LG - Cuchi Cuchi Caliente (4:00)
Yaviah - En La Mia (3:36)
El Hombre del Tra - Outro (1:23)
Oh how lyrics are so cheesy and degrading. The artists are "charro" and the dancers dress slutty. The rhythms are repetitive and their only change ups are in the sound of the snair or cymbals every few bars. But boy does the boom--ta-boom-tak beat strike a Caribbean cord in our blood. "The rhythm is quite specific to the Caribbean region," says a recent sociological study on the genre. Even those who "hate" reggaeton either because it is sexist or corny will unconsciously sway their hips lightly when its played on the K-mart loud speaker.
Reggaeton is the salsa of the 21st century. The lyrics are as criticized as much as salsa was years ago and the artists are just as "charro." Reggeaton will be our musica tipica in another two generations. The truth is that the boom--ta-boom-tak is the core to most of our music genres. A few Caribbean music genres that apparently have influenced reggaeton (or at least have strong resemblance to its percussion arrangement) are as follows. Each link leads to a 20 second clip.
Cumbia ("Adios Adios Corazon" by Los Hispanos)
Plena ("Bon Bon Elena" by Ismael Rivera and Rafael Cortijo)
Merengue ("Intro" by Grupo Aguacate)
"Tra!" screams the slimy reggaeton rapper/artist (call them whatever you want) as girls go crazy to these obviously sexist lyrics.
"Cuchi cuchi, you need some of my shh shh shh... now your ready for my mmm mmm mmmm" sings LG in "Cuchi Cuchi." "Papi, how do you want me to be?" "With a wet g-string." Jeez. I almost blush listening to this. Yaviah's "En La Mia" sings, "If you register me, I'll suck the side of your g-string, and through that I'll filter." Finally, the cheesy El Hombre Del Tra "Outro" from DJ Blas Vol. 1; "caress her... bite her... to the floor."
Now, I'd like to clarify that there is a lot of reggaeton out there with socially conscious lyrics, not-so-monotonous rhythms, and a lot more class. Thus, if you don't download these songs for their catchy factor, download them for the laugh.
