Monday, November 2, 2009

Wisin y Yandel f. T-Pain - Imaginate

Talento de Victoria here, sorry for the lack of posts as of late.

In my opinion, reggaeton has kind of fallen off the last couple months. Spring/Summer were bountiful with new Alexis y Fido and some hot De La Ghetto remixes, but September/October have been a complete bore for me. The Amor Genuino remix with De La was fuego, but honestly I haven't been impressed with many of the offerings reggaeton has had for me lately. Maybe it's because of all the rain up here. Or it could be because all the new Daddy Yankee songs I've heard just sound like world music. F-



So last week I checked out the new WyY Imaginate with T-Pain. Just to get this out of the way, I want to say I love T-Pain, love auto-tune, and as much as I try to hate him, I hear him on a hook and go "damn, auto-tune sounds great." Saw this 1:30 clip of them making the video, T-Pain was dancing all weird and jerky, and Wisin was pretending to hold a baby and sing to it. I didn't have high hopes for the video.

They've gone ahead and proven me totally and completely wrong. Fez from 70s Show is in it, along with the hot latina Harold had a crush on in Harold & Kumar. P.s. she is THIRTY FIVE. Read it again: THIRTY FIVE, 35! My goodness. It's like she has the Benjamin Button disease and gets hotter the older she gets.

A quick summary of why this is one of the funniest videos I have ever seen:
  • WyY y T-Pain at a funeral.
  • Fez is hanging out in a club with WyY.
  • They spot Harold's crush.
  • WyY are like, "Yo Fez, hit that up homie."
  • Fez macks on Harold's crush.
  • Her ex, or some gangster guy spots this and get pissed!
  • Harold's crush throws Fez on a bed and gives it to him raw dog (I assume).
  • The gangster guy like shoots or blows up Fez or some shit in front of the motel, the entire room EXPLODES!
  • A car rolls up to the gangster guy at the end of the video, window slowly rolls down, and it's WISIN Y YANDEL giving him the mean mug!
  • Cuts to a shot of a WHITE ROSE on top of a casket.
  • Oh shit, it's Fez that died!
Real talk though, man if that chick boned me, go ahead and kill me and blow up my motel room. The last 10 seconds of the video had me rolling on the floor. "Hey you killed our buddy, get ready for this..." *stares* "Alright Wisin, let's get out of here, our work is done."

-Talento de Victoria

Monday, August 24, 2009

Johnny Walker Black



One of the things that we have publically complained about on this site before is that Reggaeton artists are not doing enough work to shout out labels and products that we should buy. We don't speak Spanish, we need to be told what to do!

When we first got into reggaeton, we looked so hard to find the right drink for reggaeton. Naturally we thought it had to be rum, and why wouldn't we? Puerto Rico produces some of the finest rum on earth, and in the Somos De Calle Remix Daddy Yankee even talks about "hot in your chest like Anejo" which we looked up and found out was a type of rum. So we thought, to be reggaeton is to be into rum. We were wrong.

We waited so long for an answer that we almost gave up. But then we started noticing Randy y Jowell in a lot of pictures holding up a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label. We were curious, but Randy y Jowell do a lot of weird stuff so maybe Jowell was just into the shape of the bottle. I mean this is a dude who appeared in numerous videos holding a Chucky Doll.

But today while watching the video for "2 Cachas" by J. Alvarez and Nejo (seen below, side note: it's HOT) I noticed that Black Label bottle showing up again. So a quick search revealed the above video of Randy y Jowell on tour where we find out that Johnny Walker is the official TOUR SPONSOR! This is a step in the right direction.

Now, this presents a double edged sword. Firstly, Estilo Blanco and Talento De Victoria both love scotch, so it's pretty sweet that the drink of reggaeton is something we already like. But the problem with Black Label is that it leaves an old man aftertaste in your mouth the next morning. The perfect solution would be if another reggaeton star would come out with a special mint for the morning after that fixed this. Because there's no way that I'm going to go buy some Orbitz or Dentyne without reggaeton approval. No way.

Until further notice, we can officially declare Johnny Walker Black the drink of reggaeton. Keep a bottle in your pantry just to be safe.

Zion y Lennox - Amor Genuino



I think it's pretty obvious that this might be the classiest reggaeton video ever. Do you know why? Because it's set in the olden days, and as a rule of thumb anything that happens in the old days is always classier than stuff that happens now. Except racism and sexism, I guess.

So this is about as mainstream as reggaeton can sound, and I'm not sure how much it works. It kind of sounds like Zion y Lennox are singing on top of a Steve Winwood track which is not that cool.

That being said, I think this song could be a pretty sweet jam for a tourism campaign for Puerto Rico. Imagine this playing on top of shots of like cliffs, and nightclubs, and beaches and awesome restaurants serving rice and beans, plantains, and all sorts of other awesome PR food.

Friday, August 14, 2009

How to make crap hip hop songs awesome



So we here listen to a LOT of Latino 96.3 and we both have the same criticism: too much English. It's really annoying to be listening to an amazing Alexis y Fido jam and have it followed up with a block of Pitbull (the worst), Soulja Boy and Drake. It actually made me hate a lot of songs and I kept thinking "why can't these songs be better?" Well, thankfully De La Ghetto was thinking the exact same thing.

I can only guess that he was chillin at home being like "man, I need to rescue these songs, but how?" Then he was hit with a flash of brilliance when he was doing something cool (breakfast? threesome? parade? we will never know). The eureka moment was his realization "oh yeah, I'll just record these songs in Spanish." And like MAGIC they are 1000% better.

This transformation takes place for a number of reasons:
1. Songs are always better in Spanish (no exceptions)
2. Most rappers/RnB stars use autotune in the subtle way because they can't sing (looking at you Drake), but De Le Ghetto can sing like a CHAMPION without autotune, without over production. So the song immediately has more passion, feeling, and sex appeal.
3. There are no rappers/RnB artists as cool as De La Ghetto.

Above is the De La Ghetto remix of Best I ever Had, and oh my god it's incredible. I sort of liked the song before but now I love it. Below is "Kiss me thru the phone" by Soulja Boy which SUCKED, but now it's pretty sweet. I wish that De La Ghetto would cover any song by Neyo, So Anxious by Genuine, Remix to Ignition by R. Kelly, and EVERYTHING by Boyz II Men.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Constructive Criticism

Imagine our surprise to find a comment not left by either myself or Estilo Blanco! But wait... I sense a tone of dissention...


First off, we are both major blanquitos. We are not trying to hide this fact.

Second, I said Guelo is a TEMPORARY enemy of reggaeton. As in, literally for the day it was posted and that's it. We personally hate reggae and state that in the post. If anything, it was just a funny way for us to trash reggae, not an attack on Guelo at all. I acknowledged that Guelo Star is a major contributor to reggaeton/dembow and is a sick lyricist. I have the Pelicula Viviente Sincero mixtape and love it!

Think of it this way: it’s like when Russians first got into Rock n Roll after the end of the USSR, they didn't know what they were doing but they rocked so fucking hard because they loved it so much. Or the Japanese getting into hip hop, they were a bit confused but that just led to them taking it in new directions. So it's bout learning (and I guess globalization.)

No matter what we do we will always be wannabe PRs, it’s not our fault, it’s our ethnicity’s.

We also acknowledge that we can’t know everything about reggaeton, we are white (well, one of us is half-chinese, even worse! except in the case of De La Ghetto), don’t speak spanish (yet), and appreciate any and all clarifications or knowledge from legit latinos. In fact, we have asked for it in past posts!

Lastly, this site isn’t very serious and we are joking about most of the stuff here (except our love and pasion for Reggaeton). This is a guide to help white people get into reggaeton, it can be very daunting if all you have are white friends who love indie rock and hipster electronica. We have nothing but love for latinos and all reggaeton culture, even if it includes reggae. Although, I thought all reggae was good for was asking someone if they are into reggaeton and they say “yes, I like Bob Marley,” then you diss them.

White people like getting all hung up on genre names. We don't want to divide and chop it up in to romantiqueo, bachata, etc. We also don't want to call it "Latin Music" or else white people will think it's Gypsy Kings and that World Music that they like so much. We need to use a term they've heard and use that to get them interested.

If you think about it, we are like white people in 1984 who were legitimately into hip-hop. Those people turned into all the white rappers from the 90’s on, or janitors.

P.s. Thank you for calling me papi!

-Talento de Victoria

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Temporary Enemy of Reggaeton: Guelo Star



Before you get all mad at me, I do realize Guelo Star is always putting it down for dembow and is supposedly one of the best lyricists (if I knew spanish I could confirm this), but here he does a straight REGGAE track. In the world of Solo Para Reggaeton, this is a huge no no.

Adding insult to injury he posts this on his facebook page:



Google Translate tells us this means "FOR FANS OF "ROOTS REGGAE" AQUI EL NUEVO TEMA DE "Newton FEAT: Guelo Star REVIVE THE ROOTS OF" GANYA "JAJAJAJA! AQUI LES DEJO" GIRL Addicts' GARMENTS AND A Blunt Listen to him JAJAJAJA TRIP IN ONE LOVE Guelo Star"

ONE LOVE? Really... really? This goes against everything we stand for. This is two strikes, roots AND reggae as a genre, three if you add in One Love.

Guelo Star, we like and respect your contributions to reggaeton, but please keep them there. You are getting a free pass this time. If you have to stray from the genre, at least do american r&b covers like de la ghetto. We don't mind those.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

My First Exposure to Reggaeton



My first exposure to reggaeton was on a trip to Cuba (I know... not PR but give me a break, I am from the Pac NW, I admit full ignorance) about 4 years ago. I was listening to A LOT of Three 6 Mafia at the time, and occasionally would hear these spanish rap songs down there (which were actually reggaeton but I didn't know any better) that had samples of guns cocking. This was relevant to my interests.

I searched and asked around for the song with the gun noises, but no one could help me. Eventually someone told me about this group called Cubanito 20.02 that was reggaeton. I guess they were really big in Cuba at the time. Back then, I didn't even know what reggaeton was, I thought it would just be called like cuban rap (or latin rap).

I was pretty into it, the raps were tight, but I just couldn't get over the singing and the silly drum beats, I was looking for something more agresivo. Also, there is one guy in the group who does that thing where you rap and kind of sound like a big dog; it reminded me too much of real reggae.

Anyways, I bought the CD and pretended to be into it so I could look worldly when I returned to BC. Most people liked it, usually girls, and it was fun to drink in the sun and listen to it.

We still didn't know what reggaeton was, so anything that sounded like it we would just call "Soy Cubanito," which was the title of the album.

About 3 years ago, the original CD (with case) was stolen out of my old 1986 Acura Legend, by who I imagine was a street person, in Victoria, BC.

If that guy didn't pawn the CD, he probably had a huge boner after listening to it. I like to imagine that somewhere in Victoria is a homeless person who reps a tropical island lifestyle due to the theft, even though he is in Victoria, BC. He lives in a cardboard city, but with lots of like fake palm trees, drink umbrellas, and loud shirts. Oh, of course, braids as well.

Since then, I am pretty proud to call myself a reggaeton listener and have learned so much! I have probably 20 reggaeton songs with gun samples in them now. It's too bad Pitbull is from Cuba because listening to Soy Cubanito now I realize they aren't that bad; however, I am at a point in my life right now where listening to any kind of Cuban artist translates into direct support for Pitbull, so I can't do that.

Reggaeton has shown me that it's ok to be a pussy, as long as you are also a thug. North American rap is all about being tough, all the time, which is really unrealistic! Thugs cry too, and fall in love, which is why reggaeton is perfect. North American rap is full of static characters, whereas reggaeton is about being dynamic and multi-dimensional.

Who knew that 4 years ago, a simple purchase would indirectly change my life forever? Not me!

-Talento de Victoria

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

A New Hat has been acquired


Here at Solo Para Reggaeton, we are ALWAYS checking eBay for Reggaeton related items. Well, a big gift fell into the lap of Estilo Blanco.

He was able to score this sweet Dominican Republic hat for $17 shipped, this now gives him the full DR/PR set. He is now prepared for full reggaeton representation, although to be honest a Panama hat might be required as Makano and Flex have shown us that Panama is keeping it all kinds of real in the reggaeton world.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Jowell Invents Reggaeton Mullet

Not much to say about this one, just check out that picture! Obviously it's pretty awesome. Reggaeton has a way of doing that to things that would otherwise suck. He looks like a Japanese international student or a Puerto Rican version of Kenny Powers. I like it.

-Talento de Victoria

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Vintage Arcangel y De La Ghetto


I've been hesitant to post this video due to quality concerns—it's slightly worse than when La Chat and Project Pat performed on Jenny Jones—but I've cracked because it's just too good to not post.

De La Ghetto is looking a little chubby and rocking a sweet teen stache, which is a plus, and Arcangel doesn't look like Prince yet.

I imagine during the interview the girl asks "So what are your plans for the future?" and Arcangel says "Well, I'm thinking about going really weird and dressing like Prince, and De La Ghetto has been doing the master cleanse for a month and says it's actually not that bad, he has so much more energy!"

I don't know much about what this talk show is, but it looks like a great place to take a nap.

Reggaepop


The funny thing about reggaeton is that it's not afraid to sell out and get a little gay. Just check out the video above if you don't believe me. I guess this is what you would call Reggaepop. Alexis Jamsha (Nejo y Dalmata's producer) posted "trabajando en lo nuevo del putipuerko!! 100% sucieria!! fuck reaggepop!" as a facebook status this week. He put it english, so he must really hate it. Of course, given the weirdness, it's no surprise seeing De La Ghetto in there like a dirty shirt. He will do anything for a buck! In fact, here is another video with Geezy and a Mexican pop group.

It also looks bootleg, from the era of Sensacion del Bloque. Estilo Blanco watched it and thought it was just a mishmash of random clips, nope! It's just that budget.

While this is a really great feel-good romantic pop song, we would hate it if it were in english. It makes High School Musical look rugged. Luckily, it's in spanish and has been my song of the week.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I have no problem with reggaepop. It makes me feel like a 15 year old girl in love and has cut my masturbation down to only twice a day as opposed to 4-5 when listening to regular reggaeton.

-Talento de Victoria

Friday, July 10, 2009

Tu Te Imaginas - De La Ghetto



On this site we have such a mixed set of feelings about De La Ghetto. He is so talented, but at the same time he kind of disses reggaeton and tries to call himself the king of Spanish RnB. So unfair.

In this video Tu Te Imaginas, we get a little more of the taste of De La Ghetto as the RnB star. I tried to hate on this song, but I can't it's got that romantic style, and those little bits of De Le Ghetto making his voice just a little bit falsetto.

However, there are some problems with it that need to be addressed.
1) If this song were in English, there is no doubt I would hate it because it would probably have a rap in the middle by Lil Flip or Flo Rida. Yawn, F+
2) De La Ghetto is really not that good looking, and now that he's lost some weight he wants to show off his face and how he's all skinny. But that just draws more attention to the fact that his head looks like a guy who is both 14 and 45 at the same time! So weird!
3) The ladies in this video are pretty fly, but man do they look bored. How can you be bored with De La Ghetto right near you? Oh yeah, that's right, he's skinny now so he's lost some of his powers.

The lesson learned is that if you're a reggaeton artist, you will probably be better off being a bit chubby, wearing big sunglasses, a PR/DR/Yankees hat, and really big clothes. It will draw the attention away from you face and directly to the music.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Enemy of Reggaeton: Merriam-Webster



So it was just announced that "Reggaeton" has made it's way into the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Normally you would think this was a good thing, a sign that Reggaeton was on it's way to universal acceptance. And in some senses you would be right, however a quick look at the calender should tell you EXACTLY why this should fill you with total and complete rage.

It is July 2009. Even if you want to take a popular culture view of Reggaeton and say that it began in 2004 with the crossover success of "Gasolina," that means they are FIVE YEARS BEHIND. Oh, what's that? It's a dictionary so they are always slow? Well this year they added Vlog and in previous years they added stuff like "truthiness" from Stephen Colbert when it was barely a year old.

And you see that definition? It's wrong! While I would love to see a dictionary that defines everything in relation to Puerto Rico, this definition completely ignores Reggaeton hotspots like Panama, The Dominican Republic, and oh, I don't know, the freaking BRONX.

Screw these up tight jerks. If I was having a reggaeton party I would NEVER let anyone with the name Merriam or Webster onto the guest list. They are probably old white people who would only like the reggaeton songs that sound like merengue because they like Cuban food and bootleg revolutions.

So congratulations Merriam Webster, you just added Reggaeton to your dumb list of definitions. Well guess what? We just added YOU to a list: The Enemies of Reggaeton. Say hi to Pitbull for us.
-Estilo Blanco

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The Problem with Puerto Rico Jeans


Alright, this site is no stranger to awesome stuff that you know you just can't buy. We've seen pendants, medallions, and tank tops. And now, Ebay has coughed up these jeans and yes they are every bit as awesome as you would think: dark denim, baggy, and embroidered with stars and "Puerto Rico." They are one of the more reasonable ways to represent Puerto Rico in the area of pants.

But then there are the problems, namely these are simply too baggy. I don't know how you wear these in any warm weather, although I guess since Puerto Rico is always super hot when you leave Puerto Rico it always feels cold, so maybe it makes sense.

In any case the price is right on these things, but I just wish that we could get Puerto Rico jeans in a nice boot cut that you could wear to formal functions, work, AND block parties.

Oh well.
Link
-Estilo Blanco

Friday, June 26, 2009

El Amor? Tito el Bambino DIVORCE!

Looks like Tito is now solo para ti as he has filled for divorce from his wife. Probably a good idea, is that Ivy Queen's twin sister? She looks like the filipino pre-op from that episode of Kenny vs Spenny.

MTVTr3s is saying it was due to El Bambino's cheating, but I mean come on. He is a reggaetonero! That's like divorcing Kobe Bryant because he is too good at basketball.

Tito had this to say:

No hay ninguna persona en el medio. Tito es un muchacho que siempre ha sido un ejemplo para los jóvenes y ahora está dedicado solo a su carrera.

Google translate tells me this means: There is no person in the middle. Tito is a guy who has always been an example for youth and is now devoted only to his career.

Why is he talking in the third person? I can pretty much say that as a reggaetonero, focusing on your career means boning tons of chicks. Anyways, good move Tito, you are way better looking than "her."

-Talento de Victoria

Friday, May 29, 2009

Tito El Bambino ft. Jenny Rivera



Ok, this might be one of the greatest reggaeton videos ever for one simple reason: it shows a birth! It's all about pregnancy and you know that we are all about that pregnancy here at SPR.

The video also features Tito El Bambino lying down on a skateboard and riding down some path in a park. It doesn't really make sense, but it doesn't matter I just keep waiting for more shots of that delivery room!

Other things featured in the video:
* Nuns
* Improperly Tucked in Shirts
* Classy Moves (specifically 3:21)
* Old Guy with Beard who probably wrote an awesome novel about love and Puerto Rico and it's so complicated they couldn't translate it to English because it would lose all of it's meaning and allegory but then some professor did translate it and it sparked a war but it was all ok because the old guy got tenure then slept with the professors wife and got her pregnant (note: this is implied).

Things that would make it the perfect reggaeton video:
*Fitted Hats
*Cameo from DY or DLG
*Puerto Rican, Dominican and Mexican Flags (to show unity)
*More Pregnancy shots

Long story short, if you don't want to get pregnant, don't watch this video.

An Academic Book?


So I have to order this:
I will read it and post a positive review on Amazon even if it sucks.

I thought I would never read another academic book again but look at it! I have to!

Sonia Sotomayor: Reggaeton Supreme Court!

So Barack Obama just nominated Sonia Sotomayor to be a supreme court justice and some people are all upset about it. They said it's about abortion or something, but we all know what this is really about: the anti-reggaeton lobby.

Yes Daddy Yankee supported John McCain, but last time I checked John McCain didn't seem to eager to support him back: no video appearances, no shout outs in speeches, no sweet Puerto Rico hats, no support in general. What a jerk.

So now Sonia Sotomayor is on the verge of being a Supreme Court Justice. Looking at her biography we see that she is Puerto Rican, born in the Bronx, and a Yale Law School Graduate. If you subtract the Yale thing, her biography is almost identical to Marcy Place! And if you swap "Bronx" for "San Juan" and "Yale Law School" with "getting drafted by the Seattle Mariners then getting shot" she is the mirror image of Daddy Yankee himself!

So what would a Reggaeton Supreme Court Justice do? Well, in my fantasy world here is what happens:
1. Pledge of Allegiance replaced with Somos De Calle Remix
2. Star Spangled Banner is rewritten by De La Ghetto to be "more catchy" and "more reggaeton-y"
3. New Era named official hat producer to US Government
4. Dominican Republican given protectorate status (for baseball and reggaeton reasons)
5. Boring, stuck up Washington Dinners turn into sweet Perrero block parties!

We are so close!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

This is how you ruin a song...

Alexis y Fido - Ojos Que No Ven Remix featuring...

This is almost too terrible for words.


-Talento de Victoria

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Wisin y Yandel Videogame



So in anticipation of Wisin y Yandel's new album La Revolucion, they have released some awesome wallpapers for fans. The best of three is shown above and features Wisin y Yandel plotting some sort of military action against Europe.

Talento de Victoria is hoping that they are plotting to invade Spain via France as payback for what the Spainiards did to the Taino Indians who were native to Puerto Rico. It goes without saying that the idea of PR taking back the mother land is awesome. Those Spanish jerks would stop getting siestas and watching stupid soccer matches and be forced to dance to reggaeton instead of techno and they would all get jobs while the native PRs would put Spanish people to work making shiny t-shirts, designer sunglasses, and jeans with crazy designs on them. pure payback!

In my ideal world they are pointing to England with a plan for wiping out the English language and forcing the whole world to learn Spanish, and perrero, and reggaeton. Also since the English flag is already red, white and blue, I feel like they would be more amenable to flying the awesome PR flag.

But as we think a little bit more about this wall paper, we are left to consider the idea of a Wisin y Yandel videogame (definitely multiplatform Xbox 360/PS3/PC, but no Wii, that is not a very reggaeton system).

In my dream world the game would feature a mix of these elements:
1. Real Time Strategy (if you are going to invade Spain you need a plan)
2. A rhythm based game where you have to make sweet reggaeton beats
3. Some sort of sandbox game (like GTA IV) where you have to travel around Spain as Wisin y Yandel trying to pick up girls, get into night clubs, play concerts, and go shopping.

The game would be called Reggaeton Revolucion and it would sell so many copies.

-Estilo Blanco

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Nejo y Dalmata f. Arcangel, Daddy Yankee - Algo Musical Remix



This remix has been getting tons of airplay on reggaeton94 lately, so it's time to post it. Hearing new DY in a song makes me so happy inside, the only way this could be better is if it were a non-bootleg video made in Windows Movie Maker (hispanics love pirated versions of Windows XP).

I also really liked this homemade video, who is that girl? I don't get it, but the song is still good.

-Talento de Victoria

Monday, May 11, 2009

This looks fun



I think I could totally go to this and not get stabbed. Man this looks like fun.

-Estilo Blanco

Monday, May 4, 2009

Sick Arcangel song to Iverson clips



I was listening to my ipod at work today when Que Se Activen by Arcangel came on. This song is so thugged out and gets me hyped up. Prra prra. Anyways, the only version of it on youtube I could find is edited to Top 10 Iverson moments.

Enjoy.

-Talento de Victoria

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Friday, April 24, 2009

The Feud with Sandra Pena

Here at Solo Para Reggaeton we have NOTHING but love for Latino 96.3 in Los Angeles. In fact, we can honestly say that they are responsible for our passion for the music, the lifestyle, and everything that is reggaeton.

So when Latino 96.3 DJ Sandra Pena started busting a twitter (@sandrapena) about how Pitbull (noted enemy of reggaeton) was twittering and how we should all follow him. Well, we could not let that happen. So Estilo Blanco went ahead and sent her a message with the link to the Pitbull Enemy of Reggaeton Post.

Here was her response:



Needless to say, we immediately stopped following her on twitter.
Here was the fallout on Facebook:




















-Estilo Blanco

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Enemy of Reggaeton: The State of Tennessee

Alexis y Fido Run Into Trouble in Nashville

al.jpg

Alexis y Fido were detained at the airport in Nashville, Tennessee and the boys are mad at the way they were treated.

According to the boys, the promoter that flew them over used a stolen credit card to purchase their airline tickets, so this was a case of fraud and unfortunately it landed on their laps.

They tell El Vocero that they were treated like dogs and felt that they were discriminated against because they are Latinos and because of the clothes they wear.

NOT COOL!

From LatinGossip

Sub-Generos del Reggaeton

Once you've been listening to that 'ton for a while, you realize it all kind of sounds the same... but in really different ways. Hop on the bus because you are about to get schooled. Each genero is linked to an example track.

Dembow: This is your standard DUNK duh duh DUNK duh beat. There can be a lot of variety in the rest of the musical flesh that surrounds the dembow skeleton, but if it's got that beat it's dembow. It can be hard or soft, but it's all legit. Some reggaeton purists will only find dembow beats to be acceptable, anything else is wack and a threat can be made that if artists do not want to do dembow, then you will listen to north american rap and r&b. UPDATE: I forgot to mention Perreo jams. This is basically a hardcore dembow track that is tuned up specially for that perreo!

Malienteo: Take a 50 cent beat, put on some thugged out PR's in bandanas and straight-brim hats rapping in spanish talking about PR thug shit, that's it. The more artists you can fit on one of these tracks, the better.

Romantiqueo: Uh duh! This what you listen to to get love advice, a girl into bed, or just really horny. If you only masturbate once a day you will masturbate twice a day, if you masturbate twice a day you are going to masturbate five times per day. Be careful with this sub-genero because romantiqueo and pregnancy go hand in hand, even with birth control. Any of these sub-generos could also be romantiqueo, depending on lyrical content and how passionate you get when listening.

Electro-flow: Step 1 - Euro dance beats that could potentially be heard in a gay club. Step 2 - Auto-tuned hook at bare minimum. Step 3 - Sick spanish raps. Step 4 - Get fuckin drunk and dance like a chick. Step 5 - ??? 

I love electroflow like a child I actually planned to have, but many purists will hate on electroflow because it sounds like gay club music and frequently does not contain dembow. Right now this is looking like the future of reggaeton.

Bachata: Originating from the DR, this actually means "bitter music", and songs are usually about failed romances and being bummed out. Luckily we don't speak spanish, because listening to this gives me a boner! They use real instruments (usually two electric acoustics, electric bass, and BONGOS) which makes this the easiest offshoot of reggaeton for a white person to get into. See Aventura

Merengue/Salsa/Fusion stuff: Occasionally some guys will bust out some roots shit and try to sing salsa, or a fast paced merenge beat. These are usually pretty decent, but be careful because you don't want people thinking you are listening to world music.

Finally, and this should go without saying, that if any of the above sub-generos are not in spanish, then it falls into the Garbage category.

-Talento de Victoria, BC

Voltio DUI

So I guess Voltio was arrested in PR for DUI. The article says he was doing 62mph in a 50 zone and had a .08 BAL, which is the minimum they need to charge with DUI.

All I have to say about this is that reggaetoneros are pretty responsible. If this was a north american non-hispanic rapper it would have been like .12 and doing 90mph.

With that said, drinking and driving is still pretty terrible and no one should do it.

Source

On a lighter note, here is a new Voltio song called Dimelo Mami produced by Yai and Toly. Nice to see Voltio doing some electro-flow for a change. Other than Punmela and the Tu Te Las Trae remix he hasn't been bout it. He is also on that auto-tune this time (I love auto-tune and am convinced it's the best thing to happen to reggaeton, ever).

-Talento de Victoria





Calle 13 - Electro Moviemento



The concept of reggaeton really crossing over to the mainstream is a double edged sword. On one had it would great to see more of the 'ton everywhere, on the other hand it would really suck to see a frat house jamming on De La Ghetto. But then again, it could lead to more white girls being down with perrero. So many choices!

Either way, one of the songs that can bring about this crossover will definitely come from Calle 13. This band was in a highly publicized feud with Ivy Queen (we are still deciding who won), and whenever you meet a white guy who knows about reggaeton, he ALWAYS likes this band. So that's kind of negative.

But there is no denying that these guys have written a jam that appeals to EVERYONE. This song is hot and if someone re-records it in English, it will be EVERYWHERE.

Note: Ivy Queen said “He doesn’t realize the grave mistake he is making. My 15 year career isn’t going to be tainted by someone that is always on a mushroom trip.” A+ Ivy Queen, A+.

Alexis y Fido Ojos Que No Ven



We are always on the search for the hottest new reggaeton jams, and we might have just found the new summertime banger from Alexis y Fido.

Best of luck trying to understand this video. It starts like a Latino Mad Men, then turns into the future, and then turns into a classy dining room. Of these scenarios, I only like to believe that Alexis y Fido would be into the future. If they existed back during the olden days, white people would have pissed off at their hot rhythms.

Also, I'm not sure who is Alexis and who is Fido, but one of them looks like Adnan Ghalib (Britney's ex boyfriend).

As for the song, this jam is STRAIGHT FIRE and the lyrics are "what you don't know won't hurt you." Boom, man for a group of singers who are super into love, they are also into cheating.

TALENTO DE VICTORIA UPDATE: Ok so here is my interpretation of the video. All the lyrics talk about cheating on the DL, which makes it OK (the literal translation of the song title means 'what the eyes do not see, the heart does not feel'). He starts off in his fancy home life... or is he? Man, already Fido is cheating on the DL! Looking smooth. He sees Alexis rocking out on the TV and is like, man I want to get some hos like that, even though he has a ho already. So using the power of the internet he travels into the video and is chillin w/ Alexis. He is bout those hos and keeping it on the DL. Then I guess Fido decides living in the internet is awesome and Alexis wants that home life. So they trade? Uhh... ok so I guess it makes no sense. Is the wife cheating with Alexis too? If so, why are Mr. A y Senor F friends? This may be too advanced for my reggaeton skills at the current time. Here is a link with the lyrics translated.

Also I wish I could dress like that.

Monday, April 20, 2009

The Best Quarter Ever!


I'm never spending one of these EVER!

REGGAETON MONEY!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Awesome outfit!


So I spent at least 20 minutes a week where I think about I would wear to the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City.

Sometimes I think it would be cool to just go as a regular white guy and everyone would be all "hey, what are you doing here? You don't know about Puerto Rico." Then they surround me and are getting ready to fight me, and an Arcangel song comes on and I sing along and they are totally impressed then give me some awesome Rum and these smoking hot PR chicks teach me to dance right.

Then other times, I see outfits like this and realize that if I wore this, I would blend RIGHT IN.

Monday, March 23, 2009

PR Hat gets you respect




So I bought this hat a while ago and I've only worn it outside a few times.

But every time I wear it I magically get props!
1) I was at Trader Joe's buying wine and this super cool black guy who looked like Terry Kennedy goes "where you get that hat man?" and I told him and he was totally impressed!
2) I was walking down the street near this plumbing company and these Latino guys (not sure if they were PR, that would have made it way sweeter), stop me to ask where I got my hat.
3) I was going through security at the airport and the ladies there asked me to show the hat to a different security who wanted to buy one! So awesome.

This hat is magic, I need to get the Dominican one next. So proud.

Magic Juan - Baby Come Back

Every once in a while a song comes along that perfectly captures a feeling, a moment, an intangible sense of life and living.

For a lot of white people it's the song "Everybody Hurts" for REM, it's great for breakups, proms, slow dancing, very multi-purpose.

But within the Latino community there is a need for a song that expresses the pain of heartbreak but isn't so slow and boring that you want to slit your wrists and die. Thank god Magic Juan sped up some journey and released this banger.

When I hear this song, I think of someone who looks not unlike De La Ghetto standing outside in front of a typical upscale desert community house, screaming for his super hot 16 year girlfriend to take him back. She is all like "no way you cheated on me" and then he says nothing but hits play with this song. They are making out before it finishes.

Baby Come Back is the story of a man who needs to get his woman back, who hasn't been in this situation? It's so good, but it doesn't have a video yet, so forgive the weird graphics.

If you aren't pumping your fist or crying by the end of this, you are dead inside.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

I Dream of Daddy Yankee

This is a weird post. I had a dream last night about meeting Daddy Yankee.

I was in a mall in Seattle, no specific mall. I was about to leave, when all of a sudden I recognized a shiny haircut that could only belong to two people or the entire male population of a Caribbean island (Puerto Rico). Anyways, I knew it was El Jefe, the Big Boss, Daddy Yankee!

Wanting to play it cool, I walk up to him and go, “Howsh it going maaaang?” Like how he talks on San Juan sounds in GTA 4. His english is pretty good rhetoric wise, but come on, he sounds like a stroke victim when he doesn’t talk in Spanish.

He was excited I recognized him and signed a poster for me. I don’t know how he had this poster, but all of a sudden it was like this meet and greet signing session with people around. I don’t remember what he signed on the poster other than “Keep lifting 10lb weights.” He meant that in a nice way and I found it really inspiring.

I left the booth and roamed the mall. All I could think about was telling Estilo Blanco—wait, Estilo Blanco!—I need to get him a signed poster too!

After tearing back to the booth, I feel weird talking to DY again. Man, he’s going to think I’m riding his dong.

I told him about Estilo’s involvement in a certain blog which he may or may not know about. El Jefe gave me this weird look like he was offended that I asked. He ended up signing a poster for Estilo and then signed this other tiny poster for me.

What luck! Three signed posters, two for myself and one for Estilo. I left the mall feeling pretty cool.



I wake up at 4am, tossing and turning. I can’t believe I met DY and he signed these posters. Wait, was that a dream? No, it wasn’t a dream, I have the posters right here. Estilo is going to think I am awesome.

Sleep sets in again only to end with me staring reality in the face—It was just a dream.

I go to work hating my life, but loving reggaeton even more.

-Talento de Victoria

p.s. Daddy Yankee Mundial coming soon!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Reggaeton Reflections

In this column, we will talk about particularly special times where we have listened to reggaeton.

On February 4th, I had been on the road for two weeks in mostly cold weather climates. That day, I got into Phoenix, AZ where I had a room at the Embassy Suites in Tempe. I had a ton of stuff to do so I could not enjoy reggaeton right away, but I saw that there was an ipod dock so I could enjoy it later!

Then the next morning, I got up, plugged in my ipod and listened to a special mix of Daddy Yankee, Randy y Jowell, Wisin y Yandel, and Arcangel.

As I looked out over the pool and enjoyed the warm air, I pumped that reggaeton and felt happy to be alive. So perfect.

-Estilo Blanco

DVD Review: Feel the Noise


"A young man from the South Bronx dreams of making it as a rapper, until a run-in with local thugs forces him to hide in Puerto Rico with the father he never knew."

With a logline like that, I was expecting this to be one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. Then I found out that the "young man" is Omarion, who might just be the worst actor in the history of film (see You Got Served, for more evidence).

Still the idea of Puerto Rico AND reggaeton in a movie was too much for me to pass up.

So Omarion wants to be a rapper, and he's not very good, then he's involved in something that scares him mom into sending him to PR and Omarion acting like it's a PUNISHMENT! Right there I should have known this movie was going to be beyond stupid.

"Oh what? You want me to send me to a tropical island where they play reggaeton all day and drink awesome rum? I hate you mom. What do you mean the girls are smoking hot too?"

So anyways, Omarion gets there and he's all surly and he meets up with his cousin who really likes reggaeton. This guy is AWESOME, I wish the whole movie was about him.

But I had to turn the movie off after one particular scene. Omarion and his cousin are talking about music and the cousin (rightly) wants to make their music pure reggaeton but Omarion wants a hip hop style. So they fight, and the cousin says "look, I like 50 Cent and Snoop Doggy Dogg, but I'm not trying to make hip hop."

Then, I'll never forget this. Omarion says "Well, I like Daddy Yankee and, and, and, uh Pitbull."

CLICK end of movie for me. Pitbull is not reggaeton!

Also produced by J-Lo? She is bootleg PR.

Man I was pissed off
-Estilo Blanco

Te Amo by Makano

One of the problems of listening to a lot of Reggaeton is that you know the song but you don't know the artist.

They have been banging Te Amo by Makano on Latino 96.3 for a few months now and it is FANTASTIC.

I am trying hard to learn more about Makano, but it should come as no surprise that is from Panama (I like to call people from Panama 'Panamaniacs'). His musical style is very much like Flex, it's big, romantic, and truly sweeping.

Watching the video you will notice he hits a number of things on the Reggaeton Checklist
1. Puerto Rican haircut? Check
2. Ed Hardy Fetish? Check
3. Sunglasses? check
4. Love in his heart? double check

We will post more as find out about this up and coming young star.

Te Amo by Makano
-Estilo Blanco

Monday, February 16, 2009

EBay Finds: Puerto Rico Swimsuit


Of course, there is no doubt that the Puerto Rico bikini is mas sexy, but not all ladies feel comfortable in a Bikini.

That is why it's so awesome to see designers pumping out PR bathing suits for regular ladies.

When I see this, I like to think of a middle school English teacher (late 30s) taking a trip to Puerto Rico as a reward to herself. She gets down there and finds a HUGE tear in her boring black bathing suit, what is she gonna do? She goes into town and scores this sweet swimsuit.

Then later she is on the beach and she hears some Reggaeton, maybe some Randy y Jowell and she likes it. So she walks over to the PR youths who are playing it on their stereo. She dances with the best looking one in the group (who looks like Ken-Y, but taller) and has a wonderful time. Then later he shows up at her hotel with a rose or something more Puerto Rican, and takes her to a very classy Puerto Rican night club. Then he takes her to a mountain and reads her a poem he wrote in Spanish. Then they make love on that mountain and she cries when she leaves him at the airport. Then she gets back home and writes a novel about the whole thing and it gets turned into a movie starring Renee Zelwegger.

Swimsuits can be powerful if they have a Puerto Rican flag on them.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Rakim y Ken-Y - Te Regalos Amores

When you first hear the name Rakim and Ken-Y, you can't help but think it's a rap duo. It's ok, we all make that mistake. Rakim is actually José Nieves, and there is no viable explanation about why he goes by the name Rakim other than the fact that he sometimes goes by the initials R.K.M. Rakim drops most of the rhymes on their tracks and is considered the "rapper." Ken-Y on the other hand sings the melodious and infections hooks and has mas passion. He is also considerably better looking than Rakim, and some would say he looks like a smaller version of Enrique Iglesias.

They just released an album called The Royalty (2008) on Pina Records, though if you listen to it for more than a few minutes, you should not have any problem figuring that out since they yell it out all the time.

This video is for the best song on the album "Te Regalos Amores" which according to an online translator means "I love gifts," but that can't be right.

The video appears to be set on some sort of horse ranch and both Rakim and Ken-Y are wearing awkardly tucked in shirts, which can only mean that they are there for classy purposes. It is also worth nothing that Rakim kind of looks like a hispanic version of Penn from Penn & Teller.

You have to click the picture to go to Youtube because they have disabled embedding.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Reggeaton Mysteries: Ivy Queen


For centuries Latin America and the Caribbean Isles have been filled with mystery: Bermuda triangles, Mayans, and Cities of Gold are just a few. Reggaeton has continued this tradition by creating many of it's own mysteries, and one of the biggest is Ivy Queen.

When you first hear Ivy Queen on a remix you think to yourself "why is she listed on this remix? There are no women singing on this track? Only soulful latino men. I guess it's another one of those improperly tagged reggaeton downloads." (Note: Reggaeton online is facing an epidemic of bad MP3 tagging, it's like the Napster days out there...seriously).

Then you decide to take to the internet to learn more about this Ivy Queen and you watch a youtube video. Then the mystery begins.

You see a rather obvious transvestite open her mouth and out comes a beautiful voice that does not sound unliked Ken-Y. So you start looking further and you see that many other people (including latinos who can speak spanish) are confused about Ivy Queen's gender. At the same time you also find comments from various people who are quiet eager to have sex with Ivy Queen. But then again, there are a lot of people who want to have sex with Trannys which I suppose I understand as the desire to have the best of both worlds. But I kind of believe it ends up being the worst of both worlds.

The main problem is that without knowing her gender, we do not know how to get her pregnant.

In any case, the genital package of Ivy Queen remains a mystery, but her ability to rock out with sweet jams is no mystery. It's certified.

"Dime," a truly awesome jam, regardless of what package you possess. Though this video could use more watermarks.


-Estilo Blanco

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Review: Talento De Barrio


Daddy Yankee's first foray into the world of feature films is a bit of a mixed bag.

We will start with the positives.

On one hand, it has delivered one of the greatest soundtracks in history. Pose, Somos De Calle, Talento De Bariro, incredible tracks all the way through.

The movie also features some awesome shots of La Perla and teaches us valuable lessons about proper etiquette in Puerto Rican Night clubs. They are pretty scary, I'm not going to lie. But it did teach Talento de Victoria and Estilo Blanco to only go to night club with metal detectors. That way we will only get beat up over a misunderstanding and not shot.

There is also a pregnancy in the movie!

Finally, there is a CHINESE guy in the movie. Though he only has one line before he's shot, they also find a way to get a villain character to bust his balls about knowing karate. Asian dudes cannot catch a break, but this is a Chinese guy who lives in Puerto Rico, hangs with PR thugs, and speaks Spanish. Without a doubt he is the coolest Chinese guy on earth.

There are some negatives. Namely the plot, dialogue, and many many unecessary scenes. There is a strange scene where the good guy (Daddy Yankee) stomps a man to death for raping a girl. While we do not condone rape at all, the rape played no role in the film, and the death added nothing other than to make DY look a little crazy.

It drags a little bit too.

But in the end, the movie is about PR and reggaeton so as far as the rest of the world is concerned this is the best movie ever made. Also it was shot using expensive cameras and looks good, unlike most Master P movies.

In short, we want to see more.
A+

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Puerto Rican Haircut


While the music is what draws you to reggaeton, you can't help but get into the culture that surrounds it. As we try to figure it all out, we start to connect the dots and find trends and patterns that give us insight into the music and the lifestyle.

One of the things that seems to pop up over and over again is the same haircut.

For some reason, Puerto Ricans seem to like a hair cut that is very short on the sides and then pushed forward to create a STRAIGHT hairline across their forehead. There are theories that this is done to try and look more like a black guy but I'm not sure. To get a better idea of the style, take a look at the picture on the left. De La Ghetto might have the most perfect PR haircut on earth. So thick and luxurious!

It is a sweet haircut that cannot be pulled off by just anyone.

Curly hair? Get a Grateful Dead CD. Widows peak? Start listening to Indie Rock. Blonde? You look too much like Eminem. Bald? Acceptable if you are jacked.

You need to have very straight black hair that is thick enough to form a perfect line. If you hair is thin, you will end up looking kind of creepy and greasy (see photo below). Though just a theory at this point, I think Chinese guys and maybe an Indian dude could pull it off.

Video: Baby Rasta y Gringo - Tiemblo


Reggaeton can be pretty predictable in an awesome way. Remix usually means "same song with 5 more guys on it" and old school often means "that beat from Save the Last Dance".

Forget all that when watching the video for Tiemblo from Baby Rasta y Gringo's "The Comeback". It is a 2008 album which is notable because they reunited on it after breaking up in 2004.

Rather than typing a bunch of boring stuff you're not going to read, just fast forward to 2:34. Holy crap right? The song is a jam, but something inside of me was shouting "NERDS!" and wanted to give Baby Rasta a wedgie.

I don't know how they did it but they managed to shoot on location in The Matrix for this one. Is it just me or is Baby Rasta looking a lot like JP from Grandma's Boy?

Grade: C+

The song is a jam, but I have to take off a couple letters for the video. I need reggaeton to make me less of a nerd and more cool instead of the other way around.

-Talento de Victoria

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Friend of Reggaeton: N.O.R.E.

We have done a good job of talking about the enemies of Reggaeton, but now it's time to talk about the friends of reggaeton.

N.O.R.E. or Noreaga is a famous New York Rapper who had awesome songs like Superthug in the mid 1990s. His best feature is that is insane. Here are some lyrics from Superthug:

Aiyyo, we light a candle
Run laps around the english channel
Neptunes, I got a cockerspaniel
We on the run now, yo, it aint no fun now
And where I go, you niggas cant even come now
You aint the lord, nigga, break it, I don't care
And when ya get caught, remember that I don't care
N.o.r.e., nuthin but the atmosphere
Yo for now we on the run, yo if that ain't clear
Weak niggas wanna stick, you but that ain't fair
You we down in vegas, money, skies too courageous
And yo, Im on the run, but still rip stages
And call me animal thug, when I'm in cages

Also prominent: "what"

In any case, in 2002 he put his career on the line and put together a reggaeton video called Oye Mi Canto that became the first ever reggaeton video on MTV.

From Wikipedia:
"Oye Mi Canto" is a Reggaeton single by N.O.R.E.. The song was originally released in 2004 as the lead single from the album 1 Fan a Day, which is heretofore unreleased. It is his second biggest hit, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was later included on the 2006 album N.O.R.E. y la Familia...Ya Tú Sabe. The song features Nina Sky and Reggaeton artists Daddy Yankee, EX Thugz-2-Life, Gem Star and Big Mato. The song originally featured Tego Calderón in place of Daddy Yankee but was later changed for the video. It's N.O.R.E.'s first venture into the increasingly popular Latin genre reggaeton. In a 2004 interview with MTV, N.O.R.E. says of the single, "I fell in love with this music. I did this joint originally for a mixtape. The Latino people haven't been spoken to in a while, since [Big] Pun died. They haven't felt like they had something proud [in hip-hop] to stand on, so being both Latin and black, I wanted to rep my Latin side for once. Why not do it with this new music, instead of doing a Spanish rap record? This is what speaks for the inner-city Latino youth." In 2004, the LP was one of the most-played singles in the US"

He has never said he started reggaeton, but he used his power and fame to let other people (i.e. white) learn about the music.


For this act of genorisity he has eared the first "Friend of Reggaeton" post.

Notes about the video:
1. I WISH I LIVED IN THAT ROOM!
2. I can't get over that room

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Enemy of Reggaeton: IO Cable


So, IO Cable decided to try to secure the Latino Market by creating this ad. It just reinforces ridiculous stereotypes and is all about cable packages. Though I think there are some clues in there, specifically the presence of a pirate. This is because true Reggaetoneros steal cable.

The other possibility is that they get some sort of awesome weird satellite dish (pictured) that gets them special Puerto Rican channels that I don't even know about yet...

In my dreams these channels features instructional videos about dancing, speaking Spanish, and making love PR-style. They also have awesome game shows that are like a mix of Press your Luck and and a porno.


From what I can tell, this ad ran in Jan/Feb 2008 and Cablevision's stock actually went up.

I think that Reggaeton is so strong that even weak reggaeton can boost sales of sub-par cable services.



p.s. ok, the beat is actually pretty hot.
-Estilo Blanco

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

My Introduction to Latino Culture



Though truth be told La Parka is the greatest wrestler in history.

I miss WCW.

-Estilo Blanco
p.s. god bless youtube, I've been looking for this video for 10 years.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Ebay: Awesome Shirt


Do I really have to explain this one? If you wear this shirt when you are working out then you are automatically 100% stronger. You putting up a pair of 45 plates? Put this shirt on then slap two more on...EACH SIDE. Then do 28 reps just to show off. Also it will make your sweat smell like frying plantains (delicious) which will draw in many ladies.

If you wear this shirt to a night club you will get kicked out.
Stated Reason: Dress Code
Real Reason: Jealousy
Alternate Real Reason: Female Riot

Just as a thought, imagine this shirt from other countries?
Canada = Hilarious
USA = White Trash
Mexico = Pretty Cool
Dominican Republican = Only acceptable substitute for this shirt
France = Ridiculous
Spain = Confusing
Russia = Sort of Awesome
Japan = Makes you a bullseye for punches

-estilo blanco

DVD Review: Aventura - K.O.B. Sold Out at Madison Square Garden

One word: incredible.

Over the past 10 years my standards for a good concert for any sort of "urban" music has deteriorated to almost nothing. Most live hip hop has become one famous guy and like six not famous guys rapping along to a song that sounds a lot better on the radio. If it were Rock Band, they would fail within the first five seconds.

I'm not sure who was the first to think: "this song will be better if some dude joins me on every fifth word. Oh yeah, we'll both yell to make it extra sweet."

Unfortunately, with strong influences of hip hop have leaked into Reggaeton and the few live performances I've seen have not been that great. Then, I saw Aventura at Madison Square Garden.

They sold the place out and I've never seen energy like this at a concert. They are talented, incredible, and work the crowd into a frenzy.

This video is a must watch for anyone who likes music and/or has a soul. Truly incredible, life changing stuff here.

In addition, they also provide this video which lets you know the massive talent gap between the Kings of Bachata and Wisin y Yandel.



-Estilo Blanco

Enemy of Reggaeton: Pitbull



It's no surprise here. Look how much he raps in English and he is so desperate for acceptance by real rappers, it's pretty weak.

Pitbull got famous when Lil' Jon decided that he wanted some of that sweet, sweet money from the Latino Market. But rather than actually looking into Reggaeton and signing someone awesome like Voltio, he signed Pitbull and collected a check.

His first album was called M.I.A.M.I. (Money Is A Major Issue), and clearly he spent so much time coming up with the acronym. It is so obvious that he got the "money" part right away and spent forever thinking about the rest of it. Though his choice of a clever acronym does play into my theories about him.

First off, he claims to be Cuban but get a look at Pitbull, he's pink! So if he is actually Cuban then pretty obvious that his family probably owned Casinos and Fruit plantations in Cuba before Castro took over. Which means he's essentially the oppressor, so not a lot of credibility there.

My other theory is that Pitbull has no Cuban blood whatsoever, he is just a white guy who shaved his head, got a Rosetta Stone DVD, and took a trip to Cuba and thought it was cool. He was going to get into the revolutionary stuff, but then he saw Scarface and thought it would be awesome to pretend to be Cuban.

Finally, his ability to make witty acronyms is something that white people do when they create non profit organizations. So, you know, kind of a clue as to what he's really all about.

Pitbull is also an enemy of Reggaeton for feuding with Daddy Yankee over the issue of immigration and even challenging him to a debate in Spanish. There is no doubt that Pitbull would get smoked as he keeps asking where the bathroom is and telling the moderator that she is beautiful.

Truth be told, he could pretty much demolish us in a Spanish debate. But whatever.

-Estilo Blanco
He also says "she's loose off the goose" all the time in reference to Grey Goose vodka. What a dork.

Friday, January 2, 2009

La Perla

Listen to enough reggaeton, and you'll eventually hear the name La Perla at least a few times. From what I've read, it seems to be the roughest part of San Juan. De La Geezy grew up there! Located on the north-west part of San Juan beside a cemetary, nuff illegal activities happen here. Most travel sites recommend that tourists never even go there. Craziness! 

You may recognize La Perla from our favorite, the Somos de Calle remix, as well as this Pistolon remix (notice the cementerio and the concrete skate bowl which replaced the old wooden ramps authorities tore down.)

Despite all the bad stuff I've read and heard, it's seems like a nice place to visit. That is, until I see videos like this:



Randy and the Chucky doll

One of the drawbacks of not being hispanic or speaking spanish (yet) is sometimes you don't really know what's going on in the world of reggaeton without guessing or using poorly translated lyrics from the internet.

Case in point being Randy and his Chucky doll. What's up with that? I noticed it in the Tu Te Las Trae remix, Ese Mahon, and now in this live video.

One day, when someone reads this blog, if you are hispanic, speak spanish, or both, can you please comment on what the deal is? If you are white and know that's fine too.

Thanks,
Talento de Victoria


3:15, someone in the crowd is holding a doll


1:53, macking a ho with the doll


1:20, again!