[5] Musically influenced by Bob Marley and Burro Banton growing up, El General recounts in an interview his love for reggae.

When he was younger, he was a part of a group called Renato and the Four Stars, which is when he got his nickname, “El General,” where they would sing reggae in Spanish.

[5] He then received a scholarship, the young artist moved to the United States to study business administration, and became a professional accountant.

In 1992, El General received an MTV award for Best Latin Video with the great success of "Muévelo" produced by Pablo "Pabanor" Ortiz and Erick "More" Morillo.

The Panama Canal connects Atlantic and Pacific trade routes and the descendants of the Black workers brought over “dancehall—an updated version of Jamaican reggae—into Panamanian sound system parties,”[9] Panama, as a result, became a “multicultural melting pot” in which folks from Jamaica and Barbados were entering Panamanian spaces.

Afro-Panamanian artist Renato expressed that it was through singing reggaeton that financially struggling Black folks could protest the government and police brutality.

puede hacer”, based on Lloyd Lovindeer's Jamaican hit "Babylon Boops", recounts a case of police brutality in response to a domestic violence incident.

[4] El General's success also serves as a way of understanding how important the connection between Black communities in Panama, the Caribbean (Jaimaica, Barbados, etc.

A video that surfaced in 2008 features Franco explaining his return to the Jehovah's Witness faith and his leave from the music scene.

Franco describes his time making music as a dark era and refers to his platinum records and accolades as “trophies from the devil”.

[11] Franco is part of a wave of Latin artists (like Héctor el Father and Farruko) who have left Reggaeton for religious reasons.