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Features
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| | By Karl Avanzini |
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There are few demographics signaling greater promise to music marketers than 18 to 34-year old Latinos. The Hispanic population is the fastest growing segment in the United States, and the pockets of second generation stateside-born Latinos, are gaining more and more disposable income annually. Add to this brew some hot new sound’s emerging from the streets, an inevitable melting pot of styles that has been simmering for decades, and you get a musical movement that today is reaching its boiling point. The sounds are most commonly known as "urban Latin" and reggaetón, and together they have given a much-needed injection of excitement to the Latin music market, as well as those who purchase and enjoy the music. The signs of success are transcontinental and can be seen across the board from radio stations, record companies and advertising to record and digital sales in general. The upswing has been astronomical. Take for instance Clear Channel, who flipped their format for WMGE in Miami, among many othe cities, to urban Latin music in February 2005, seeing an 85% increase in AQH (AQH is a key audience metric closely followed by media advertisers and buyers). Latin music sales have likewise seen a 12.6% rise in 2005 compared with 2004, and the year before that, the numbers were up 16.4% against 2003, one of the only genres in music who have posted such astonishing numbers in recent years, specifically since the crippling effects of worldwide music piracy and its fallout. Many would argue that this turnaround came directly from the debut of fresh sounds delivered by these acts. Looking at the charts for the past two years proves this to be true, since urban Latin and reggaetón writer-performers have consistently held on to the upper echelons of the Billboard Latin Charts, and have scored noticeable gains on the Hot 100 Billboard chart since their initial crossover introduction to the airwaves.
Some attribute the rise in success and noticeable exposure of these two genres to a market eager to disseminate a red-hot commodity that is now being heard in places as diverse as Duluth, Georgia and Boise, Idaho to San Juan, Puerto Rico and Madrid, Spain. There have always been "Latin" stars in the hip-hop world, including and not limited to Cypress Hill, Fat Joe and Big Pun. But, the "Latino" factor was never a driving force in the marketing of these acts, and exposure as such was unheard of. Yet in the past few years, a number of things have shifted the paradigm. With the advent of reggaetón and urban Latin music, the launching of bilingual rhythmic radio formats, the evolution of bilingual media outlets and the growing awareness of Latinos of every generation, the era of the urban Latin moment has come to fruition.
Reggaetón is a form of dance music which became popular with Latin American youth during the late 1990’s. It soon spread like wildfire to North America and across the Atlantic to European and Asian audiences alike during the first few years of the 21st century. Reggaetón blends Jamaican music influences of dancehall and reggae with those of Latin America, such as bomba and plena, as well as that of hip-hop. The music is also combined with rapping, most notably in Spanish. Reggaetón has invigorated a culturally deprived Hispanic youth with a musical movement that understands their struggles, and one that speaks directly to them. The music is all of their own. While it takes influences from hip-hop and Jamaican dancehall, it would be wrong to define Reggaetón as the "Hispanic" or "Latino" version of either of those genres; reggaetón has its own specific rhythm and beat, whereas Latino hiphop is quite simply hip-hop recorded by artists in Spanish. Reggaetón’s defining feature is a relentless drum-machine track, seemingly identical across different songs, derivative of Trinidadian soca music, Jamaican reggae and dancehall rhythms and with hip-hop lyrics.
Urban Latin and reggaetón artists today are enjoying great success and mainstream visibility, but most owe thanks to artists such as Vico C, Tego Calderón and Daddy Yankee, to name a few, for laying the foundation that has given them this newfound movement. One common thread amongst all of these artists is that with time, they will be known to all as the founding fathers of a musical style. Reggaetón and urban Latin music are clearly genres of inclusion, in which artists, songwriters and producers collaborate with one another at a dizzying pace, much like their Anglo counterparts. Together, they are forging an alliance that stands to make musical history.
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Vico C
Tego Calderón
Chingo Bling
Eddie Dee
Rakim & Ken Y
Tito El Bambino
Abusivo
Big Mato
Daddy Yankee
Nina Sky
Lil Rob
Alexis y Fido
Pitbull
Don Dinero
Malverde
SPK
