2 papers on women & reggaeton

(Girl 1 by Sofia Maldonado, 2006. 120 cm x 270 cm.)

#1. I just read the paper "Análisis de la imagen de la mujer en el discurso del reggaeton" by María José Gallucci (2007). The analysis is extremely narrow and simplistic, a great example of the serious amount of work to be done on the topic. As stated in the (full of grammatical errors) English abstract provided: "Considering exclusively the criticism about the sexual orientation and woman belittlement expressed in the reggaeton lyrics, this investigation [...] aims to describe how man present women's image in reggaeton lyrics." Gallucci draws the following conclusion from a discourse analysis of 10 of the most successful songs by Daddy Yankee and Don Omar: "Through this investigation, one can conclude that, even when in many cases the lyrics do have a heavy load of sexual content; it is also true that, in other lyrics, the singer (re)presents woman from his feelings, and in situations that are not unusual to our everyday life." Flojo.

#2. I found more useful "El reggaetón y sus audiencias femeninas: una mirada al universo cultural de las adolescentes de hoy" by Wilma Guzmán Flores (2007), presented at the national conference of the National Association of African American Studies & Affiliates. It's based on very limited ethnographic work with teenage women in Puerto Rico, fails to draw linkages between reggaeton and other (past and present) musical/cultural expressions and often takes at face value what the informants are saying. But her ethnographic efforts still tell a fascinating story that, of course, is as much about the informants as it is about the researcher.

I appreciate the author's earnest questions regarding how much "control" women actually have when they're dancing (her informants explain it is women who have the power/control in perreo matters). Guzmán Flores, in this case, is unwilling to accept her informants' opinions uncritically and is puzzled by the codes of what's acceptable and what's not for her informants. She asks (but leaves unanswered): Why would these young women object to being touched by their dancing partner's hands and not by their crotch? Great question to follow up on. It reminds me of Nina La Bandolera's thought-provoking blog post detailing her version of perreo @ the club rules of conduct.

Momma's Hip-Hop Kitchen - FREE concert

Come dance with us @ MOMMA'S Hip Hop Kitchen.

I'll be there singing in a ventetú of bomba drummers and dancers, paying homage to our ancestresses.



FREE, FREE , FREE, FREE
Tickets will be given at the door for seating purposes only.
First come, first served!

Now some info from organizers Dayanara and Lah Tere:

We are looking for organizations to endorse or sponsor the event. If you are interested, have any questions and/or need more tickets. Please call Dayanara 917-232-5419 -fuerzagoddess@aol.com or Lah Tere 312-489-0505 - lahtere@yahoo.com.

We are asking everyone to please help us raise money to support local organizations. Be abundant and contribute something towards your ticket. DONATIONS will get you RSVP Seats, & Raffle tickets.

Please let me know how many tickets you need so I can RSVP your group, we can also arrange a time when I can give you the tickets as well.

To make a donation please go to http://www.casaatabexache.org/index.php?name=joinCasa scroll down to paypal and make sure that you put for mommas hip hop kitchen. Let me know when you do this so I can rsvp you.

Womyn In Hip Hop Respond to Violence Against Womyn in

HIP HOP... `HER-story is OUR Story!

If you have turned to the news over the past two weeks, we are sure you can tell us something about Rihanna and Chris Brown. While this was a sad and unfortunate incident in their lives, it is an incident that happens everyday, every few minutes, and every single second in our communities. Unfortunately, we have heard this story too many times before by womyn that include Faith Evans, Mary J, Blige, Whitney Houston, Left Eye, Jaslene Gonzalez, Jennifer Hudson (a family affair), not including the other voices of womyn that the industry has silenced. Like those stories, this buzz shall pass and womyns lives will continue to be taken at the hands of men, never getting sufficient media attention to create significant change. What won't pass is the continuous abuse that is happening to womyn in our communities that no one is talking about.

The attention that Rihanna and Chris have received has impacted music listeners across the world, especially youth and young womyn who may find themselves in similar situations. The message they are receiving right now include but are not limited to: (this is even after seeing the picture)

1. Its Rihanna's fault (through the speculation of different stories), she deserves it or she asked for it.

2. Its wasn't his fault--the industry is stressful, he saw it growing up, they are both young and very one makes mistakes.

3. His career is more important than her life. In the past abusive entertainers have gained rewards for their behavior i.e. increasing record sales, endorsements and overall publicity. (Biggie, Pun, Bobby, and the list goes on...)

Yet, no one is talking about the impact that this is having on Rihanna's mind, body and spirit. This has only become a "domestic" violence issue because of the visible bruises on her face. But how about the ones that we don’t see, the physical, verbal, emotional, psychological, economic and sexual abuse that took place or may have been taking place prior to this incident. The hidden marks of relationship & dating violence!

The messages above continues to drive home that womyn are always blamed for the abuse they go through, that its okay for young men to behave and use violence as a solution because there is no consequence and there is no space for womyn to defend and fight for themselves. What are the messages that we are sending our young womyn and men and what are the next steps for a disease that is taking the lives of communities of color all over the world?

Somewhere in America a woman is battered, usually by her intimate partner, every 15 seconds. (UN Study On The Status of Women, Year 2000)

In NYC Police responded to 234,988 domestic violence incidents in 2008; this averages to over 600 incidents per day. In addition, NYPD’s Domestic Violence Unit conducted 72,463 home visits in 2008, a 93% increase since 2002.
16,861 teen calls were received by the City’s Domestic Violence Hotline in 2007; and 9,462 were received in 2006.
* Statistics provided by Safe Horizon

With these statistics, why does it take a celebrity to go through violence in order for it to become a public issue that gets media attention? What about your neighbors story, your moms, your sisters, your daughter, your own story? When will that get the media coverage it needs?

Due to the lack of support , womyn have had to create their own form of media using the elements of hip hop as a tool for voicing our stories. On Saturday, March 7th, 2009, in honor of International Women's Month, 900 women, youth and families representing over 30 non profit organizations, schools and local artists collectives will be using hip hop to take back their lives at the 2nd Annual Mommas Hip Hop Kitchen. In response to the ongoing and increasing violence in our community we will be putting on the Womyn's Hip Hop Concert of the year.

This year Mommas Hip Hop Kitchen is bringing you a powerful concert in collaboration with CASA Atabex Ache, Trabajadoras por la Paz, Vamos a la Pena del Bronx and the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective. These groups rooted in the South Bronx work year round in ending violence against womyn. The South Bronx is the birthplace of Hip Hop, and the poorest congressional district in the nation where negative statistics on womyn are staggering. Together we are putting on a program that will support families dealing with domestic violence, immigration, LGBTQ issues, foster care, homelessness, prison, police brutality, and more by providing a day to be in celebration for their lives. This concert will create dynamic interactive exchange and safe space for all young and adult womyn of color & their families to express themselves through the art of Hop Hop. This event will bring a beautiful array of artistic sistahs together to share their medium with young women of color across the city.

Wayne on Dembow & Marisol on Daggering

For thoughts on Dem Bow and a mix called "Dem Bow Dem" by my co-editor Wayne Marshall, click here.

For Marisol LeBron on the recent Daggering controversy in Jamaica and it's parallels to reggaeton's perreo debates, click here.

2-21: P.R. Freedom Project

Hip-Hop vs. Reggaetón

Says Vico C. in The Chosen Few documentary:



Says Wayne who posted the excerpt on youtube:
"Vico C demonstrates the difference between hip-hop and reggaeton via beatbox :: this is an excerpt from the _Chosen Few_ documentary, which I highly recommend :: I claim fair use for these 14 seconds -- it serves as an example in an article about reggaeton (in _Reggaeton_ [Duke University Press, 2009]) and is included on a page of musical examples here: http://wayneandwax.com/?page_id=139"

Says I:
Check out Wayne's musical examples page. It gives some audio input into the comments generated by my previous blogpost. And, actually, so does his now classic 05 blog post "we use so many snares" included in the 2006 version of Da Capo Best Music Writing series.

Sunez on reggaeton

Sunez, Editor in Chief of Lavoe Revolt and whose writings I've followed since the early 90s, takes on reggaeton in a September 2008 blogpost that I only recently saw. It's titled "THE REAL MUSIC: Time to Disassociate and Associate PART 1".

Here are some of it's most incendiary highlights:

"Thus, Reggaeton, is a label of wretched waste a particular ethnicity can now call their own. And only their own."

"It is not merely enough to say it is a degradation of the morality and ethics of a people. This would be using the Stanley Crouch-like veils of pompous morality to blame a music for the realities of an impoverished people. Yet, it is clear that Reggaeton is a sellout subgenre and its artists don’t reflect their reality realistically and/or seek to express themselves originally and cleverly."

"Ultimately, Reggaeton lyrically only has one aspect: the desires of a colonized youth who mildly taste the defecated splendor of Americana in their colony and are visually awash with the spicy lure of its grander stardom pitches toward them daily."

"Essentially, if these lyrics rep the Boricua hoods in Borinquen, niggas is weak hoping for wicked."

"[...]the game is to be sold and never to be bold. A colonized slave people think up garbage all by themselves. That’s the point."

"Clearly put, [Tego Calderon] is an average MC (If he grew up in Brooklyn, he’d have no chance) who deliberately makes some sellout tracks to hustle his catalogue."


As I wrote in the Comments section of the blog: I agree with much in Sunez's article, disagree with some of it and I'm inspired by all of it.

The only one thing that truly scandalized me was his description of Tego as average. Tego?! Average?!

I won't argue with Sunez's statement that Tego "deliberately makes some sellout tracks to hustle his catalogue." (Granted, I'm not one to use the word "sellout" but I know what Sunez means.) But Tego's wordplay, his subtleties, the echoes of Ismael Rivera in his wordchoice and flow, his (granted, contradictory) politics... Nothing but average? Nah. Average might be Daddy Yankee, Don Omar and Ivy Queen.

As always, much respect and cariño to Sunez.

Our Reggaeton book will be out early 09

The co-edited book I've been working on with Wayne Marshall and Deborah Pacini Hernandez is scheduled for release next Spring! Check page 1 of Duke University Press' Spring catalogue or click on the image below to make it larger:

Latinos & the N-Word

Click here to check Raquel Cepeda's article in this week's Village Voice titled "The N-Word is Flourishing Among Generation Hip-Hop Latinos." It brings up great points about race and class. For example: "The palpable racial tension that's been rearing its head this historic presidential election, the subject of race and who is truly considered black or white in this black-and-white race, is something Latinos need to pay attention to. For many of us, especially those of Caribbean descent who make up a sizable chunk of New York Latinos, race should matter, and so should that one particular word."

Then she has some amazing quotes, such as this gem from Immortal Technique: "The European Spaniards have left a legacy of self-hatred and racism among the Latino population; without acknowledging that, we will not evolve past our own inequity," says Immortal Technique, an Afro-Peruvian hip-hop artist who also uses the n-word. "Racism in America, as horrible and ugly as it may be, still isn't as bad as what it is in Latin America, and the sad part is that we are being racist against ourselves."

Immortal Technique

I'm extremely pleased by the always necessary reminder that the so-called Latin American racial democracy is just a myth. I also appreciate Cepeda's use of the term "Afro-Latino" to mean not just a child of African American and Latino parents... but a child of Latino parents who are also part of the African diaspora.

And, I can't lie, I was caught off guard (and got very happy) by the shoutout to my book: "With few exceptions within our community—Raquel Rivera's 2003 book New York Ricans From the Hip Hop Zone devoted prime real estate to the discussion of Latino identity in hip-hop—this is a conversation we've failed to have, whatever our personal feelings."

So what do you think? Do you agree that "the profusion of the word into the New York City Latino vocabulary is reaching an almost caricaturist quality"? Is the way Latinos are using the word today different from the way they used it years back? Why use the word at all? Why not use it?

The Reggaeton Vote

Click here to check out a great article by Marisol LeBrón posted on the North American Congress on Latin America's website. It's titled "The Reggaetón Factor in the U.S. Elections".

Article on Reggaeton & Urban Aesthetics/Policy

Folks doing research on reggaeton will have noticed there are few academic articles on the subject. But, thanks to Zaire Dinzey-Flores, we have one more article to add to the slowly growing list.

It's titled “De la Disco al Caserío: Urban Spatial Aesthetics and Policy to the Beat of Reggaetón” and it appears in the latest issue of the Centro Journal XX (2): 34-69, 2008.

Dinzey-Flores writes the following abstract for her article:

"Conversing with urban sociological theories, and relying on a content analysis of the songs’ lyrics, this essay exposes the 'urban spatial aesthetics' of reggaetón. The paper examines the particular views of the city that reggaetón makes public and the policy manifestations of these representations. I exhibit the reggaetoneros’ lyrical construct of an urban socio-spatial community actualized between the disco, the barrio, the caseríos and the street. I show that the lyrical profile of reggaetón underscores poverty, violence, masculinity, and race as vital constructs of an authentically urban experience. The environmental elements and themes display an aesthetic that recognizes the city as dualistically liberating and constraining; an aesthetic identified here in the 'blin-blin' sensibilities. I conclude suggesting that reggaetoneros have made public the plight of the urban poor in Puerto Rico and unearthed their potentials, becoming socio-political ambassadors who calibrate the urban policy frames in Puerto Rico."

The Centro Journal is available in libraries or through the Centro website.

Talento de Barrio

Yesterday, I went to see Daddy Yankee's Talento de Barrio—the movie that he stars in and for which he served as executive producer. It was a huge hit in Puerto Rico and opened in New York and Los Angeles last Friday. (According to EFE news agency, the film generated $1.4 million and was seen by 280,000 people in Puerto Rico during it's first month.)

I expected to hate it. But I didn't.

O.k., so I found the music uninspiring. The script mostly sucked (specially the dique romantic parts). The acting was often weak (though Daddy Yankee was much better than I thought he would be).

But still, I actually enjoyed the movie. Unlike Illegal Tender and Feel the Noise, where almost everything felt extremely artificial and over the top, there was something about the images in Talento de Barrio (cliched as they often were) and speech patterns (stunted by the weak script as they were) that actually FELT like Puerto Rico. Those shots of the "Valle Verde" housing project in the middle of green mountains, the tender conversations between the main character Edgar Dinero and his hardworking mom, maybe even the simple fact that the movie was all delivered in Puerto Rican Spanish (minus a few affectations, like Soribel's misplaced, ultra-corrected "s")... Little details like that conspired so that I wouldn't hate the movie.

Granted, I won't argue with the reviewers that trashed it.

The Village Voice's Tim Grierson, for example, said:

"When conservative watchdogs snarl about the ugliness of gangsta rap, Talento de Barrio might be what they picture in their head—a vile, stupid, violent-crime drama that would be laughable if its content wasn't so toxic. Drug boss Edgar Dinero (reggaeton star Daddy Yankee, who mostly glowers) prowls the gritty streets of Puerto Rico and dreams of becoming a rapper. Directed limply by José Iván Santiago, Talento de Barrio lustfully idolizes its shallow, gun-toting bad boy, as can be witnessed by the disinterested lip service given to crime's downside and a particularly risible moment when Edgar carts out the old "the whole world's corrupt" justification during a brief monologue. Reggaeton's success was due to its Latin-influenced reinvention of commercial hip-hop's sonic palette, but Yankee's vanity project resorts to every rap-music-video cliché to tell the umpteenth story of a young tough who has to choose between burgeoning stardom and the "reality" of the 'hood. Talento de Barrio sells Yankee's fans a fantasy of hot babes, cool cars, and an endless supply of fresh threads—just so long as you don't get killed first, of course. Which would be a total drag, because then who's gonna buy his records?"

Meanwhile, the New York Times' Neil Genzlinger said:

"Some rappers have shown themselves to be adept actors as well, and now Daddy Yankee, a big star in the related musical genre of reggaetón, takes his big-screen shot in “Talento de Barrio.” Unfortunately, any acting skills he might have — and it looks as if he might well have some — are powerless against the thudding cliché of a script he is saddled with. [...] He has a loving mother, he is protective of his sister, and he has aspirations that go beyond gangsterism: to be a reggaetón star, of course. But his criminal life has a gravitational pull that keeps sucking him back in. The violence-laden story, such as it is, is ineptly stitched together; it’s unclear who is shooting at whom and why; and the dialogue seldom advances beyond “Yo, dog” and “Whassup?” The soundtrack is the only draw here."

I agree with the reviewers. The movie is not a good one. But I have to admit it gave me a little taste of images and sounds that I've been hungry for. Meager (and inept) as that little taste was... I ate it up.

"Ninguno" (NoOne) for Office

"Ninguno, el candidato de los hip-hoppers... Vota por NINGUNO!!!!" So reads the caption that Puerto Rico-based hip-hop artist Sietenueve posted on the image above via his myspace page. (Click here for a larger image.)

Now in Englich, the caption reads: "NoOne, the hip-hopper's candidate... Vote for NoOne!!!"

See, this is my kind of political campaign. If I'm going to be bombarded by all this electoral madness... I'm so glad these folks in Puerto Rico are making a critical intervention AND providing some comedy relief by proposing that concerned citizens go vote for "Ninguno" as their write-in candidate..

Sietenueve, along with Jerry Ferrao y los pleneros de Ninguno and other artists, are joining the Comité de Amigos de Ninguno (Friends of NoOne Commitee) today at 5pm in this witty campaign for "Ninguno". (At the Centro de Convenciones parking lot in San Juan, right next to the place where the 4 candidates for governor will be debating tonight... moderation courtesy of none other than Daddy Yankee.)

The "Ninguno for Governor" campaign is the brainchild of the political theater group Papel Machete. For more on the campaign click here.


I'm sold on Ninguno! Everyone makes promises... Ninguno delivers.

Black On Both Sides - October 11

"Are you Black or Latino?" Ha! I love this event's answer: Black AND Latino. Black on Both Sides.

Black on Both Sides brings together a cross-generational line-up that includes hip hop pioneers and emerging artists for critical conversation and performance. Panelists will include DJ Laylo, Ariel Fernandez, Black Artemis, Carlos REC McBride, Frank Lopez, Rokafella and more.

Free and open to the public. Due to limited space, we ask that you pre-register by sending an email to: afrolatinoforum@gmail.com

This event is organized by the afrolatin@ forum in collaboration with the Hip Hop Theater Festival, the Hip Hop Association, and New York University's Center for Multicultural Education and Programs and in association with the Caribbean Cultural Center, African Diaspora Institute. It is co-sponsored by Africana Studies and Latino Studies at NYU, the Schomburg Center and the Columbia University Latino Heritage Month Committee.

Gender, Blogging and Pedagogy

Yesterday, September 18th, I did a lecture at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania titled From Hip-Hop to Reggaeton: Gender, Blogging and Pedagogy. The students were sharp, very engaged and gave me a lot of food for thought on a topic that has been obsessing me as of late. Here is the article published by Swarthmore's Daily Gazette.

Hip Hop to Reggaeton
By Alexandria Placido
1:23 am - 09/19/08

Raquel Rivera, Ph.D, Research Fellow at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, delivered a lecture on Thursday, September 18th entitled From Hip Hop to Reggaeton: Gender, Blogging, and Pedagogy.

The talk, which was part of the Latino Heritage Month events, focused upon Dr. Rivera’s struggle with the representations of gender in the hip hop and reggaeton communities, as well as her use of blogging as an “outlet” to tackle these difficult issues, “It’s so difficult to talk about gender and sexuality in the classroom, that’s why I started to blog,” she explained.

Born in Puerto Rico, and a resident of New York City since 1994, Rivera is the author of New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone, which was published in 2003, and is currently co-editing the anthology, Reading Reggaeton: Historical, Aesthetic and Critical Perspectives. She is also an accomplished freelance writer, with essays appearing in Vibe, Urban Latino, The San Juan Star, El Nuevo Dia, and One World, to name a few. A former founding member of Yerbabuena, a Boricua roots music group, Rivera currently works with the bomba group Alma Moyo, as well as being a founding member of Yaya, a women’s collective dedicate to Dominican salves and Puerto Rican bomba.

While teaching a class on hip hop and reggaeton in 2006, Dr. Rivera realized that many students felt that they could not express their real opinions about gender relations as related to these musical styles, and instead they obligingly parroted politically correct phrases that denounced the objectification of women.

The Swarthmore students assembled for the discussion agreed, citing a “level of disengagement” on campus. It is this exact problem that troubles Rivera, that “we keep talking past each other” when discussing the portrayal of women in popular music videos and media. “The problem is not explicit sex,” she explained, “it’s sexism,” and asked the assembled students for their opinions. A topic of particular interest is the mixed feelings many female students feel as they are torn between liking a song’s beat, but not the message.

Rivera agreed and called for “a diversity in the images we consume” that can portray the many nuances of femininity. She pointed out that sexism is a “systematic problem,” and encouraged students to devote themselves to combating these issues.

The assembled crowd enjoyed Rivera’s engaging speaking style, which was informal and encouraged discussion and questions. Using an array of media examples, including music videos, documentaries, and her own blog entries, Rivera engaged her audience; Cecilia Marquez (’11) says, “I thought she was a really powerful speaker. She talked about a lot of things relevant to this community.”

Fat Joe Calls Daddy Yankee a Sellout for Endorsing McCain

MTV reported yesterday that Fat Joe said via a phone interview from Denver, where he was attending the Democratic National Convention:

"I opened the newspaper and got sick to my stomach[...]. I felt like I wanted to vomit when I seen that. The reason why I called [Daddy Yankee] a sellout is because I feel he did that for a [publicity] look, rather than the issues that are affecting his people that look up to him. How could you want John McCain in office when George Bush and the Republicans already have half a million people losing their homes in foreclosure? We're fighting an unjust war. It's the Latinos and black kids up in the frontlines, fighting that war. ... We over here trying to take the troops out of Iraq and bring peace. This guy immediately wants war. If not with Iraq or Afghanistan, he'll start a new one with Iran. I feel real disgusted that Daddy Yankee would do that. Either he did that for a look, or he's just not educated on politics."

"Like I said, with me, my whole philosophy on blacks and Latinos is: We're all one[...] We're in the same ghettos, same inner cities, and we're suffering from the same problems. Every problem the blacks have, the Latinos have. There's two systems of health care: the one for the rich that's really good, then there's the one for the inner city, where they leave ladies in the emergency room unattended for 24 hours until they drop dead. ... People don't even check on her hours after she's dead. This is normal stuff. This is what's happening in the U.S."

"Why should my man Daddy Yankee be endorsing McCain? This is the only urban guy in the universe to endorse John McCain. You got people who look up to [Yankee] — young teenagers that look up to him and might make the wrong choice. John McCain is the wrong thing to do. I don't think the Republicans care much about minorities. I can't believe [Yankee] went and endorsed this guy."

I have to say: I don't think I ever heard Fat Joe make so much sense.

Oh, and on rumors that Daddy Yankee tried endorsing Obama first, but was turned down by the Obama campaign, check: El Nuevo Día, Fox News, politico.com and Blabbeando.

And one more thing about the ironies of these debates: Puerto Ricans residing in Puerto Rico may be U.S. citizens but they can't vote in presidential elections. For a classist but witty take on this by fake news outlet El Ñame (kinda like The Onion, but starchy), check the post: "Daddy Yankee Endosa a McCain; Cacos Ya Saben Por Quién NO Podrán Ir a Votar". Now in Inglich: "Daddy Yankee Endorses McCain; Thugs Now Know Who They WON'T Be Able to Vote For."

Not all Latinos Support Abuelo Yankee

O.k., so Daddy Yankee announced this week that he supports Abuelo Yankee John McCain. (Witticism courtesy of poet/scholar Urayoán Noel.") (Further commentary on the endorsement by Marisol LeBron, Blabbeando and El Nuevo Día.)

Somehow, with all that back and forth of commentary on yesterday's blog post, I forgot one important detail. With all this discussion about Daddy Yankee and reggaeton's conservative potential and Latinos having anti-black tendencies... I forgot reggaetoneros/raperos Don Omar and Julio Voltio (among plenty of other Latino artists) endorsed Obama.



So we do have to be critical of the knee-jerk anti-blackness of many self-identified Latinos. But we also have to keep in mind those Latinos that have decided to support the Obama campaign. Lets take this video as an example: Alejandro Sanz, Paulina Rubio, John Leguizamo, Jessica Alba, Kate del Castillo, Cucu Diamantes (Yerba Buena), Pedro Martinez (Yerba Buena), Andres Levin (Yerba Buena), George Lopez, Luis Guzman, Don Omar, Voltio, Lila Downs, Lin Manuel Miranda, Frankie Needles, Huey Dunbar, Nydia Caro, Ivonne Caro Caro, Brazilian Girls, Carlos Marín and family, Carola Gonzalez, Viva Nativa, Jose Alberti...

Please lets not make Daddy Yankee more of a posterboy than he already is!

On a related note, I found Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's good critical take on a New York Times story on Obama and the Latino vote. "There are many things to admire about the New York Times. A complex and nuanced understanding of the vast diversity of Latino America is not among those things.[...] The sloppy, inaccurate story goes on for 32 agonizing paragraphs, using the terms 'black' and 'Latino' as though they were mutually exclusive – which they are not. Historians estimate that 95 percent of the African slave trade to the Americas took place in Latin America. [...] The story also erroneously portrays Latinos as a race unto themselves - an error egregious enough to be stated in our own census bureau's definition of Hispanic as a person 'of any race'. Including 'black'." And she writes plenty of other good stuff.

And one more thing, my little brother asked (after reading yesterday's blog) what I thought, in a nutshell, about all these political/electoral debates: "de ke se trata eso? ke piensas de eso?" So let me just say...

bueno, ya tu sabes: yo soy del Partido Contra los Cabrones. así que los políticos no son mi gente favorita. pero entre Obama y McCain, Obama es mejor por mucho. Bueno, quizás no por tanto, pero es que McCain es un verdadero espanto. McCain representa los intereses más anti-ecológicos, pro-guerra, pro-grandes negocios, pro-ricos, conservadores.

(well, you know: I'm from the Party Against the Cabrones [I don't have a good translation for that, sorry]. Politicians are not my favorite people.... but between Obama and McCain, Obama is better by far. Well, maybe not that far, but McCain is truly truly a nightmare. McCain represents the most anti-ecological, pro-war, pro-big business, pro-richfolks, conservative interests.)

Daddy Yankee Endorses John McCain

Well this all gives me a new perspective on that silly slogan in Puerto Rico calling for the youth vote: "Vota o quédate callao" (Vote or Shut Up).

Now that Daddy Yankee has decided to endorse McCain, all that rings through my mind is the second half: Quédate callao.

Check "Election Time WTF" and "Daddy Yankee Go Home" for a bit of scathing commentary. I'm looking forward to reading more. Let me know if you have or find any.

Straight Outta Puerto Rico: Reggaeton's Rough Road to Glory

Two years ago I was interviewed for a documentary about the rise of reggaeton in Puerto Rico. Well, it has finally been released.

Straight Outta Puerto Rico: Reggaeton’s Rough Road to Glory premiered on MUN2 last Thursday, July 31, 2008. It aired again Saturday, August 2. And, as of yesterday August 5th, the documentary is officially on sale.

Straight Outta Puerto Rico Trailer
Uploaded by MonacoMusicFilmFestival

The documentary may not be “the definitive story of reggaetón” (as the www.holamun2.com website claims), but it certainly seems to be the first large-scale, bona-fide documentary on the music genre. (And if you know of good documentaries on reggaeton that have not had mass media exposure, PLEASE let me know. I would love to spread the word.)

Sure, The Chosen Few: El Documental filled the void for quite a few years. But, lets be honest, as fascinating as much of the artists’ commentary was in that 2005 production, the effort was more of a hybrid documentary/infomercial than usual.

I really appreciate Straight Outta Puerto Rico’s emphasis on the social context out of which reggaeton came about in the 1990s in Puerto Rico. (Surprise, surprise—I’m a sociologist.) Of course, the interest this emphasis generates and the motives behind it are not just sociological/historical. This chosen focus also has a lot to do with the market appeal of a story featuring the drugs/money/violence bochinche factor.

The way that MUN2 promoted the documentary in www.holamun2.com was telling: “Drugs, Money, Reggaetón” was part of the title. And the preview clip that they chose to feature “explores why many early reggaetón artists' careers were funded by drug dealers.”





Now, on to other stuff I liked about the documentary. Due credit is given to Jamaican and Panamanian reggae. But then the story concentrates on Puerto Rico, no apologies made. Good. I’m usually hyper-sensitive to folks that claim that reggaeton is ONLY Puerto Rican. I’m just as hyper-sensitive to folks that claim that reggaeton IS NOT Puerto Rican. It’s a tired, heated, stale debate that I hope dies a quick and spectacular death. But this documentary does not go to either extreme. What a relief!

I may be no expert in camera work, but I found quite a few shots looking cheapy and/or sloppy. And the news footage featuring dead bodies and bloody survivors struck me as overdone.

I asked filmmaker Frances Negrón-Muntaner (and my co-author for a NACLA journal article we titled “Reggaeton Nation”) for her impressions of the documentary in a nutshell. She writes: “Straight Outta Puerto Rico glosses over all of the hot button issues that come with reggaeton: poverty, racism, and misogyny. But like reggaeton itself, the film beats to the idea that there's more to music that meets the ear, and that finding out where music comes from is a vital way to make sense of ourselves and the world.”

Straight Outta Puerto Rico actually coincides with many of the points Frances and I made in the NACLA journal article. But it is so extremely powerful to see the stories and analysis right from the artists' mouths. And even better is to see the old music footage featuring Vico C, Ranking Stone, Chezina and many more artists. This documentary definitely includes some amazing historical gems!

Confessions

I (finally!) managed to make time to read Karrine Steffans Confessions of a Video Vixen (2005). I know... I'm way behind on the times, since she already put out the sequel—The Vixen Diaries (2007).

Do I recommend it? Well... yes, if you're interested in a first-person narrative (carefully crafted for pop appeal) of gender power dynamics in the music industry or if you're interested in how pain and self-hatred inform the decisions of this particular "video vixen." It's no literary jewel. But I'm glad I read it. It has given me a lot of food for thought.

And it also made me wish that a man in the hip-hop industry would have the guts to tell a similar tale (but from a male perspective)—a story that focuses on how much of the swaggering, partying, womanizing and posturing is, deep down, informed by a pain and self-hatred so similar to Karrine Steffans... so similar to the pain and self-hatred most of us battle.

Reggaeton in Utah

Click here for a 5/5/08 article (where I'm quoted) about reggaeton in Salt Lake City, Utah, prompted by Ivy Queen's upcoming show this Friday at the E Center.


The article is neither extensive nor groundbreaking (actually, it's a bit confusing/misleading on the terminological/historical tip... then again, it is a tricky history to convey). But it's still fascinating and indicative of where the media and market are at with respect to reggaeton, starting with the title of the piece, which doesn't actually mention the name of the genre but instead reads "Hip-hop-influenced genre is on the rise and DJ hopes Utah takes notice."