WEBVTT - Daddy Yankee: The World Before Reggaeton 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:04.280 Joseph, I think we're about to usher in a becoming 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:05.000 an icon. 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:10.639 First, wait, the first time that we've not had Margarita's 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:11.320 before starting? 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.920 Okay, stop, we do not drink Margarita's before we record 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:19.959 the podcast. Okay, we don't. Don't listen to him, y'all, 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:23.360 he's been drinking. The first time we've covered an artist 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:25.280 who's currently retired. 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:32.800 Whoa well, I mean, Nikki retired, Doja retired? Then they 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:35.400 kept making music? How long is that gonna last? 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:39.000 Facts? But this artist made a promise to Baby Jesus 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:39.599 about it? 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.560 Right? I believe it when I see it, or when 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:47.320 I don't hear anything, I guess. But shouldn't we introduce 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:48.280 who we're talking about? 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:52.559 A good call? So today's icon is the King of 0:00:52.880 --> 0:01:00.200 Regathon a big Box, otherwise known as Daddy Yankee, who 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.800 announced his retirement from the biz back in twenty twenty two. 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:07.039 And then said it goodbye to a roaring crowd at 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:10.040 his final clonsert in its native Puerto Rico. Last year. 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:13.800 He said that he's stepping away from music to focus 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:18.840 on his Christianity, which sounds a little surprising coming from 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.760 the guy who wrote saban as Blancas along. 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:25.240 We've countless other booty shaking bangers over the course of 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:29.640 three whole decades and over thirty million albums sold. 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:34.360 It's more than enough success to totally justify hanging it up. 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:37.840 But you know us, we are never ready to say 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.120 goodbye to our icons again. 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:43.399 I will believe it when I don't hear it, all right, 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:44.040 don't see it. 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:48.320 Point is possibly more than I think any other icon 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:52.440 we've covered. We're living in the world Daddy Yankee built 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:54.520 right now. Irl. 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.080 That is a very bold statement, Chica. 0:01:57.560 --> 0:01:59.520 I know, but think about it, Okay, just like stay 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.840 with me here. There is the world before Reggaton and 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:07.280 the world after Reggathon, and who was right there when 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:08.120 we changed over? 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.720 Who else but El exactly. 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.080 And to be clear, it's not to say that he 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.480 invented reggathon. We're going to have more on that in 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:20.680 just a little bit for all you music historians. 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:25.880 But basically, without Daddy Yankee, your weekly New Music Friday 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:28.320 playlist would look very different. 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:33.440 My workout playlist would basically be unrecognizable. I mean, like 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:37.720 my get Ready remix Forgetting Done Done. So my point 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:41.760 is this, Daddy Yankee brought Reggaton to the masses and 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.880 played a massive role in shaping the genre. 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:47.440 Let's take a look at how the King of Reggathon 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:49.120 earned his thrown. 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:57.080 I'm your host Lillianavasquez and I'm Joseph Carrio and this 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:01.359 is Becoming an Icon Week, the podcast where we give 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:04.200 you the rundown on how today's most famous Latin X 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:06.640 stars have shaped pop culture. 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:09.040 And given the world some extra couple. 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:11.560 Sit back and get comfortable. 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.920 Because we are going in the only way we know 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:18.679 how with when I view us, when assays. 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:22.720 And a lot of opinions as we relive their greatest 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:25.720 achievements on our journey to find out what makes them 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:26.600 still iconic. 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:39.520 Before we dive in, let's mix it up a little 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:46.080 bit remake to understand how Daddy Yankee became the icon 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.840 that he is today, you kind of need to understand 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:52.680 when and where he came of age Puerto Rico's underground 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:54.560 music scene of the nineteen nineties. 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:59.400 Daddy Yankee didn't invent Ragaeton. Rayton is a product of 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:03.840 the MC and DJ's remixing and experimenting with dancehall beats 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:08.880 that originated in Jamaica and other largely Afro Caribbean islands. 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:11.040 Hence the reggae part of Reggathon. 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:13.600 I actually didn't know that really. 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:19.400 See listen, always learning, always learning, forever a student. Okay, 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.760 So from there you would think that the music just 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:23.840 kind of like made its way across Haiti in the 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:27.159 dr and landed smack dab in Puerto Rico. But it's 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:29.320 a little bit more roundabout than that. 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.080 Before we keep going, this is just going to be 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.560 a quick primer for the non Regaton scholars. Listen. If 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.279 you really want to go deep, you'll want to check 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:41.479 out loud The History of Reggaeton, another great podcast hosted 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:47.040 by Regaeton Roy y'll t lativ coween. 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:48.719 And by the way, like I'm not asking you to 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:50.359 turn off our podcast right now, but as soon as 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:54.320 ours is over, goes straight to that immediately. What we're 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:57.880 about to give you is just a little Regaton appetizer, 0:04:58.000 --> 0:04:59.680 just a little app you know, to give you a 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.799 sense of the singular moment in musical history that Daddy 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:09.400 Yankee was a part of. So before where too Rican reggaethon, 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:14.680 there was reggae in Espanol and that came from Panama. 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:18.240 What a twist, Okay. 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.159 So here's how it happened. So, the famous Panama Canal 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:24.520 was dug largely by West Indian and especially Jamaican immigrant labor, 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.200 and after the canal was finished, the workers and their 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:30.200 families settled down in Panama City and formed a really 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:31.880 tight immigrant community. 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:35.560 The clubs or dance halls all of this community played 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.760 music that was similar to reggae, but a few ticks 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:40.720 faster and with harder beats. 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.400 And at these dance halls, young artists like DJ Renato, 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:48.600 Reggae Sam and DJ Franchito hyped the crowd in Spanish. 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:52.200 Thus reggae in Espanol was born. 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:57.280 Soon they started recording Spanish language covers of popular dancehall 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:02.200 songs along with original tracks, and just like that, reggae 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:05.919 en Espanol found its way to Spanish speaking islands like 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:07.080 Puerto Rico. 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:10.560 Just as Ramon Ayala Junior, the boy who would go 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:13.560 on to be known as Daddy Yankee, was beginning to 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.200 develop an interest in American hip hop, which you might 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:20.000 say is the second ingredient in Puerto Rican reggaton, but 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:21.679 more on that later. 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:23.840 So that's the short one. 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.120 Was beginning to develop an interest in America. 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:30.160 In Hi regaton will cross borders and become something else entirely. Now, 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:32.720 without further ado, let's your turn to our leading man. 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.839 Ramon Ayala Junior was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:42.920 on February third, nineteen seventy six. Joseph, want to go 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:47.880 like full flow Alder Mercado on this one for bodingen. 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:54.920 Maybe okay ah Caia, you little rule breaker with your 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:57.440 son in Aquarius, you're not afraid to push the envelope 0:06:57.480 --> 0:06:58.560 in the name of innovation. 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.520 You want to do things your way, and your fullest 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:06.200 surprise is hi berro mira la lunin pieces with your 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:09.640 moon in Pisces. You're not above insecurity and passivity, but 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:13.720 don't wait and see embrace your creativity and you'll reap 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:15.520 the rewards of your imagination. 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:18.640 The cape suits you, Joseph, it really does you know 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:20.920 what I mean? I mean we're looking for two point zero. 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.960 We're looking for two point zero now. Ramon Ayala's father, 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:27.880 Ramon Senior, was a bongo player for salsa artists in 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:31.840 the area, making Daddy Yankee. I think our third icon 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.760 in a row this season to have a musician as 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:35.240 a parent. 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:39.480 Mm hmm. His mother Rosa. Meanwhile, was a beautician who 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:43.200 also came from a family of musicians. Ramond Junior, aka 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.920 future Daddy Yankee, would years later describe his mother as 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:48.160 a fighter. 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.720 And she's the one who actually introduced him to American 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:55.040 pop artist of the nineteen eighties, most importantly, Michael Jackson. 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.800 Perhaps even more than his music, the King of Pop's 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:02.880 lavish cinema videos made a huge impression on Dramon Junior. 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.040 He cites Jackson as an artist who showed him what 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.520 it meant to be an entertainer, from his work ethic 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:08.920 to his charisma. 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:13.080 Just picture young little Daddy Yankee. Like that sounds so weird, 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:16.640 Little Daddy Yankee. Okay, so the picture a young Ramon 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:20.720 huddled around the TV set with his two brothers. This 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:24.360 family of five lived in a small Gasaillon or housing 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:26.240 project named Via Kennedy. 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.880 Jac Kennedy was and is one of the many housing 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:31.480 projects throughout someone. 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:35.719 The Gasadiels tended to be heavily policed and subject to prejudice. 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:39.760 Still, Ramon Junior's family managed to get by, but that 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.200 doesn't mean they avoided all the pitfalls of poverty. 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:46.400 At Ramond Senior struggled with addiction all throughout his son's childhood, 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.240 turning to alcohol as well as illegal drugs. 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:53.200 Eventually he would get clean, but his addiction would leave 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:56.720 a significant impact on his son's life. An addiction wasn't 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.280 the only way the shadow of poverty would darken Ramond 0:08:59.320 --> 0:08:59.920 Junior's child. 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:05.280 Ramond Junior was a lover of the great American pastime baseball. 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:08.760 As early as the age of six, he dreamt of 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:11.960 playing for who else, the New York Yankees. 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:15.480 He was just a peewee ball player in the middle 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.720 of a game when suddenly a gunman strode from the 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:23.320 stands to the home plate and shot Ramond's coach point blank. 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:27.880 Reflecting on this experience as an adult, daddy, Yankee would say, 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.679 I went to his burial and seeing him right there, 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.120 I couldn't sleep. Back in those days, a manager or 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.920 coach for a kid represents a role model, and you 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.560 don't understand what really happened until you get to a 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:41.200 certain age. 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:45.640 Nonetheless, Ramon Junior continued to find joy and escape through baseball. 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.240 More and more. He would show immense talent as a 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:49.439 third baseman. 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:52.120 And all the while he also showed he had a 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:55.360 knack for music. When the family went caroling during the holidays, 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:58.040 he would make up rhymes on the spot just for fun, 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:02.000 which would probably they earned most Latino kids a strung 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:04.760 pinch on the back on the arm from Abuela So 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:08.400 I guess Yankee was lucky in some ways. 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:12.160 Not surprisingly as a teenager, his natural talent for music 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:16.040 and improvisation would lead to his next great love rap. 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:19.960 Around the age of fourteen, Ramon fell in love with 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:23.800 now Classic Queen's hip hop group Run DMC Run DMC. 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:28.800 Michael Jackson. Obviously dadd Yankee spent his weekday afternoons glued 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.120 to MTV. He's one of all us. 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:35.680 But perhaps most importantly, Ramond Junior's biggest hip hop influence 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:40.040 was one of Puerto Rico's own, Vico C. Born in 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:43.200 Brooklyn and raised just ten miles from Daddy Yankee's barrion, 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:47.679 San Juan, Vico C inspired a whole generation of Puerto 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:49.240 Rican rappers. 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:53.160 Before vicoc rap in Espanol wasn't really a thing in 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:57.440 Puerto Rico. Vico C made home recordings straight to storebock 0:10:57.440 --> 0:10:59.839 cassette tapes and distributed him himself. 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:04.920 Original mixtape Call It Right. Like the original mixtape Now 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.480 When young Puerto Ricans like Ramond Junior heard Vigo see, 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.319 it was a revelation. He showed them what they were 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:15.720 capable of, and from there young DJs and empces spread 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:16.480 like wildfire. 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:20.600 Often the emceeeds would rhyme over beats reminiscent of hip 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:24.680 hop from New York. By the nineties, the Brooklyn's boombob sound. 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.760 Was a very on trend, which is to say that 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:31.559 from early on, Puerto Rican's relationship with New Aricans and 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:34.840 other Latinos in the northeastern US is a key part 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:38.720 of the story. But remember, La Isla had beats of 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:39.200 its own. 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:44.080 By the time Daddy Yankee was wrapping, reggae Espanol had 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.800 evolved throughout the eighties and was beginning to sound like 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.760 what we now call reggaeton thanks to the iconic dem 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:51.400 bo rhythm. 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:55.440 The youth of poor barrios like Ramond Juniors couldn't get 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:58.400 enough of it. But the authorities, well, they had some 0:11:58.440 --> 0:11:59.240 other feelings. 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:03.160 Much like dancehall and Panama, Puerto Rican reggaeton and rap 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:08.040 Espanol was quickly marginalized and heavily policed, and in the nineties, 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.920 the police in Puerto Rico were super militarized. 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.720 Oh yeah, they conducted raids on music stores and confiscated 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:18.160 reggaeton cassette tapes. With the backing of laws against obscenity, 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:22.319 rapperos like Daddy Yankee were subject to fines and vilified 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:24.320 on local TV and radio. 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:27.920 But this didn't stop youth culture from doing its thing. 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:32.439 That Raperos just took the culture further underground, recording music 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:35.680 in garages with minimal equipment and selling music out of 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:37.040 the trunks of cars. 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:40.680 And even with Los Federals breathing down their necks, there 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:44.319 was one place young regaton fans could gather, a now 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:47.080 legendary club called The Noise. 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:50.760 Located in La Perla, the poorest neighborhood in San Juan. 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:54.280 The Noise was founded by DJ Negro, the producer who 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:58.280 worked with Daddy Yankee's favorite Raperro Vicosi. See guys, It's 0:12:58.320 --> 0:12:59.520 all connected. 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:03.920 It's all all connected. It's here at the Noise where 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:07.560 Daddy Yankee, at sixteen, gets on stage and begins to 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:10.680 make a name for himself, along with other pioneering reggaeton 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:15.480 netos like Deego Calleron We see Nyandell and Spoiler Future 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.319 front of me Nikki jam Jeoze. 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:22.000 But every rapper needs a producer, and Daddy Yankee's man 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:25.119 behind the deck was one DJ Plaeto. 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:29.400 DJ Plato began releasing mixtapes of original beats that range 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.040 from the boom up of the nineties Brooklyn to upbeat 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:33.800 reggaeton of his own scene. 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:37.400 These tapes also feature local rappers, and the standout was 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:39.600 the teenage Daddy Yankee. 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.240 If you guys have not taken a moment down music 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:46.720 history lane, go back to this song right. This is 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:51.200 called so fer Sigemn not de thingas and this truly 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:55.800 is the first Daddy Yankee as we know him song. 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.040 What did you think when you first heard it? And 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.120 does it sound like today is regeton? Or does it 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:03.200 sound like old people's ragaton. 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:08.080 Not the old people's rageton? You know what, I'm not 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:10.960 going to be able to tell you honestly what the 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:14.400 first thing I heard? I naturally started moving my hips 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:17.960 and gyrating in my seat, so like I just wanted 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:20.320 to dance. You know. It kind of gave me this 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:22.800 like Afrikaans dance, Like I just kind of wanted to 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.920 like shake my body. So I wasn't necessarily listening, I 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:27.480 could just feel the beat. 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:30.520 Now, let's talk about what Daddy Yankee's actually saying in 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.480 this song, because for reference, you guys, you might hear 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:35.760 the song and think that he sounds like a mature man. 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:37.480 Like you hear the song, you're like, oh, he's like 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.760 in his twenties, or he's like twenty two or twenty 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:43.760 four thirty. But Joseph, did you know that this is 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:48.000 a teenage Daddy Yankee. He is fifteen years old rapping 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:48.520 on this song. 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:52.240 This is little Sun Yankee. Oh my god, he's fifteen? 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.720 Wait is it is? That's not illegal? Right? Like fifteen? 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.760 I don't know. How can you work? You can't do 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:01.840 some You could do a whole bunch of shit. 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.440 I'll tell you that these nineties kids, the people that 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:06.520 are born in the eighties and nineties are wild. You 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:08.880 and I are a testament. We were left at home alone. 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.320 We were making our own Wow, we were making our 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:15.160 own TV dinners. We were rapping on albums like come On. 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:18.000 Children of the eighties and nineties are wild. But yes, 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:20.280 Daddy Yankee was only fifteen years old when he recorded 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.640 this song. But you can already hear how advanced he 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.200 is lyrically, you could already hear the style that would 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:28.760 become synonymous with his music. And we talked about what 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.120 Daddy Yankee was saying in the song. Supposedly, and I 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:33.680 don't want to get too deep in the weeds on 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.080 this because there's a lot of controversy about this, but 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:41.000 supposedly they say that this is the first time anyone 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:47.440 ever used the word reggaeton ever in the history of music. 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.520 But again, people get upset about it because obviously Daddy 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:54.080 Yankee did not invent regaton. We're all saying that we 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:56.000 can all agree, correct, right. 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.120 Okay, But you know what, I'm going to tell you 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:01.240 something with that. It's just funny because it doesn't mean 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:03.600 that people said that before. Because I said the word 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:06.680 shut your butt a long, long time ago, and all 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:10.880 of a sudden, someone of the Kardashians, they said, shut 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.080 your butt, And I'm just I'm using that as a phrase. 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.160 But Chloe said, shut your butt. I been saying shut 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:18.720 your butt for a very long time. In this recent season, 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.480 she said shut your butt. So people say other words 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:24.840 like reggaeton. They could say all those words before someone 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:26.800 actually says it on a microsphone and it seems like 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.000 it's the first time it's ever been heard exactly, do 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.120 you know what I'm saying? So it's like, no, maybe 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:33.880 reggaeton was used before. Do we think that he made 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:36.440 up the word? No, right, we don't. 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:39.040 Know if he was the first person or the guy 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:43.800 that invented the phrase reggaeton, But previous to this, people 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:47.240 were calling it reggae and espanol, which is a little cumbersome, 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:50.120 like it doesn't quite roll off the tongue the same 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:53.360 way that reggaeton does. So thank you Daddy Yankee for 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:55.960 putting it in a song and for changing the title, 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:58.400 because we don't need to be saying reggae and espanol 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.320 like too long. Nobody got time for that. At the 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:03.720 end of the day, we saw how gifted he was 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.600 as an MC rap was neither Ramon Junior's only love 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:09.200 nor his first love. 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:11.800 And for as much attention as he was getting in 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.800 the underground as a RAPPERO Ramon was also getting a 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:18.439 reputation as a star athlete. Soon after Pa and Ta 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:22.720 Cuadro dropped, Ramon was about to receive the opportunity of 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:31.080 a lifetime Liliana. 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:33.760 That's so formal. Why are you being so formal? 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.200 Right? Now are you there? Okay, listen, I have to 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:40.280 ask you something. What have you ever experienced a blessing 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:40.800 in disguise? 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:41.760 Oh my god? 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:46.400 Yes, of course, like someone who's like shut the door 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:49.080 on you and then it turns into something else. Yes. 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:54.840 When I had just moved to Philadelphia, I auditioned to 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:59.280 be a host on QBC stop. Yes I did, Yes, 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.960 I did. And I went for weeks. It was rounds 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:06.359 and rounds of interviews and auditions and live selling and 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:09.600 training and fittings. And I got to the last round 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:13.960 and I didn't get it. Wow, And I got the news. 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:15.600 I was leaving the doctor's office. I was in a 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:17.320 hallway about to get on an elevator, and I broke 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.040 down in tears. I was like, my life on television 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.800 is over. I will never be on TV. I will NET, 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:26.399 I swear to God. I cooked like what I called Patrick, 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:27.600 and I was like, this is it. This is the 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:29.800 end for me. I will never have a career in television. 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:33.080 And well we know how that worked out, so yes, 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:36.960 for sure, I think. Listen, it's very much like old school. 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:41.439 It's like sliding doors, right, I mean when one closes. 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:44.159 Another one opens, right, Yeah, if not, you just go 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:45.920 in through the window. That's what I did. 0:18:46.720 --> 0:18:50.520 And that's kind of what's about to happen to Daddy Yankee, 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:53.680 because in nineteen ninety four, Ramond drew the attention of 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:56.919 a scout from the Seattle Mariners. At the age of seventeen, 0:18:57.320 --> 0:18:59.119 he was on the verge of signing a contract to 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.280 join the team's third baseman. 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:04.439 Everyone who had seen him play knew that he was 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.240 going places, and his dream of joining the major leagues 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:09.000 was about to become a reality. 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.119 Still, he continues to record with Playerro. One day, the 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:14.840 two get together to work on a new mixtape in 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:19.720 Dramond's neighborhood via Kennedy. It's January sixth, which is Three 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:22.440 Kings Day for all of you non practicing Catholics. 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:26.600 So Ramond decides to take a break and heads outside. 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:30.399 He greets his neighbors and it seems like any other afternoon. 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:35.639 When suddenly, gunshots split the air. Dramond sees bullets flying 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:40.960 in opposite directions. Violence has erupted on his street. He sprints, 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:45.439 desperate to get himself out of the crossfire. He's running, running, 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:48.280 running as fast as he can, and in an instant, 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:50.360 his leg crumbles underneath him. 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:53.520 He's been hit by a stray bullet, which ends up 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.680 being lodged in his hip. He stumbles to the ground 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.080 and crawls underneath a parked van. To this day, he 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:02.240 says the shelter of the van is the one thing 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:03.960 that kept him alive amid the shooting. 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:08.240 After the gunfire ceases, but Ramons hospitalized and it takes 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:11.640 him over a year to recover from his injury. Over 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.240 a year spent in a wheelchair and on crutches, steadily 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:19.359 regaining his string, but he never fully regains his mobility, 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:21.040 meaning he'll never dawn. 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:25.719 An MLB uniform Lying in the hospital at Ramon fixates 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:28.560 on his dash dreams. He had proven that he had 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:31.199 what it takes. Everyone had been rooting for him, and 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:33.920 his big chance was gone in an instant. 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:37.400 Today, Daddy Yankee says he thanks God for that bullet. 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.480 It remains lodged in his hip. Doctors have determined that 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:42.840 it would be riskier to remove it than to leave 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:45.440 it be. A metal pres thesis in his leg helps 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:48.600 him walk, but his mobility has been limited since that 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:49.360 fateful day. 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.040 His dreams of playing the major leagues had slipped through 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:55.920 his fingers, but in the years that followed he would 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:58.960 find a new dream and grab on with both hands. 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:04.640 Shortly after Ramon's recovery, he became a father. At nineteen, 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:08.800 he married his high school sweetheart, Mireds Gonzalez, with whom 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:10.640 he remains married to until this. 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:14.160 Day, oh Wow, And upon the birth of his first daughter, 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:17.000 yami Let, Ramon decided to put all of his focus 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:19.240 on what he was good at, rapping. 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:23.680 After years of mixtapes, he again got together with DJ 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:27.000 Plaiero and put out a proper debut album in nineteen 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:28.600 ninety five called No Mercy. 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:32.120 The name of the cover simply reads a yank. At 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:35.840 the time, Ramon went by names like Winchester Trentai Trienta 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:37.359 and winchesta Yankee. 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:39.880 The album features a couple of old school sounding rap 0:21:39.920 --> 0:21:43.919 tracks with boombab beats, but the overwhelmingly majority of the 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:47.040