Reggaeton
The 8 Best Reggaeton
Tracks of All Time
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
- San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1994
- Tempo
- 88–100 BPM
- Also known as
- reguetón, perreo, dembow, underground
- Tracks
- 8
- Updated
- 2026-08-30
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Number 1: Daddy Yankee / Gasolina
2004 · El Cartel
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.
Number 2: Nando Boom / Dem Bow
1991
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.
Number 3: El General / Muévelo
1991
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.
Number 4: Don Omar and Tego Calderón / Bandoleros
2005 · VI Music
Two of the best voices in the music trading verses over something almost mournful. Proof the form could carry weight and not only motion.
Number 5: Tego Calderón / Pa' Que Retozen
2002
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.
Number 6: Wisin & Yandel / Rakata
2005 · Machete
Luny Tunes production at its peak: the riddim sharpened, the reverb enormous, and everything unnecessary removed. The template for the decade that followed.
Number 7: Bad Bunny, Jowell & Randy and Ñengo Flow / Safaera
2020 · Rimas
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.
Number 8: Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee / Despacito
2017 · Universal Latin
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.