The 8 best Reggaeton tracks of all time
Reggaeton
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.
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Daddy Yankee / Gasolina
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.
Nando Boom / Dem Bow
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.
El General / Muévelo
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.
Don Omar and Tego Calderón / Bandoleros
Two of the best voices in the music trading verses over something almost mournful. Proof the form could carry weight and not only motion.
Tego Calderón / Pa' Que Retozen
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.
Wisin & Yandel / Rakata
Luny Tunes production at its peak: the riddim sharpened, the reverb enormous, and everything unnecessary removed. The template for the decade that followed.
Bad Bunny, Jowell & Randy and Ñengo Flow / Safaera
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.
Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee / Despacito
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.