0. Reggaeton: Developing a Sonic Identity

Lemme set the scene; it's the early 2000s in the DR, you have a cool older brother you look up to. And you wanna be just like him, though you'd never admit it. As such, though you’re not allowed in his room, you can hear music through his door. You study the lyrics, the beats, the rhythm and try and impress him with your knowledge of Daddy Yankee, Wisin y Yandel, Plan B, Tego Calderon etc. Of course, he’s too cool to care, but it doesn't even matter; you’re hooked. 

I’ve loved Raeggeton since I was a kid, whether it was a birthday, a party de marquesina or de barrio, it was the soundtrack to so many happy memories. Later in life, though, I end up at white private school in NYC and find myself trying to fit in. I listen to the Smiths, the Velvet Underground, the Cranberries and the Strokes and a long, long list of others. Of course that little bit of cultural capital does not mitigate exclusion and racism, no matter how hard I try. 

A few years later, I’m lucky enough to get into Cornell. I feared recreating highschool, but was pleasantly surprised to find a community of Latinxs, many Dominicans. Unfortunately, those years of listening to ‘musica blanca’ did me little favors in parties; they listened to Reggaeton. It was at this point that I realized I’d stopped listening to most Spanish music. 

Thankfully, I’ve come to understand myself wholly, as an American but also the product of the African diaspora by way of the Caribbean, whatever that means. I’ve integrated all parts of my identity, racially, but sonically too. I listen to hip-hop, R&B, Reggaeton, spanish power ballads of the 80s (thanks ma) and yes, even the Smiths and the Strokes. 

The work I hope to do here is meant to be a love letter to Reggaeton, a way for me to learn more about the music I grew up with whilst sharing it with others. I hope to trace the spatial and racial origins of Reggaeton, because while I love Reggaeton, I admit that the global phenomenon it’s become feels somewhat distant from the music of my childhood. It feels as though Reggaeton has been gentrified, like it’s lost its authenticity.

Myspace was the first (that I know of) social media site all about music. I remember my brother and sister using the site way back when. Moreover, Reggaeton owes a lot of its popularity to emergent production and distribution technologies of the late 90s- early 2000s. So why do this on MySpace ? Why not?