Daddy Yankee Wants To Expand Genre - Reggaeton News

By Allen Starbury, Baller Status

April 17, 2007

Daddy Yankee is hearing up for his first studio album since 2004's Barrio Fino, and plans to expand reggaeton's reach beyond its normal demographic with an array of diverse collaborations. The Cartel: The Big Boss, which is slated for June, will feature guest appearances by artists such as Fergie, Jim Jones, Nicole Scherzinger from The Pussycat Dolls, Akon, and Will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas. Both Akon and Will.i.am also produce, as do Reggaeton producers Eli "El Musicologo", Tiny Tunes, Diesel and Menace, Mr. ColliPark and Scott Storch.

In addition to a diverse sound, Daddy Yankee is ensuring that he stays rooted, as he is a leader of Latin culture -- coming up from barrios outside San Juan, Puerto Rico, to being named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world by Time magazine. “Reggaeton needs a change and I'm changing too," said Daddy Yankee. "You can't rest on the past. This album is very different. My roots are still there, but now there's more, a side of me people haven't seen, including hip-hop. And I know the power music has too. I'm a leader in Latin culture. The album talks about the role we're playing in society. For people that don't know what's happening, we need to let them know what's going on."

In 2006, Daddy Yankee's live CD/DVD set, Barrio Fino en Directo, was the biggest selling Latin album of the year, according to Billboard. And he was also named Artist of the Year at the Latin Billboard Awards and MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica, Latin Songwriter of the Year by ASCAP and Urban Artist of the Year at Univision's Premios Lo Nuestro Awards. Along with the Time magazine honor, People en Español ranked him among the upcoming year's 100 Most Influential People.

But even with all the success, Daddy Yankee has not forgotten where he came from. Recently, he partnered with the Puerto Rico Department of Education to lead a school cleaning and beautification program, and he also continues to be a spokesperson for the American Red Cross in the U.S. Hispanic community and a member of the Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet that reaches out to a new generation of volunteers and encourages people of all races, ages and ethnicities to support the Red Cross in their community. In 2007, he plans to launch his own charitable organization, Fundación Corazón Guerrero.

His next major release, The Cartel: The Big Boss, is slated for release June 5.

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