{
  "slug": "reggaeton",
  "name": "Reggaeton",
  "aliases": [
    "reguetón",
    "perreo",
    "dembow",
    "underground"
  ],
  "description": "Panamanian reggae en español and Jamaican dancehall recut in San Juan's housing projects over one riddim — the dembow — until it became the default pulse of Latin pop and, eventually, of global pop.",
  "origin": {
    "place": "San Juan, Puerto Rico",
    "year": 1994
  },
  "lineage": [
    {
      "genre": "dancehall",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/dancehall/",
      "inherited": "One riddim, taken literally. Shabba Ranks's Dem Bow was recut in Panama and then in San Juan until the boom-ch-boom-chick under it stopped being a quotation and became the genre's definition."
    },
    {
      "genre": "golden-age-hip-hop",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/",
      "inherited": "The vocal and the economy. Reggaeton's verses are rapped, its records were made on cheap samplers and sold hand to hand on cassette, and the mixtape came to Puerto Rico from New York rather than Kingston."
    }
  ],
  "bpm": {
    "min": 88,
    "max": 100
  },
  "updated": "2026-08-30",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/reggaeton/",
  "trackCount": 8,
  "curatedBy": [],
  "playlists": {},
  "tracks": [
    {
      "rank": 1,
      "trackKey": "daddy-yankee--gasolina",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/daddy-yankee--gasolina/",
      "title": "Gasolina",
      "artist": "Daddy Yankee",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/daddy-yankee/",
      "year": 2004,
      "label": "El Cartel",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The record that took the genre worldwide, and the one every subsequent argument about it starts from. Four notes, a chant, and no let-up whatsoever.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Daddy%20Yankee%20Gasolina",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CCF1_jI8Prk",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 2,
      "trackKey": "nando-boom--dem-bow",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/nando-boom--dem-bow/",
      "title": "Dem Bow",
      "artist": "Nando Boom",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/nando-boom/",
      "year": 1991,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The Panamanian Spanish version of Shabba's record, cut in New York by Dennis Halliwell. The riddim leaves Jamaica here and does not come back.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Nando%20Boom%20Dem%20Bow",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=DOa3ZUuaAnU",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 3,
      "trackKey": "el-general--muevelo",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/el-general--muevelo/",
      "title": "Muévelo",
      "artist": "El General",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/el-general/",
      "year": 1991,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Panama again, and the first reggae en español star. Sold across Latin America years before San Juan had a scene, which the Puerto Rican story often skips.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/El%20General%20Mu%C3%A9velo",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=TxWn0leL2_c",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 4,
      "trackKey": "don-omar-and-tego-calderon--bandoleros",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/don-omar-and-tego-calderon--bandoleros/",
      "title": "Bandoleros",
      "artist": "Don Omar and Tego Calderón",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/don-omar-and-tego-calderon/",
      "year": 2005,
      "label": "VI Music",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Two of the best voices in the music trading verses over something almost mournful. Proof the form could carry weight and not only motion.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Don%20Omar%20and%20Tego%20Calder%C3%B3n%20Bandoleros",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=HjROFCHo_ng",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 5,
      "trackKey": "tego-calderon--pa-que-retozen",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/tego-calderon--pa-que-retozen/",
      "title": "Pa' Que Retozen",
      "artist": "Tego Calderón",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/tego-calderon/",
      "year": 2002,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Calderón brought bomba and plena — Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms — into a genre that was being accused of having no local roots. The most musically curious record on this list.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Tego%20Calder%C3%B3n%20Pa'%20Que%20Retozen",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PnpEOtzb668",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 6,
      "trackKey": "wisin-and-yandel--rakata",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/wisin-and-yandel--rakata/",
      "title": "Rakata",
      "artist": "Wisin & Yandel",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/wisin-and-yandel/",
      "year": 2005,
      "label": "Machete",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Luny Tunes production at its peak: the riddim sharpened, the reverb enormous, and everything unnecessary removed. The template for the decade that followed.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Wisin%20%26%20Yandel%20Rakata",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=uvIuAHsfNdc",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 7,
      "trackKey": "bad-bunny-jowell-and-randy-and-nengo-flow--safaera",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/bad-bunny-jowell-and-randy-and-nengo-flow--safaera/",
      "title": "Safaera",
      "artist": "Bad Bunny, Jowell & Randy and Ñengo Flow",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/bad-bunny-jowell-and-randy-and-nengo-flow/",
      "year": 2020,
      "label": "Rimas",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Six beat changes in five minutes, quoting the whole history above it. A deliberate argument that the genre's classic era is a living repertoire rather than nostalgia.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Bad%20Bunny%2C%20Jowell%20%26%20Randy%20and%20%C3%91engo%20Flow%20Safaera",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=jCQ_6XbATPc",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 8,
      "trackKey": "luis-fonsi-featuring-daddy-yankee--despacito",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/luis-fonsi-featuring-daddy-yankee--despacito/",
      "title": "Despacito",
      "artist": "Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/luis-fonsi-featuring-daddy-yankee/",
      "year": 2017,
      "label": "Universal Latin",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Included for consequence rather than for taste: the most streamed record in history at the time, and the moment the dembow became an unremarkable part of global pop.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Luis%20Fonsi%20featuring%20Daddy%20Yankee%20Despacito",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=kJQP7kiw5Fk",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}