The Chosen One

In the right place at the right time, producer/filmmaker BOY WONDER captured the rise of reggaeton on film and helped to fuel a musical phenomenon

In 2003, Boy Wonder (real name Manuel Alejandro Ruiz), a hip-hop fan from New York, set out to make a documentary about a little known underground Puerto Rican music called reggaeton. The genre, relatively in its infancy at the time, left Ruiz with many a naysayer to his cause. Nonetheless, he was bent on making the film, despite the fact that he knew nothing about filmmaking and had limited experience in the music industry. Chosen Few was roughly shot, but offered audiences an insider's look at reggaeton, showing packed concert halls and sweltering fans. It offered insightful interviews with stars of the likes of Vico C, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Tego Calderon, Lunnytunes and Zion y Lennox, also including hip-hop icons like Russell Simmons and Fat Joe. Onlookers are given a glimpse of the scene before it gained mainstream visibility, with artists, topnotch producers, radio personalities, and others speaking candidly, mixing humor with wide ranging subjects from inspiration, violence, and sex to the love of their music. The Chosen Few CD was released in December of 2004, spending months on Billboard's Latin sales chart, the majority of which it spent in the the Top 5. The acclaimed album sold over 500,000 copies and was the first DVD to provide an in-depth look at the history of the reggaeton genre.

Brooklyn born Ruiz is the son of a Dominican/Puerto Rican single mother, who mixed Michael Jackson and the Beatles with her Bachata (popular dance rhythm from the Dominican Republic). Ruiz "liked everything that my mother liked, but I thought it might all sound better with a little hip-hop sprinkled in." After a visit to his mother's native Dominican Republic, Boy Wonder found himself immersed in a place where reggaeton and Latin hip-hop was bubbling up in all facets of life.

"It was crazy, here were Latinos making new sounds, not just imitating what had come before, or ripping beats. I had seen the future!" He went back to New York, energized with a dream he wanted to see to fruition. Boy Wonder enlisted the help of his uncle July Ruiz, (a Grammy Award-winning sound engineer) who helped him find entrée into the music business. Ruiz later started his own production company, (Chosen Few/Emerald Entertainment). He also sought out a benefactor and met Adam Kidron, a 45 year-old music and media veteran who'd started his own company (Urban Box Office) targeting U.S. Latino kids listening to hip-hop. The pair's endeavor proved successful, generating many accolades including two nominations in early 2006 for Premios Lo Nuestro a la Musica Latina. Trailblazing producer Ruiz obtained prestigious nods with Chosen Few: El Documental nominated as Album of the Year and for Don Omar's rendition of reggaeton Latino nominated as Song of the Year. Audiences still find themselves clamoring for all things reggaeton, and Chosen Few: El Documental II was just released in late 2006, leaving no doubt that this pioneering wonder will continue to enthrall audiences.

— Karl Avanzini

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