The irresistible rhythm of reggaetón is sweeping not only through Latin America but now also through many other parts of the world. And reggaetón is not just for listening, it’s also about movement, and about body feel, so it has been accompanied by perreo. Perreo is a dance that like so many other new dances before has caused controversy and shock. It can be seen as sexually provocative as it encourages body contact in an ass-in-crotch style. But no reason to be too shocked though. Like we wouldn’t have seen dirty dancing before!
The Montreal Mirror published an interesting article about the phenomenon reggaeton:
“It’s a new fresh sound, something that was missing. The Latin music scene hadn’t changed much in years. Bachata was coming out hard in the 1990s, but we needed something from the streets,” says Jose Mata of Criollo, a local band with Dominican roots. “The reason reggaeton is so popular is that they could finally blend salsa, bomba or merengue with hip hop, which is dominating the world right now. That’s why it has such wide appeal.”
It helps that reggaeton inspires a doggie-style dirty dancing move called el perreo, an ass-in-crotch love-on that would send macarena mavens hurrying to the handbag huddle on secretary’s night out. Big on the bootie, but even bigger on the big bootie, preferably ensconced in tight pants and a thong, el perreo is easy to grasp.
The Chicago Sun-Times talks in a recent article about the Great Reggaetón Revolution and points out several reggaetón artists and their work.
The New York Times went to San Juan, Puerto Rico to study the phenomenon. It reports that San Juan is the hub of the rapidly spreading Reggaetón craze:
For those who haven’t checked in on San Juan in awhile, the city is in the throes of a youthquake of a sort not seen since the 1970′s, when salsa took over every square inch of the island. This time, the musical craze is based on reggaetón, a testosterone-driven style that mixes hip-hop, Jamaican dancehall reggae and such Caribbean rhythms as bachata, merengue and salsa.
…Not surprisingly, San Juan is crawling with record executives these days, all scouting the next big star. Rappers and music producers from New York to Miami are making pilgrimages here in hopes of riding the cultural wave. To the country’s under-25 set, becoming a reggaetón performer, dancer or producer is as glamorous as the dream of becoming a basketball or baseball star.
Great article! Reggaeton is here to stay! For those that dont know what its about yet – check out these Reggaeton Videos ..
Hey,nice article.
Just wanted to add that Reggaeton is not new,it has been underground maybe but it isn’t new,it’s just new to like alot of people in america or english speaking that arent really familiar with PR or music from it.also in the begining the reggaeton was abit different,it was more like rap with other beats than from now.reggaeton is not all about ass on crotch or not always about that,there’s reggaeton songs that talks about love,life,streets and ways of living just like any other genre.
but i’m glad we geting recognize and I’m glad reggaeton is in the spotlight right now after being underground for so many years.
Sigan palante!