Panamanian reggaetón

During its early years, reggae en Español was promoted by artists who would sell their demo tapes to bus drivers.

In the mid-1980s Jamaican dancehall rap was added to the reggae en Español mix, and during the late 1980s “reggaetón” officially emerged.

Although reggaetón began in Panama, it quickly spread throughout the Caribbean, and by the late 1980s/early 1990s multiple mixtures, recreations, and hybrids of the genre were formed.

In addition, during the mid 1990s the beat “Dem Bow”, created by Shabba Ranks, characterized the genre and gained mass popularity.

These Pan-Latino spaces brought together Panamanians, as well as Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans, Cubans, Dominicans, and African Americans, creating various mixtures of musical styles.

Furthermore, these hybrids that have been created were not only influences on new reggaetón artists within the U.S., but they were also brought back to places such as Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Panama, and morphed and recreated there.

In the 2000s reggaetón made its big break into the mainstream music industry when N.O.R.E and Daddy Yankee came out with their hit singles “Oye mi Canto” and “Gasolina”.

During this transition reggaetón underwent a form of Blanqueamiento in which the industry and the artists moved further away from the genres Afro-Latino roots and more towards a “Pan- Latino” identity.

[4] Reggaetón music acts as an outlet for Latin youth to express and comment on the struggles they experience and perceive in today’s society.

This mode of expression started with the early veteran artists that commented on the racial discrimination that Rastafarians, such as El General, faced in Panama.