines again when he agreed to help moderate a debate on October 9 among candidates for governor of Puerto Rico as part of the "Vota o Quédate Callao" (Vote or Shut Up) initiative to get young voters to the polls in November.

Not to be outdone, Barack Obama has also had a number of reggaetón artists come out in support of his campaign, most notably Julio Voltio and Don Omar who appeared in the video "Podemos con Obama," directed by Yerba Buena's Andres Levin. Calle 13 is even rocking the vote over at MTV. The duo can be seen in ads on MTV and MTV Tr3s urging young people to listen to their new album on the way to the polls.

Does this signal the emergence of a "reggaetón vote"? Pundits have wondered about the weight of the "hip-hop vote" in this year’s election, particularly regarding Barack Obama’s potential appeal to young African American and Latino/a voters. But in 2012 will political pundits be asking candidates what they’re doing to win the "reggaetón vote"?

Maybe. But much like the "hip-hop vote," the idea of a "reggaetón vote" is more complicated than it seems, and it defies simplistic categorization. Politicians’ use of reggaetón in speaking to the so-called "Latino Vote" revealed stark cleavages within the Latino/a community along lines of nationality, race, class, gender, legal status, and age. Indeed, the strategy backfired in many ways and exposed the messy complexities and divisions within the Latino/a community that often gets lumped together with monolithic labels like "Latino/a" and "Hispanic."

Although some analysts continue to question reggaetón’s political potential, this election season confirms the genre’s growing politicization. What that means, exactly, depends on who is doing the politicking.

Daddy Yankee, "El Cartel: The Big Boss," 2007, Interscope Records.

When McCain appeared with Daddy Yankee in an attempt to woo Latino/a voters, controversy erupted over whether Daddy Yankee—and by extension reggaetón—could or should represent the Latino/a community politically. In public responses to the endorsement some felt that reggaetón was something too Puerto Rican or too Caribbean to fully represent the entire Latino/a community.¹ Others felt that reggaetón was too "low-class," saying they did not want to be associated with references to drugs, violence, and aggressive sexuality.

Others felt that as a U.S. citizen Daddy Yankee was not immediately affected by immigration policy and, therefore, had no right to endorse McCain because of his stance on immigration. Still others wondered why Daddy Yankee’s endorsement even garnered so much attention since as a Puerto Rican resident he is barred from even casting a ballot for president on Election Day.

Likewise, recent events in Puerto Rico have sparked further debate over reggaetón’s political potential. Many youths are resisting the cooptation of reggaetón by the political mainstream and using the music to channel concerns and challenge the status quo.

A group of young artists staged a protest outside of the Puerto Rican Convention Center against the gubernatorial debate being held inside on October 9. They organized not in protest to reggaetón’s cooptation or even Daddy Yankee—though they did burn his albums—but in protest to the hypocrisy expressed by Puerto Rico’s four major political parties.

Listen to Sietenueve's "Quédate Callao":

The protestors denounced how reggaetoneros, like Daddy Yankee, are being used in an effort to attract youth to a political system that systematically ignores their concerns. Sietenueve, a hip-hop artist based in the barrio of Villa Palmeras in Santurce, composed a biting critique of Daddy Yankee entitled "Quedate Callao" accusing him of greed and political ignorance. While Yankee implores youth to "Vote or Shut Up," Sietenueve's song title suggests his colleague do the latter. At the end of the song, he raps, "How can you endorse a guy that wants to bring us more war, more blood, more death. It's real sad. Brother, if you don't know your history, educate yourself. Or just shut up."

Although urban music such as hip hop and reggaetón is seen by many as little more than apolitical party music, artists like Sietenueve, other musicians, and their fans in Puerto Rico are increasingly using it as a platform for social justice and anti-establishment political engagement. This point is made poignantly visible with "Ninguno, el candidato de los hip-hoppers" (Nobody, the hip-hoppers candidate).

The "Ninguno pa’ Gobernador" (Nobody, for Governor) campaign is an intervention by political theater group Papel Machete. Much like the "None of the Above" vote that Puerto Ricans made famous during the 1998 plebiscite to determine Puerto Rico’s status, Ninguno’s supporters are urging voters to once again turn to "la quinta" (the fifth)—in protest to the four main parties—and write-in "Ninguno" on the November 4 gubernatorial ballot.

Sietenueve and other high-profile ningunistas joined the Friends of Ninguno Committee in the protest outside the convention center during the gubernatorial debate to highlight the lack of representation all four candidates offered voters.

As one protester told Primera Hora, "In our country, political parties work within an imposed limited structure, making electoral participation an act of selection between candidates, who, once elected, automatically become puppets of the rich."

While all the candidates claim that they know the struggles of the young, the working-class, and the marginalized of Puerto Rican society, their platforms are largely indistinguishable from the status quo and desires of elites. Protestors provocatively asked, "Which candidate for governor comes from the barrios? Which one of them works in the factories? Is there a true representative of the worker, the woman, or the poor?" The answer is of course Ninguno. As Ninguno himself states, "Todos prometen, Ninguno Cumple" (Everyone promises, Nobody delivers).

While U.S.-based Latino/a youth and Puerto Rican youth are using music as a vehicle for political expression and action, they are also actively resisting superficial attempts made by politicians to win their votes through token musical shout-outs, while casting them aside in terms of actual policy.

Indeed, Daddy Yankee’s endorsement of McCain as well as his participation in the gubernatorial debate caused outrage among many young people because it threatened to turn reggaetón into a hollow signifier, separating it from its radical and subversive potential.

This election season shows politicians will not win the reggaetón vote through cultural pandering. To win over this growing group they will actually have to address the issues affecting U.S.-based Latino/a and island-based Puerto Rican youth with concrete policies. Dancing perreo on stage for votes isn’t going to cut it—and, in fact, it never did.

Notes:
1. These "responses" are based on coverage of the endorsement by mainstream media such as Primera Hora, The Washington Post, Newsday, and New York Times, and their readers’ comments as well as Latino/a themed blogs and forums such as Latin Americanist and Vivir Latino.

Ivy Queen vs. La Queen

So I came across this video at ElCorillord.com that asks the question:"Entonces qual tu prefieres La Queen o a Ivy Queen?"

My mind immediately jumped to Jillian Baez's illuminating piece “En mi imperio”: Competing discourses of agency in Ivy Queen’s reggaetón" for the Centro Journal.

peep the abstract...

"This paper argues for a more complex understanding of the intersection of gender and representation in reggaetón. Using the music and career trajectory of the female artist Ivy Queen as a case study, the author demonstrates how her music and self-representation in interviews simultaneously functions as a potential site of female agency within a male dominated sphere while being constrained by transnational music industries and Latin American norms of femininity. More specifically, the essay offers a critical discourse analysis of the music, performances, interviews, and press reception of female reggaetón artist, Ivy Queen, otherwise known as the “queen of reggaetón,” to understand how she and the media construct her subjectivity and agency. Ultimately, the author argues that as reggaetón´s most popular female icon, Ivy Queen straddles a tenuous space in which her hybrid subjectivity is complex and at times seemingly contradictory"

Her paper is off the hook and I strongly encourage folks to read it (you can google it and find a pdf). But checking out that video definitely demonstrates a lot of what Baez discusses in her piece mainly how can we read the differences in La Queen's aesthetic performance versus Ivy's, and what factors influenced the change. But don't take my word for it read the article for yourself!