New York Latin Culture Magazine®

World-class Indigenous, European & African Culture since 2012

New York Reggaeton NYC

New York reggaeton is mostly in night clubs, theaters, arenas and stadiums. But the uptown sound is also the soundtrack of the streets in cars, bodegas and restaurants. That’s where it lives in the Latin world.

Urban artists are flowing between house, rap, reggaeton, and trap. It’s getting harder to draw lines between styles. The Dembow is strong in Dominican neighborhoods, and it is growing.

The reggaeton dance is perreo, but guys are getting down too. Guys dance with guys in a beautiful barrio brotherhood.

The street can be hard, but it can be soft too. You make the place. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

New York Reggaeton Music

MegaBash 2019

Friday, November 29, 2019
NEWARK, New Jersey ~ La Mega 97.9FM brings the stars of reggaeton and latin trap: Alex Sensation, Ozuna, Farruko, Luis Fonsi, Prince Royce, REIK, V Manuelle, Becky G, Jhay Cortez, Ivy Queen, Lunay and Chimbala to Prudential Center

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Soulfrito 2019

Friday, August 30, 2019
PROSPECT HEIGHTS, Brooklyn ~ Rap, Reggaeton and Latin Trap featuring Ozuna, A Boogie, Farruko, Gunna, Jeremih, Arcangel, El Alfi, Duki, over 20 artists at Barclays Center

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Reggaeton NYC Venues

Reggaeton Classics

These are some important songs in the development of reggaeton.

Tu Pum Pum

El General’s “Tu Pum Pum”

La Recta Final

Brooklyn-born Vico C was making mixtapes in the caserios (public housing) of Barrio Puerta Tierra in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “La Recta Final” (1994) was his first chart. You can hear the New York hip-hop influence. 🇵🇷

Tamo en Nota

Tamo en Nota’s dembow is rocking Barrio Capotillo, Santo Domingo. We first heard it there on the street the day before this video dropped. 🇩🇴

Rauw Alejandro and Angel Dior’s “Tamo en Nota” (February 2023)

Reggaeton Origins

Reggaeton’s story begins with Jamaican reggae and dancehall. 🇯🇲

The Jamaicans who finished the Panama Canal brought their music with them. Bus drivers hired Jamaicans to sing reggae “pregones” (advertising songs). Panamanians brought them to New York City. 🇵🇦

DJ El General (“Tu Pum Pum”) noticed that fans got more excited when he sang in Spanish than in Jamaican patois, so he began singing reggae en Español. 🗽

New York Puerto Rican Vico C brought reggae en Español to Puerto Rico where mixtape culture developed in the caserios (public housing) of San Juan. 🇵🇷

Reggaeton jumped to Medellín, Colombia and went worldwide. 🇨🇴

Puerto Rican singer Daddy Yankee coined the term “Reggaeton.” His 2004 global hit “Gasolina” introduced reggaeton to the world. 🇵🇷

Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” got the entire world singing in Spanish in 2017. 🇵🇷

Reggaeton is now the global sound of today’s youth. Kids everywhere listen and dance to it. It keeps growing and changing.

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