1. On page two of the assigned reading, the historical development of Reggaeton is discussed. In your own words, describe this development and its key characteristics.

Reggaeton is influence of Jamaican reggae which was travelled to Puerto Rico and Panama, where descendants of Jamaican workers begun performing what came to be called reggae en Espanola. During the same time frame, through the circular travels of New York based Puerto Ricans, who had participated in development of hip hop from the beginning, where it was soon indigenized as rap en Espanola by artists like Rico C, with lyrics in Spanish, this music had enormous appeal in Puerto Rico, where Jamaican dance hall had already achieved wide spread popularity. Indeed DJ like Playoro and Nelson developed the sound further, they were so drawn to a Sabba ranks song called “Dem Bow”, with its minimalist dance hall beat punctuated by snare drum accents that this “riddim”, initially created by producer bobby digital became a defining characteristics of the reggaeton and around the mid 1990 the music that combined these elements coalesced and came to be known as Reggaoton.

2. Who Considered the “Queen of Reggaton” and why? What makes this particular person well suited to hold that tittle/distinction?
Ivy Queen is considered the queen of Reggaton because she was one of the few women in a male dominated and often misogynistic environment who could compete as an equal. She had lots of hit singles, her collection of old and new music in 2005 was number one on the Latin charts. Her new diva like look makes Ivy Queen well suited to hold the tittle/distinction.

3. The village voice reported that many Americans listeners found a certain sameness to “all, not same” reggaton tunes. Discuss some of the reasons behind this American perception.
Reggaeton had been dominated by a single production team known as Luny tunes. Their inclination to rehash the same synth-patches, the same rifts and bass lines and the same drum patterns which reflects the tradition of creative re-use. These were the reason many American listeners found a certain sameness to “all, not same” reggaton tunes.

4. Describe the relationship between reggaeton and American radio stations.
The ability of reggaeton to generate hits from the dance floor like disco before it ultimately forced radio to take the music more seriously. In 2005 the history was made when KXOZ-FM in Los Angeles switched from easy listening to reggaeton and the station went from eighteenth in market share to second place overall and immediately following, Univision flipped eight of the major market stations to a reggaeton centered format and clear channel followed suit with four conversions. Reggaeton helped American stations to be strong in market share.