In The Thick of Bad Bunny, There is Reggaeton Feminista
Still image from the music video for “Toma” by Ivy Queen.
Reggaeton has had ever-expanding mainstream success and exposure, with Bad Bunny, who was announced Apple Music’s 2022 Artist of the Year and the headlining act for Coachella, catapulting the genre in the last several years. However, two things are still occurring. Many continue to dismiss and unfavor the genre because of both its machismo lyrics, and other reggaeton artists, specifically women, are being overlooked.
Yet the broader history of reggaeton, including the current and previous waves of reggaetoneras indicate a history of lyrics empowering women and the many women artists who rap them. Even so, since the genre’s inception there has been a process of erasure as a consequence of a recurring cycle of women overshadowed by the systems of patriarchy and race but, a significant female-led movement has been brewing and reggaeton feminista is making waves.
History of Reggaeton
As a genre, Reggaeton is known to be hypersexual, machista, música callejera, violent, and more recently, associated with lighter skin artists. While reggaeton has always discussed topics of sex and women, it wasn’t initially the focus of the music. Reggaeton is rooted in Black identity, as a way for Afro-Latinxs to resist racism, self-preserve their Blackness, and express daily struggles. Reggaeton’s history began when Jamaican immigrants moved to Panama as part of the mass migration of West Indians who worked on the Panama Canal in the early 1900s.
Beginning in the late 1970s, Jamaican artist Chicho Man, and Panamanian artists Nando Boom and El General began to reggae rap in Spanish in Panama. Later, artists like Vico C began rapping in Spanish in Puerto Rico as Dominican immigrants on the island introduced merengue. Renato began spreading this music in Panama through the bus drivers of the “Diablo Rojos.” In the meantime, a record label owner named Jorge Oquendo, decided to mix Spanish rap and merengue. He eventually launched the careers of Puerto Rican artists Vico C and Lisa M with their first albums in 1989. A year later, in 1990, Renato’s song “La chica de los ojos café,” was the first international hit of reggae in Spanish. The same year, the dancehall beat that inspired reggaeton called dem bow riddim, sung by Shabba Ranks in Jamaica, was produced. This riddim became extremely popular in Spanish-speaking Central America. Meanwhile, El General and Oquendo met and his first hit single “Tu Pum Pum” came out in 1991, which sampled the dem bow riddim. It became a sensation in the United States and artists like Vico C began to incorporate the riddim as well. Here, reggaeton was born!
Yet, international success aside, women were barely visible in reggaeton even though they existed in the genre for as long as men, Lisa M being one of them. Why has this been the case? La Gata from Perreo 101 in her podcast episode, “Where Da Ladies At?” explains it well:
“Glory Glou and Jenny La Sexy Voz are notorious for their moans in the most iconic tracks of reggaeton—“Gasolina,” “Rakatá,” and a number of others. But the real reason why these ladies have backed off from music is because they weren’t putting out, so they weren’t getting put on.”
La Gata goes on to say that because Glory Glou aka La Gata Gangster (est. 1995), and Jenny La Sexy Voz (est. 2004) refused to give in sexually, the opportunities to make it further in reggaeton weren’t made available to them. This isn’t to say that the reggaetoneras who have reached stardom submitted to these advances, but it is a reality that women artists have and continue to deal with. Further, neither artist was credited or paid royalties for the work they did on these infamous tracks. Even so, the machismo occurring within reggaeton music goes beyond the lyrics.
Ivy Queen's Role in the Machismo Culture of Reggaeton
Considered the Queen of Reggaeton, Ivy Queen is one reggaetonera who did make it internationally. La Caballota is one of the pioneers of reggaeton. She crafted her rapping skills along with other reggaeton artists like K-Mil (now Camile Mas Flow) and Don Chezina in The Noise, a small nightclub in the barrio of La Perla in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which was opened in 1992 by Vico C’s DJ, Felix “DJ Negro” Rodriguez. This was where the fusion of both the Panamanian and Jamaican; and Puerto Rican, Black American Hip-Hop, and Dominican sounds were cultivated, at first called el underground, was the epicenter for what reggaeton grew into along with the increasing objectification of women in the lyrics.
However, Ivy Queen, being one of the few women in the genre, knew and experienced the reality of the objectification of women. In her own words from her podcast, LOUD: The History of Reggaeton, she says in the early days she would dress as a tomboy to fit in with the male-dominated scene to be perceived as one of them, as femininity was viewed as a weakness. This among other experiences heavily influenced her music. She released her third album, Diva, in 2003 with an increasingly feminist lens from her other two albums. One of the songs, “Quiero Bailar,” burst the doors wide open for not only women listeners to feel empowered, but women artists as well. Although a succession of talented reggaetoneras have entered the scene around the same time Ivy Queen started, they didn’t make it as big as her even with Ivy Queen advocating for other reggaetoneras in similarly big ways.
Other Puerto Rican and Panamanian women in the 1990s to early 2000s
The machismo culture of the genre not only objectifies women, as La Gata states, but also determines who does and doesn’t rise to the top.
Let's start with Lisa M, the first underground female artist from Puerto Rico born to Dominican parents who started as a dancer for Vico C. According to a video from the Hasta ‘Bajo Project, she saw that women artists were hesitant to rap so she decided to be the first. Before Ivy Queen, Lisa M encouraged the expression of women’s sexuality through her own music,specifically on her second album in 1991, but the nascent genre wasn’t ready for a woman artist to express herself in that way just yet. In turn, Ivy Queen’s attempt to play the “boy’s game” is a significant departure from her predecessor. She would rip apart the boys in freestyle competitions just like the boys would do to each other. In order to be accepted, she adopted a more masculine persona and became not only notorious for it but respected as a woman rap artist.
Then, there is Glory “La Gata Gangster.” She, alongside Jenny La Sexy Voz, was the archetypal sexy chorus in many of the popular reggaeton songs in the 1990s and early 2000s. She did this for 12 years before going solo and releasing her first album in 2005. However, the patriarchy within the tight circle of a male-dominated industry didn’t let her shine outside her role of serving the men’s tracks with her sexy voice. Felix Jimenez’s essay, “(W)rapped in Foil: Glory at Twelve Words a Minute,” in the book Reggaeton explains further:
“In the history of reggaeton in Puerto Rico, Glory stands as a paradigmatic case that reflects and generates the slowly evolving internal struggle of that musical genre, while at the same time attempting to reposition the boundaries established for female performers in the perceptual dynamics of Puerto Rican reggaeton.”
La Gata Gangster being overshadowed by Ivy Queen wasn’t a mistake. The patriarchal message was: one, there are certain women worthy over others according to how they (men) judge women representing themselves, and two, only a select few could access the higher acchalanes of the music industry.
Race is an additional layer women have to deal with in reggaeton. Even though reggaeton has black roots, the genre has gradually gone through a process of blanqueamiento that has, to a large extent, left out black reggaetoneras. From La Atrevida/Rude Gyal, the first urbana female artist in Panama (est. 1991), to Demphra, a Dominicana with Panamanian nationality (est. 1999) to Joycee Love, a Hungarian-born to Panamanian parents (est. 1999) to La Sista from Loiza, Puerto Rico (est. 2006)—each has contributed immensely to the genre despite little mainstream visibility. In a 2020 Rolling Stone article, La Sista expresses: “People don’t talk about the racism, they negate it. But it exists,” Canales says. “I have a lot of talent but it’s been so, so hard for me. If I looked different, I would have done way more than what I’ve done.”
When I spoke to Dr. Petra Rivera-Rideau, author of the book Remixing Reggaetón: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico, what she said hits home:
“We have similar stories over and over again with all of these different genres—salsa, bachata, reggaetón, etc. I see reggaetón as the latest of a long history of the music industry taking genres that come from working class and Afro-Latinx communities and then making them mainstream through the performances of whiter Latinx artists. And I think it is also important to clarify when I say mainstream, I don't necessarily mean English-speaking US mainstream audiences. I also mean mainstream within the Latin music industry itself. It's not just the US mainstream that privileges whiter artists, but also the Latin music industry as a whole.”
While most reggaetoneras, regardless of skin tone, have and continue to challenge the patriarchy in their respective ways, it is important to note that along with male reggaetoneros, this new wave of Latina artists are lighter-skinned or white-passing and directly indebted to the first wave of reggaetoneras.
Current Wave of Female Artists from Early 2000s to Present
Some of the female reggaeton artists we are most familiar with today are Natty Nastasha, Becky G, and Karol G but alongside these three is a vast list of other Latina artists on the scene. Not only are old-timers like Lorna (Panama) and Valerie Morales (Puerto Rico) still releasing music, but reggaetoneras from Spain and many Latin American countries—some openly queer and trans—belong to this second wave of reggaeton, transforming it in unprecedented ways.
K-Narias, a Spanish female twin duo from the Canary Islands of Tenerife; Farina, known to be the one of the first Colombian reggaetoneras in the country in the early 2000s; Anitta from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Ms. Nina from Argentina; Tremenda Jauria, an alternative reggaeton, punk rock, cumbia group from Madrid; Lola Indigo, also from Madrid, who has collaborated with artists like Puerto Rican reggaetonero Rauw Alejandro; Bad Gyal from Catalonia, Spain; Brisa Fenoy from Cadiz, Spain; Paloma Mami, a Chilean-American from Manhattan, New York; and Barbie Rican and RaiNao from Puerto Rico; among others. All these women are expanding the concept of reggaeton and turning the genre on its head to not only empower themselves and demonstrate bodily autonomy, but to also intentionally show a united sisterhood in the face of misogyny.
Many of these women have collaborated with each other on songs with no male reggaeton artists present—something unprecedented given the misconception that without a male artist on the track it wouldn’t be successful. Among many others, songs like “Las Nenas” with Natti Natasha, Farina, Cazzu, and Duraca; “La Loto” with TINI, Becky G, and Anitta; and “Un Amarre” with RaiNao and Villano Antillano, demonstrate this support for each other.
Artists like Chocolate Remix, a queer and transfeminista reggaetonera from Argentina; Cazzu, with a goth and punk look, also from Argentina; Torta Golosa, a lesbotransfeminist reggaeton duo from Chile; Young Miko, an openly lesbian artist, and Villano Antillano, the first trans reggaetonera, both from Puerto Rico, are expanding the image of the heterosexual, cisgender, overly sexualized Latina. Together, they are reclaiming a homophobic and sexist genre to express and empower themselves.
Few men in the industry have caught on or supported this movement as they are knee deep in the patriarchy, but at least one is making an effort.
Bad Bunny's Influence in the Genre
Before Bad Bunny was challenging heteropatriarchal gender norms, he looked like a typical, machista trap artist promoting the oversexualization of women in his music videos. He has come a long way. Though his feminist messages remain contradictory, he has and continues to use his influence to denounce misogyny and elevate reggaetoneras in the game.
In the 2020 Billboard Awards, Bad Bunny not only dedicated his Top Artist of the Year award to women, but he also called out machismo and misogyny saying, “Stop sexist violence, stop violence against women.”
He has done numerous collaborations with female artists, including Cazzu on the song “Loca” in 2018, and “Yo perreo sola (Remix)” with Ivy Queen and Nesi in 2020 (Ivy Queen called him and other reggaetoneros out in 2019). On his 2022 album, Un Verano Sin Ti, the song “Andrea” sends an influential message of female empowerment and in his 2022 World’s Hottest Tour, he had Puerto Rican reggaetoneras Ivy Queen, RaiNao, Villano Antillano, and Young Miko as part of several performances throughout the 16-city tour.
His impact has helped catapult some of the newer reggaetoneras’ careers and has sent clear messages against sexism to male reggaeton artists that some like Arcángel are taking notice:
“You know why people can’t do what he [Bad Bunny] has done? Because everyone here has that fucking machismo that dominates everything, and machismo is out of style. Believe me— that whole concept of you being the alpha of everything, that is out of style. What’s in it is letting your woman lead the way. Mami, what do you want to do? This genre is one that is still machista.”
However, Benito falls short when it comes to supporting black reggaetoneras and acknowledging racism exists in reggaeton, per his March 2023 TIME article: “When Benito is asked whether he believes race and colorism play a role in the success of a reggaeton artist, he responds, ‘Because I haven’t seen it or lived it, I can’t say. It’d be irresponsible of me to say yes.’”
Reggaeton is not only inherently black, reggaeton is also inherently feminist and now, with a new sisterhood of reggaetoneras uprising against the patriarchy, we are seeing that part of the genre revealing itself.
Damaly Gonzalez is a Brooklynite, Williamsburg-native of Puerto Rican descent that goes by she/her/hers. She is a culture and identity writer who writes ideas, opinion, and analytical pieces by using stories of everyday life experiences in order to invoke deep conversations and conscious minds. She has been published in Latina Media Co., NACLA, The Latinx Project at NYU, NBC Latino, and others. Damaly holds a master’s degree in History and Urban Sociology from The Graduate Center, CUNY. Follow her on Instagram @damalyscorner or Twitter @damalygz.