b. Raymón Ayala, 3 February 1977, Rio Pedras, Puerto Rico. The first global star to emerge from Puerto Rico’s ‘reggaeton’ scene, Ayala had been shaking up the Latin American charts for several years before his single ‘Gasolina’ crossed over to the mainstream listings in 2004.
Ayala began singing in his early teens but did not make his professional debut until the mid-90s, teaming up with the well-known DJ/producer Playero and adopting the Daddy Yankee moniker. By the start of the new millennium Ayala was making serious waves on the fast-emerging reggaeton scene alongside fellow performers Wisin Y Yandel, Tego Calderón, Queen Ivy and Don Chezina. Reggaeton had fast become the dance music of choice with young Puerto Ricans, with the addictive blend of native bomba and salsa rhythms, Jamaican reggae and US hip-hop tearing up club floors throughout the island. Ayala, known locally as the ‘King of Improvization’, dominated the island’s Street Jam Reggae Award during the late 90s and early 00s. He released his debut El Cartel in 2000 and followed up a year later with a second instalment. Meanwhile, the 2002 release, El Cangri.com, was that year’s bestselling album in Puerto Rico.
By this point reggaeton had spread like wildfire throughout Latin America and was beginning to be heard in urban areas of the USA with large concentrations of Puerto Ricans, notably New York and Miami. On the back of his superstar status in his native Puerto Rico, Ayala was invited to perform with US rap stars such as Nas and Terror Squad, and one of his old songs, ‘Posición’, was featured in the soundtrack to the movie One Tough Cop. Ayala built on his success with the 2003 bestseller Los Homerun-es, which broke Puerto Rican sales records shortly after its release. The 2004 follow-up Barrio Fino was backed by Universal Records and heavily promoted on the US market. ‘Gasolina’ received extensive radio play and broke into the upper regions of the US Billboard singles chart the following year. An expanded edition of the album released the following year featured five new tracks. The artist’s next studio album, El Cartel: The Big Boss, steered closer to rap than reggaeton with guest slots from Akon, Will.I.Am and Fergie.
In addition to his work in the reggaeton genre, Ayala has also collaborated with leading salsa and merengue artists including Olga Tañón, Grupo Manía and Domingo Quiñones.
