Despacito: The Rise of Caribbean Trap, Hip Hop, and Reggaetón in Mainstream Music

• In Event: Reggaeton en Puerto Rico

Abstract

This presentation will center on the gradual rise of Caribbean forms of music (Trap, Hip Hop, and Reggaetón) to the dominant stages of popular music within and without the United States. For the past several years Caribbean and Latinx artists such as René Pérez, Cardi B, Bad Bunny, Camila Cabello, Luis Fonsi, and Daddy Yankee have been topping the music charts of Latin America, the US, and beyond with scintillating rhythms that have captivated a diverse audience. “Despacito”, a Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee single released in 2017, is a salient example of that triumph as it topped the Billboard 100 charts for sixteen consecutive weeks (a record). With lyrics primarily in Spanish, “Despacito” signals that music from the Caribbean has found a receptive mainstream audience by following the careful footsteps of former crossover artists like Selena Quintanilla and Shakira. While critics of Trap, Hip Hop, and Reggaetón portray these musical forms as “low-brow”, this study proposes that they contain a high degree of stylization, attention to form, and cultivation of rhythm which is (at least in part) responsible for their intoxicating appeal. Beyond this, these songs are engaging a politics of identity that links Caribbean and Latin American characteristics to a transnational, fluid understanding of global citizenship. It is this last aspect that opens up the possibilities of engagement for Caribbean music, as its artists tap into a mainstream base that is increasingly accessible, digital, and unbounded by conventions of nationhood or language.

Author

• Raciel Alonso, University of Lynchburg