Yandel, Dei V & More Talk Reggaeton

Yandel recruited colleagues and industry friends De La Ghetto, Dei Vi, El Coyote, and Roberto Andrade for the ELYTE: The Beginning and Future of the Genre panel at 2024 Billboard Latin Music Week on Friday (Oct. 18). 

Presented by Warner Music Latina, the reggaeton artists and executives talked about the booming success of Latin urban music. Below, check out some notable highlights. 

The Beginning of Reggaetón

Yandel: “Like every artist, you have someone to follow and learn from. For me, one of the leaders was Vico C. I loved his musical style because it was commercial, he set an example, and he had lyrical content. Then I fell in love with perreo when there were duos like Baby Rasta & Gringo, Hector & Tito. I followed Daddy Yankee a lot. For me, reggaeton music was love at first sight. When I got to know that flavor and was able to write about what was happening in the streets, that’s when I fell in love even more. Reggaeton music is in its moment right now.”

Roberto: “I was working in radio in Colombia in 1997. I went to Bogotá to study and work at Tropicana Estereo, which was a salsa station, and I remember between 2002 and 2005, I was a DJ and the programmer would tell us ‘you’re going to play this hourly’ and it was “Gasolina,” “Rakata” or “Felina.” It was a reggaeton hit hourly on a salsa and tropical music schedule. Then they went to a crossover and ended up on a 100% urban music station. […] I want to thank the movement that happened in Panama and plant that great seed, but it was definitely the island, Puerto Rico, that internationalized it.”

The Present & Future

Dei V: “Artists like De La, Yandel and all those who came before me opened those doors. It’s a little easier for us with streaming, but if they hadn’t done it, we wouldn’t be here blessed the way we are. I’m not the only one. A lot of the kids who are coming out now have charged $5,000 for their first parties.”

Yandel: “I always identify with the youth. I always like to be where the youth is and what they are doing. It really catches my attention because they also respect me and I feel that they approach me with respect. For me that is a reward… that the new generation wants to record with me after so many years of working hard.”

Best Career Advice

De La Ghetto: “I always tell everyone to ‘study the greats’. I studied Wisin & Yandel, Yankee, Hector y Tito, Don Omar, Zion y Lennox a lot. From my perspective, when Wisin & Yandel came out, they were the first to make videos with Jessy Terrero, the first to see themselves as American artists. In the late 90s, early 2000s, we saw American hip-hop artists as impossible to get to where they were. These people [Wisin y Yandel] started to invest in their careers, not waiting for record labels, not waiting for anyone. That’s where the change in the genre took place because they made the genre more expensive in the sense of seeing us as the same as American artists. You have to invest in your career, in your image, your clothes, your creams at night. It’s part of your job. Image is everything… It’s a lot of work.”

Watch the full panel below: