The Melody Web what each genre heard, and what it passed on

heard passed on Click or tap a node to recenter. Use a connecting line, or Influence, for the story.

Heard

Dancehall genre · 1979–

Reggaeton keeps dancehall’s dembow riddim and DJ toast and recodes them in Spanish on a Puerto Rican/Panamanian club.

Influence
Hip-hop genre · 1973–

Reggaeton keeps hip-hop’s rap verse, mixtape market, and programmed drums in Spanish.

Influence
Reggae en español style · 1977–

Reggaeton takes Panama’s Spanish toast over a dancehall riddim and recodes it as a Puerto Rican mixtape-and-club school.

Influence

Reggaeton

genre · 1994–

Also called reggaetón, reguetón

Puerto Rican (and earlier Panamanian) Spanish-language club music: rap verse over a dembow riddim, mixtape underground then a 2004 chart boom (Tego Calderón, Daddy Yankee, Wisin & Yandel). It hears Hip-hop for the MC and mixtape job, Dancehall for dembow, and Panamanian Reggae en español for Spanish toast over a Kingston riddim. Reggae as such waits one step (dancehall). Salsa is not a parent. Bachata, cubaton, moombahton, and “Latin urban” remain leftover bins. The urbano afterlife in trap is Latin trap. Chart landings are reggaeton pop.

Listen

  1. Muevelo El General (1991) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  2. Loíza Tego Calderón (2003) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  3. Gasolina Daddy Yankee (2004) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  4. Rakata Wisin & Yandel (2005) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  5. Dile Don Omar (2003) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon

Passed on

Latin trap style · 2015–

Latin trap keeps reggaeton’s Spanish urbano room and mixtape MC and sits them on a trap 808 grid.

Influence
Pop genre · 1958–

Mid-2000s pop takes reggaeton’s dembow club cell, Spanish rap verse, and shouted chorus as a chart-single dialect (Daddy Yankee).

Influence

Dancehall → Reggaeton

meter and grooveperformance practicetimbre and productionstrength: highscholarly consensus1990–2004recordingradiomigration

Mechanism

Reggaeton keeps dancehall’s dembow riddim and DJ toast and recodes them in Spanish on a Puerto Rican/Panamanian club. Strength high. hip hop reggaeton remains the MC-and-mixtape hop; this one is the riddim parent. Reggae as a leftover “Spanish reggae” bin stays unfiled.

Evidence

Shabba Ranks’s Dem Bow and El General–to–San Juan traffic (Grove, Manuel).

Debate

Whether this is already hip-hop. The dembow cell is dancehall’s; the Spanish rap verse is hip-hop’s.

Mediators

work: Dem Bow

Hip-hop → Reggaeton

performance practiceform and structuremeter and groovestrength: highscholarly consensus1994–2004recordingradiomigration

Mechanism

Reggaeton keeps hip-hop’s rap verse, mixtape market, and programmed drums in Spanish. Strength high. Dancehall dembow is a parent hop for the Reggaeton sitting, not this one. Latin trap stays a leftover bin.

Evidence

San Juan underground through Gasolina (Grove).

Debate

Whether this is already hip-hop in Spanish. The dembow club job is reggaeton’s; the MC craft is hip-hop’s.

Mediators

artist: Daddy Yankee

Reggae en español → Reggaeton

meter and grooveperformance practicemelodystrength: highscholarly consensus1991–1997recordingradiomigration

Mechanism

Reggaeton takes Panama’s Spanish toast over a dancehall riddim and recodes it as a Puerto Rican mixtape-and-club school. Strength high. dancehall reggaeton remains the Jamaican dembow hop; this file is the Spanish-language Panama hinge (El General). A leftover “Spanish reggae” catch-all stays unfiled.

Evidence

Muevelo and allied Panama 45s moving on San Juan radio (Grove, Manuel).

Debate

Whether this is already reggaeton. The Panama hits are dancehall in Spanish; the named Puerto Rican underground (Playero, Daddy Yankee) is reggaeton’s.

Mediators

artist: El General

Reggaeton → Latin trap

performance practicemelodyfunction and contextstrength: mediumscholarly consensus2015–2018recordingradio

Mechanism

Latin trap keeps reggaeton’s Spanish urbano room and mixtape MC and sits them on a trap 808 grid. Strength medium. Atlanta Trap as a parent waits on the latin-trap node; this hop is the Puerto Rican club aftertaste. “Latin urban” stays a leftover bin.

Evidence

2016–17 San Juan trap singles after the Gasolina-era boom (Grove, Starr).

Debate

Whether this is already trap in Spanish. The 808-and-hat grammar is trap’s; the urbano circuit and Spanish toast residue are reggaeton’s.

Mediators

artist: De La Ghetto

Reggaeton → Pop

meter and grooveform and structureperformance practicestrength: highwell documented2004–2006recordingradio

Mechanism

Mid-2000s pop takes reggaeton’s dembow club cell, Spanish rap verse, and shouted chorus as a chart-single dialect (Daddy Yankee). Strength high. dancehall pop is the Jamaican toast hop; this file is the Puerto Rican recoding.

Evidence

Gasolina (Starr, Grove).

Debate

Whether this is still reggaeton. The dembow and Spanish MC are reggaeton’s; the international singles job is pop’s.

Mediators

artist: Daddy Yankee