Daddy Yankee

Yeah, yeah Jay-Z declared the death of auto tune but apparently Daddy Yankee didn’t get the memo. Even though Jigga’s kind of right, I’m still a sucker for Daddy Yankee’s “Que Tengo Que Hacer” and now he released a remix featuring Jowell y Randy. PS: Randy goes apes**t with the auto tune. After the DY clip check out the bumping Fania salsa-sampled “Wild Puerto Ricans” by DJ Deadeye featuring Tony Toca and Termanology.

Uno,

Jesus

I attended a New York Yankee game last Friday and boy is my Met heart burning. Pero, since this is a blog about Latin music and not sports like my boy Alex I’ll say this: the intro music for the Yankee batting line-up sounds like a house party in Spanish Harlem. Yes, we all know Latinos dominate baseball with juice (A-Rod) and no juice (Jose Reyes) but they have also transformed a ball game’s ambience. Check out the songs some of the Yankee sluggers came out to on Friday night against the Minnesota Twins.

N.O.R.E. is one of rap’s most hilarious characters. A few years ago he was also one of reggaeton’s staunch supporters and artists. Critics said the Queens, NY-bred MC was jumping on the bandwagon. Yet, I wasn’t one of them. I reviewed Nore’s reggaeton album, N.O.R.E. y la Familia...Ya Tú Sabe, for Vibe magazine and gave it a 3.5 out of 5. It was a good album not just for a rapper-turned-reggaetonero but for any reggaetonero. I also witnessed Nore’s passion for Latin music and Latinos firsthand.

I know, I know I’m a tad late on these new videos by Daddy Yankee and Don Omar but to my surprise I actually enjoyed both. Plus, word on the cyber streets is that they’re working on a couple of collabos. Beef? Que beef?

Daddy Yankee's “Que Tengo Que Hacer”
Vocal style: Daddy meets T-Pain. El Cangri jumps on the auto tune bandwagon but I’m not mad at it.
Concept: Olive-skinned beauties and the beach backdrop equal the traditional Caribbean music video.

PRO: Daddy Yankee will perform for anybody! And anybody includes street pharmacists aka drug dealers aka the mofos who run a lot of Latin America. Big freakin’ deal. It’s a recession mi gente and the next worst thing from being a reggaeton artist is probably, well, nothing. Music sales are down and El Cangri will tell you, “If Lil Wayne can be an undiscriminating tramp when it comes to collabos why can’t I?”

The Elephant in the Room: Daddy Yankee endorsed John McCain for U.S. president and simultaneously lost his barrio cred. Not only did Cangri fans have a WTF moment but MCs such as Pitbull and Fat Joe labeled him a “sellout.” Pit called it a “failed publicity stunt” and Joey Crack challenged DY to a debate. Thank God for all our brain cells it never came to fruition but DY’s image became as tarnished as an Illinois governor.