Reggaeton's Underdog Story' Told Through Daddy Yankee's Docuseries Wayne Marshall discusses the importance of Reggaeton: The Sound that Conquered the World.
By
Tara Bellucci
October 30, 2024
Courtesy of Peacock
There's no shortage of great music documentaries out there, but here's another to add to your queue. Produced by Daddy Yankee, Reggaeton: The Sound that Conquered the World debuted on Peacock on October 3 and is a must-watch for anyone who loves the genre or wants to know more about its global rise.
The four-part series covers the roots of reggaeton in Puerto Rico and its worldwide takeover in the late 2010s. Faculty member Wayne Marshall, coeditor of Reggaeton, has already shown clips from the series in his class.
Because the class is about DJ cultures and American social dance, the scenes I screened in class were the ones that discussed the importance of DIY house parties in marquesinas as a common coming-of-age experience as well as how DJ Negros the Noise nightclub became a crucible for local vocalists vying for audience approval.
The first episode explains the roots of reggaeton going back to the 1970s. I appreciate that they situate reggaetons emergence in local Puerto Rican history, pointing to Afro-Puerto Rican traditions such as bomba and then to the cultural resonance of salsa in the '70s, hip-hop and house in the '80s, and finally reggae in the early '90s-all of which came to PR via NYC, says Marshall. While reggaetons story is complicated and often contested, the series is careful to give attention to the genres different contexts over the years, from Puerto Rico to New York to Panama to Jamaica and, more recently, Colombia.
Dembow Explained (+19 Songs Featuring the Iconic Rhythm)
How the dembow beat-found in reggaeton, hip-hop, pop, and far beyond-became a global phenomenon.
Read more.
Reggaeton also covers the genre's meteoric rise and the eventual backlash to its success.
Of course, reggaeton is not the first genre to be treated this way-perennial debates in rock and rap come to mind-and the series is interested in presenting reggaetons history as an underdog story, which it is, says Marshall. But I think reggaetons first major commercial breakthrough, back in the days of Gasolina' and Oye Mi Canto, was so remarkable and unprecedented-and industry investment was so heavy, and some might say oversaturated-that people began watching very closely.
When the crossover hits appeared to dry up a few years later, I remember a lot of stories asking whether the genre had run out of gasolina, he adds.
Spoiler alert: that wasn't the end of reggaeton-far from it. Since the record-breaking chart-run of Despacito' in 2017 and then the rise of Bad Bunny as the most-streamed artist in the world, this second wave of reggaeton popularity seems to have confirmed that the genre has lots of life left in it.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Jim Lucchese
Image by Kelly Davidson
Jim Lucchese Named Berklee's Fifth President A 20-year music industry veteran and a committed artist advocate with deep Berklee roots, Lucchese sets the tone for a new era at the institution.
Latest
Image courtesy of HBO
What If the Game of Thrones Theme Was Surf Rock? This TikToker Has the Answer Guitarist and TikTok user Cloudchord puts his spin on the epic theme music, originally composed by Ramin Djawadi 98.
Berklee's Signature Series Presents Singers Showcase: One Sweet Day-The Music of Mariah Carey The two-night extravaganza will showcase the craft and artistry of a global cast of more than 80 Berklee students honoring one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Image by Brittany Benson Lee
Latoya Lee Brings Industry Expertise and Connections to Berklee Career Center Berklee's new director of industry relations has worked on platinum-selling and Grammy-winning projects and will help students build industry-ready skills.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
North America Stories
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
Latino Film Institute Fellows Screen Their Short Films at the Egyptian Theatre
The Inclusion Fellowship and Spark Animation Grant uplifts 15 ...
Reggaeton's Underdog Story' Told Through Daddy Yankee's Docuseries Wayne Marshall discusses the importance of Reggaeton: The Sound that Conquered the World.
