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Latin's Urban Revolution
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In the center of the ring we have the undisputed champion that holds the belt, the King of reggaetón: Daddy Yankee. Raymond Ayala has been perfecting and working his craft for over a decade, working tirelessly since 1993 when he created a buzz for himself on DJ Players release, Player 37. Before taking the reggaetón throne, Yankee aspired to be a baseball player. But that all came to a shattering halt at the age of 16. After trying out for the Seattle Mariners and on the verge of being signed to the ball club, Raymond was shot. A stray bullet hit his leg, breaking the bone in an instant. He spent a whole year recovering from the injury. "I thank God for that bullet," he says. "At that time, I didn't understand it, but right now, I give thanks to that bullet. That bullet made me be focused on music, because I didn't have any other options — it was music or music, you know? I was so determined not to fail, and that attitude got me to this point."
Since that life-altering day, he poured his heart into music, grinding day in and day out. Leaving listeners awe-struck with his rapidfire delivery, freestyle ability and clever and poignant lyrics, Yankee was dubbed the "King of Improvisation." He helped create the image and the sound of reggaetón by independently releasing four records. 2002's El Cangri.com became the best selling album in Puerto Rico that year. He then topped himself in 2003 with the release of his next album, Los Home-runes. Next, joining forces with rapper N.O.R.E. and singing sisters, Nina Sky, Yankee delivered one of the most memorable verses on "Oye Mi Canto," a track which catapulted him into the driver's seat of the reggaetón movement that had just started taking off in the United States. With the release of Barrio Fino, Daddy Yankee claimed his throne with the crossover anthems, "Gasolina," "Lo Que Paso Paso" and "King Daddy." He made history by being the first reggaetón artist to earn a nomination for an MTV Music award (for "Gasolina"). He then kicked-off a massive solo tour which took him to Los Angeles, New York, Colombia and Ecuador. By 2005, Yankee Mania was hitting its peak. He took home Best Reggaetón Album of the Year at the Latin Billboard Awards and a Latin Grammy for "Best Urban Music Album."In 2006, he quickly unleashed the single, "Rompe," from the album Barrio Fino En Directo, which again took over radio playlists and charted for several weeks at Number One on the Billboard charts. Yankee was also named ASCAP's 2006 El Premio "Songwriter of The Year, " a first ever for a reggaetón artist.
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