For a while, reggaeton was the new wunderkind on the musical block, a genre so different and powerful that it made the mainstream sit up and listen even if the lyrics were in another language.
Now, for the first time since 2005, reggaeton has seen its fortunes decline, although not nearly as dramatically as detractors suggest.
Reggaeton — a mix of dancehall, tropical and hip-hop elements that began as an underground musical movement in Puerto Rico — has remained a relatively stable niche within the U.S. Latin music marketplace. But a niche it is, with a market share far more modest than that commanded by regional Mexican music or Latin pop.
On the other hand, reggaeton is undergoing a musical change, from its straight-ahead street beat and raw production values into more hip-hop, pop and R&B realms. It’s a mix that can no longer simply be called reggaeton.
In the process, it has opened the door for a fledgling Latin urban music movement that simply wasn’t commercially viable before.
“What I see is an evolution of reggaeton, and those who stayed behind, stayed behind,” said Edgar Andino, who handles Wisin & Yandel, one of the top acts in the market. The duo has recently recorded singles with the likes of David Bisbal and Gloria Estefan, among other mainstream acts, and is readying a new studio album for release in November.
FEWER BUT STRONGER
Labels aren’t signing reggaeton acts or releasing reggaeton albums in the sheer numbers seen a few years ago, but those acts that have remained in the market, Andino said, are doing better than ever when it comes to earnings. “Our world is expanding,” Andino said.
ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) senior vice president of membership Alexandra Lioutikoff agreed. “The urban market is smaller than other Latin genres, but the urban act that is established makes more money because he gets (airplay) in mainstream radio, sells ringtones, gets synch licenses,” she said. “What I see, more than a rise or a decline, is stability. Those that are still around are as strong as they were three years ago.”
Today, the Latin Rhythm airplay and sales charts feature reggaeton heavily, along with a spattering of names working in urban bachata (a harder-edged version of bachata, the guitar-based variation on romantic Cuban bolero that originated in the Dominican Republic) as well as some West Coast urban acts like Akwid and Kinto Sol.
But while in its heyday reggaeton produced dozens and dozens of artists and releases, in the past three years its glory has belonged to less than a dozen acts.
And, with the exception of Zion — who was already established as part of the duo Zion & Lennox — and Casa de Leones, the newly released group produced by reggaeton maven Elias de Leon and released on Warner, there are not a lot of new reggaeton names on the charts.
According to Nielsen SoundScan’s year-end sales figures for Latin music, the rhythmic genre, which encompasses reggaeton and Latin hip-hop, registered a small drop in sales, going from 4.87 million units sold in its heyday in 2005 to 4.74 million sold in 2006. It’s a tiny drop — only 2.8 percent — but then again, it was the only Latin music genre to register a drop.
More telling, rhythmic accounted for 12.5 percent of all Latin music sold in the United States in 2006, moving a total of 4.7 million units. But for the week ending July 29, rhythmic’s share had dropped slightly, to 10.7 percent.
Looking back at the top-selling Latin albums of the past two years, we find five reggaeton titles among the top 10 of 2006 and four for 2005.
Indeed, there are only two reggaeton albums — Daddy Yankee’s “El Cartel: The Big Boss” and Wisin & Yandel’s “Wisin & Yandel Presenta: Los Vaqueros, Vol. 2” — in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart.
RADIO CHALLENGE
“There’s just enough quality music out there that justifies keeping the format,” said Alfredo Alonso, senior VP of Hispanic radio for Clear Channel. Alonso was the first to give broad radio airplay on a massive scale to reggaeton when, in 2006, he flipped several Clear Channel stations to a “hurban” (Hispanic urban) format that heavily featured reggaeton. Today, all his hurban stations have slowly but surely evolved toward a more pop-based format, with reggaeton tracks playing, at best, once an hour.
“If there is a hot hit, we’ll play it. But today, it’s hard to find a hard hit that’s new,” he said.
From a purely radio perspective, Alonso said, reggaeton was also hurt by the youth of the movement.
“A lot of the advertisers are not interested” in a radio station where the largest portion of the audience are teens, Alonso said, echoing thoughts repeated throughout the year by multiple station owners and programmers. In addition, he said, part of the lure of reggaeton was that it was regarded as a format that could reach English-speaking Latinos.
“The reality was, that never materialized,” Alonso said. “Seventy percent of our audience was primarily Spanish-speaking. That tells you (English-speaking) Americans aren’t listening. Maybe a few are, but that’s not enough to build a radio station.”
Nor, apparently, is it enough to build a long-lasting purist movement.
Instead, reggaeton is increasingly mixing its beat with other beats. Daddy Yankee’s recent single, “Impacto,” for example, features pop/R&B singer Fergie. Other tracks are straight-ahead rap, while still others have a salsa beat stronger than the reggaeton beat.
Rakim & Ken-Y, one of the top-selling acts in the market, is ostensibly reggaeton, but the duo’s sound is equal parts R&B, with soulful melodies driving the hit “Down.”
And, although scarce, new reggaeton talent does pop up from time to time. The most notable in recent months is Casa de Leones, a quintet put together by de Leon, who originally signed Calle 13 and Tego Calderon. All its members are planning solo projects, including lead singer Randy. De Leon is also planning to release an album by Arcangel (of Arcangel and De la Ghetto), already known to listeners for the single “Noche de Entierro.”
“Things are amazingly promising,” de Leon said. “This music doesn’t just stay with reggaeton. The genre is evolving. You won’t hear the same sound forever.”
Reuters/Billboard