What is Reggaeton?

Reggaeton is the dominant sound of Latin urban music: a genre built on the dembow riddim — the boom-ch-boom-chick drum pattern inherited from Jamaican dancehall — fused with hip-hop attitude and Spanish-language melody. Forged in Puerto Rico in the 1990s, with roots in Panama's reggae en español, it traveled from underground marquesina parties to the absolute center of global pop. Expect hard rhythm, melodic hooks, and star power — reggaeton is as much a video culture as a sound, which is exactly why it lives so well in full sets and visuals.