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Born Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, Daddy Yankee is a legendary Puerto Rican reggaeton singer-songwriter and producer. Also known as the King of Reggaeton, the San Juan native is famous for his hit “Gasolina” which topped charts worldwide and brought Reggaeton into public awareness.
He has an ability to flawlessly combine hip-hop, reggaeton, and Latin music and make it accessible to mainstream audiences.
Daddy Yankee has claimed Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson, and Nas as musical influences. He is known to be a huge advocate of “urban music,” citing its ability to transcend social divides and inspire people to do good. To this day, Ayala remains in touch with his roots and works with Puerto Rican youth through local charities.
Ayala grew up in the projects of San Juan and aspired to be a professional baseball player. He might have accomplished it, too — by all accounts he was an incredible athlete. He tried out the Seattle Mariners, but before he could be signed, a life-changing accident happened.
While taking a break outside a recording studio one day, a stray bullet hit Ayala in the hip. The bullet lodged and remains there to this day: a reminder of the moment that led him toward a career in music. He spent one and a half years recovering from the bullet wound.
His hopes for a baseball career dashed, Ayala became involved with the rap music scene in San Juan. He collaborated with artist DJ Playero on the recording “So' Persígueme, No Te Detengas” in 1990. Departing from the rap music he grew up with, Ayala soon began to explore new territory with a new style of music which he and DJ Playero later named “reggaeton”.
Daddy Yankee was a pioneer of reggaeton, borrowing heavily from artists like DJ Playero, DJ Nelson, Tempo, and Vico C. Reggaeton incorporated the now-ubiquitous Dembow from Jamaican dancehall music, as well as American hip-hop and Hispanic Caribbean music, to create something unique. As Ayala perfected this new genre, he began to abandon the traditional style of rap.
While the Puerto Rican government banned many of Ayala’s first mixes with DJ Playero for their explicit content, there was no stopping him. Daddy Yankee released his first solo project, the album No Mercy, in April 1995. His next two releases (El Cartel in 1997 and El Cartel II in 2001) were the defining albums that would launch his career in Puerto Rico and make reggaeton the hottest genre on the island.
Ayala released his next album, El Cangri.com, in 2003 and became instantly famous in the Latino communities of Miami and New York, U.S.A. In 2004 Daddy Yankee brought reggaeton to the masses with the compilation Barrio Fino, produced by Luny Tunes and DJ Nelson. The album experimented with elements of Salsa music, mixed with rap and reggaeton, and made Daddy Yankee a household name. Barrio Fino was the best-settling Latin music album of the 2000s, ultimately selling over 30 million copies.
The single “Gasolina” was particularly successful and earned Daddy Yankee nominations at the Latin Grammys and the MTV Video Music awards. “Gasolina” changed the face of the music industry. It introduced reggaeton to the world by becoming a hit everywhere from the Caribbean to the USA, Europe to India and beyond.
Daddy Yankee released his next album, El Cartel: The Big Boss, in June 2007, and promoted it with a tour of the US and Latin America. The album heralded a return to Daddy Yankee’s hip-hop roots and branched out from strictly reggaeton. It included collaborations with artists like will.i.am, Tainy, Akon, Fergie, and Héctor Delgado. During his 2007 tour, Ayala set several records: first in Ecuador and then in Bolivia, where 50,000 fans packed his concert at Santa Cruz de la Sierra. For the rest of 2007 and 2008, Daddy Yankee continued making guest appearances on reggaeton compilations.
Read moreDaddy Yankee is by no means a household name here in the UK, but the Puerto Rican is huge elsewhere in the world, carving out a reputation as the king of reggaeton over the course of a career that’s spanned almost twenty-five years at this point. Constantly switching styles over the years, diving between party tracks, emotive ballads and a bad boy persona, he can credit the latter to an incident that occurred early on in his career, before he was officially signed; during a break in a recording session, he was shot in the leg by a stray bullet from an AK-47, with the round never removed from his body. It’s been a frequent point of reference for him in his music since, although that’s not the only factor in him selling over ten million records worldwide. His most recent album, last year’s King Daddy, took him back out on the road in support of it; he toured both the U.S. and Europe - especially France and Spain - prodigiously. Backed by a full live band, a raft of dancers and some impressive pyrotechnics, he successfully translated the dramatic quality of his music to the stage; UK dates are unlikely, though, with him a relative unknown over here.
Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, known simply by his stage name Daddy Yankee, is a reggae singer and songwriter of Puerto Rican origins. Daddy Yankee is a brilliant rapper with some mad skills and an endless influx of energy. Daddy Yankee has enjoyed great success in both the Latin music scene and American. He has sold an incredible 10 million records with his hit albums such as ‘El Cartel’. Although he is far from a household name in the UK, he is massive in his native Puerto Rico, carving and shaping the reggaeton scene in the country. His incredible home success is evident from the way he holds himself on stage: he oozes self confidence and charisma on stage, owning the stage in a way that masks his endless array of backing dancers as almost invisible. Daddy Yankee’s music is incredibly catchy and his rapping is intense and moving. He played an array of styles, from party tracks to emotional tunes. The impressive pyrotechnics, backing band and light show that accompanied his performance all really added to the spectacle.
Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez known by his stage name Daddy Yankee is a lesser known artist in the UK yet has had huge international success with his expert mix of reggae, hip hop and latin pop. The energy in which he conducts his live show though could turn even the most skeptical reveller to an avid fan.
As the reggae beats of 'Gasolina' initiate the show, Daddy Yankee practically explodes onto the stage and does a quick circuit during the first verse to make sure the whole crowd are energised and enthusiastic. He blends tracks together, freestyles acapella and battles with his frontman throughout to keep the crowd jumping and cheering along.
He receives huge applause for 'Impacto' and 'Pasarela' proving that non-English speakers can really enjoy the latino/reggae vibes of his music. The whole crowd enjoys his international hit 'Rompe' and the singalong makes Yankee jump higher and higher before it looks like security will have to force him to leave the stage as he would have performed all evening.
Daddy Yankee is probably the best show i've ever gone to see. He is a crazy talented entertainer, and puts on the best show. I've been a fan since Barrio Fino, so seeing him for the first time last night made my dreams come true and he definitely did not disappoint. Worth every penny. Don't debate going to see The Big Boss, just do it!
Loved The Kindom Tour Concert. It was awesome. Totally worth my money. Would definitely see Daddy Yankee again. Loved his performance. His show was a good amount of time. Not to short. Sang a good amount of songs. Loved that La Mega hosted the show.
Night was crazy, wild , fun , & Full of energy Best night I had !!!! much love for The Big Bosss Daddy Yankeee I love You #BigFan #Bendiciones a Puerto Rico #Mexico !!!
More thn anything praying for his health as well!!
I love Daddy Yankee and think he is great at what he does. Always wanted to see him live and let me tell you: he is really THAT good. Great night, amazing live performance , that is worth spending money for!
Awesome concert, Daddy Yankee sure knows how to make us dance!!
A great concert with many hits, buena onda and cool effects.
WOOHOO!!!
The only thing bothered me was he got on stage real late...
Becky G and Daddy Yankee were great but it took FOREVER for them to come out. It wasn’t until 11pm. At that point I was just annoyed and wasn’t in the mood for daddy Yankee which sucks.
daddy yankee you need to have a concert in Houston tx pleaseee I really want to hear u sing live but every where you've been performing at has been far ..... por favor ven para tejas
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