Listening to and enjoying Tego Calderón's latest CD (it's brand new and called "The Underdog") I felt the need to put into words a plea in defense of reggaeton. The CD that I take as "inspiration" has quite decent reggaeton numbers along with Boricua rap tracks, very well-made reggae, and two salsa tracks, one of them Cuban salsa - the beginning of which sounds pure Van Van - and the other a reggaeton version of the classic salsa song "Llorarás" done with the same [Oscar->http://oscars-awards.com] de León.
It's not the first time, far from it, that rappers-reggaeton artists have covered other mythical salsa songs. Among these, I highlight those covered by Tego or Julio Voltio together with salsa singers like Jerry Rivera (in his tribute to the deceased Frankie Ruiz) or Papo Lucca and La Sonora Ponceña. It should not be forgotten that these artists are Boricua rappers who have been rapping and improvising since long before the appearance of reggaeton as a musical genre and who have a clear and defined sonera training (without going any further, Tego was a disciple of none other than the mythical Puerto Rican sonero Ismael Rivera "Maelo", whom he always names as one of his main sources of inspiration in the middle of his songs). It must be taken into account that if it were not so, they could hardly improvise in salsa time, even with their particular style.
Reggaeton has come to be configured in a musical corpus in which Puerto Rican and Latin rap has found a perfect building to establish and develop itself.
Likewise, it should be noted that Latin rappers, basically Boricuas and Cubans, possess a very rich legacy of improvisation and sonera training (direct or indirect) that North American rappers lack. In this way, it is not uncommon to hear them make mentions and even use montunos and characteristic expressions of the classics of salsa and traditional music from Cuba and Puerto Rico in their improvisations.
In the same way, it should be noted that, in recent times, salsa-soneros of indisputable quality and who are among the greatest of contemporary Afro-Latin dance music, have not hesitated to make musical collaborations with prominent reggaeton artists, when they have not ventured into the genre themselves, born in Panama and developed in Puerto Rico, reggaeton. Among these are the aforementioned Jerry Rivera, La Sonora Ponceña and [Oscar->http://oscars-awards.com] de León, as well as other artists of the stature of Tito Nieves (the Pavarotti of salsa), La India or Gilberto Santa Rosa. This communion is due, without a doubt and among other aspects, to the fact that both musical expressions have clear common roots, of course, with their particular characteristics.
A few days ago, precisely when I bought the aforementioned CD by Tego Calderón, I found that, when going through the checkout, I had acquired the aforementioned album together with the latest work by the Cuban troubadour Pablo Milanés, entitled "Un campo de maíz". These two CD's, by artists who are apparently so dissimilar, surprisingly contained more coincidences than differences for the prejudiced or unknowledgeable. Both artists are Caribbean musicians, coming from sister lands with a very deep sonera tradition (Cuba and Puerto Rico) and have played and play the role of chroniclers of their time and immediate reality. In addition to this, these two mulattos have been direct disciples of two of the greatest soneros that the music of the Caribbean has given: Miguelito Cuní in the case of Pablito Milanés and Ismael Rivera "Maelo" in the case of Tego.
In this Canarian land so full of identity prejudices, the audiences of the Nueva Trova Cubana and reggaeton are separated by an apparently insurmountable abyss. This extreme would seem ridiculous in a land like Cuba where the enjoyment of music and dance is definitely above ages, creeds, colors, etc. In this sense, it should not be surprising that in Caribbean latitudes, reggaeton is enjoyed by young, mature and almost elderly people.
I understand that lovers of son, salsa and good Caribbean music cannot ignore the phenomenon of reggaeton. I particularly consider it to be a very interesting although limited genre (as can happen to merengue without going any further) and if it is done with rigor and good work by good musicians and improvisers the results can be more than acceptable.
There are many merengue players but very few have been lasting over time. There is only one Juan Luis Guerra. I apply this same logic to the case of great artists such as Tego Calderón or Julio Voltio (therefore it is clear that I do not put all reggaeton artists in the same bag, much less, just as I do not put all merengue artists or even salsa artists in the same bag).
Along with the purely musical characteristics (Cuban musicologists have identified elements of Bantu music - the same one that gave rise to son - in reggaeton) rappers of the stature of Tego or Voltio undoubtedly play the role of chroniclers of this time of the Latino (fundamentally the Caribbean), a role that the salsa singers played in their time. For this reason, I also consider that this theme has an acceptance and reflection in the Canarian popular classes. Their themes are loaded with the daily life of the neighborhood, their protagonists are almost always the most marginalized of it and they are not exempt from strong social criticism (in addition to the sexual connotations that have so scandalized some). The pride of the Latino, Boricua and, fundamentally, of the black Latin American - and even anti-imperialist - was a necessary theme that had been absent for quite some time from Latin productions (except for honorable exceptions).
Returning to the musical characteristics of reggaeton (well done), it can be clearly identified (without being a musician) that the meter of good reggaeton is the same as that of salsa, with the clave absolutely defined. In this way we realize, without delving too much, that the tempo "one, two, three, silence" with which salsa is danced (Cuban casino) is perfectly applicable to reggaeton, with the difference that this movement, instead of developing in the feet, it does so in the pelvis, resulting in the famous "perreo" that so scandalizes many well-thinking Westerners.
If Cuban timba fundamentally developed that pelvic culture in the 90s, reggaeton has re-enhanced it in a particularly delirious way. In any case, we must never lose the perspective that it is the same metric and that the question is simply to raise and concentrate the steps of salsa (one, two, three, silence) to the movement of the pelvis with the same tempo.
Regarding the sexual theme so controversial and reviled by many Europeans, several clarifications must be made:
1st You have to differentiate between the different reggaeton singers and not put them all in the same bag.
2nd It should not be understood that, because thematic and aesthetics with clearly sexual connotations are used, that all of these are sexist or degrading to women.
3rd It is necessary to place oneself in the aesthetics and sexual "morality" that exists in the Caribbean, being clear that on many occasions in this topic, the urgency is physiological and activism in this sense, in men and women, does not have the negative connotations of other latitudes, making this topic assumed in a much more naturalized way.
4th The use of explicitly sexual aesthetics is common and habitual in all types of music (including salsa and Latin in general), advertising and products aimed primarily at the youth population (just look at MTV). The themes of North American dance music that they put on MTV should be translated to see what they say (it should not be forgotten that rap was not admitted for immoral on that channel until sales and successes showed that its acceptance was widely majority).
5th The attack suffered by reggaeton responds in many cases to Western visions that despise the Latin and that have a clear component of cultural and even racial contempt. In this sense, I consider it a great mistake that progressive organizations and sectors have joined this offensive led by the most conservative sectors without delving into it, out of fear or ignorance.
Personally, apart from the purely musical taste, and as an individual belonging to the Canarian popular classes, I recognize, without shame, that I feel strongly attracted to the aesthetics of Latin music in general and reggaeton in particular and, of course, I understand perfectly how this music and its aesthetics have had immediate acceptance in these classes in the Canary Islands, Latin America and the Latin community in the USA. Whether we like it or not, the worldview of the most popular Canarian classes, for better and not so good, feels strongly identified with that of Latin America and, fundamentally, with that of the Caribbean.
I definitely consider that lovers of Afro-Latin music in the Canary Islands should move away definitively from the conservative (and even progressive) Western currents that disdain reggaeton, generalizing without entering or delving into cultural or purely musical issues. I consider that a special appeal should be made to the progressive forces and sectors that reject this expression of the Latin popular classes (among which are the Canarian ones) and place themselves in their normalized state, that is, accept this genre and even become defenders of the defensible cultural, musical and aesthetic values, not failing to criticize for this the deniable aspects, which I do not deny, reggaeton may have in certain cases. In the same way, I would like these criticizable aspects that can be clearly seen in other musical, artistic and advertising expressions to be condemned with the same spite and vehemence as is done (rightly) to some reggaeton lyrics.
The maestro Juan Formell, director of the prestigious Cuban orchestra "Los Van Van", when asked for his opinion of reggaeton said: "time will tell if it will be a lasting genre or not, if it really has importance it will last". Indeed, time will be the one that will take away or give reasons, although I personally tend to think that reggaeton, the good reggaeton, will undoubtedly have continuity in the future.
Antonio Javier Rodríguez Gutiérrez
