Daddy Yankee Films the Music Video for “Rompe” in Los Ángeles - Reggaeton News

By Los Angeles, California

November 21, 2005

This past weekend Daddy Yankee traveled to Los Angeles, California to film the video for his song “Rompe” the first single off of his upcoming album Barrio Fino en Directo which will be released on December 13, 2005.

Starting at early hours in the morning the film crew, composed of more than 150 people, took over a junk yard located in Sun Valley, California, just north of Los Angeles. There they recreated various surrealist scenes as conceived by video director Carlos Pérez who worked on the artist’s previous video “Corazones”. The director describes the concept as “The Warriors meet the leader of Reggaetón”.

The video was co-directed by Jessy Terrero, one of the most acclaimed directors within the industry who has worked on videos for artists such as 50 Cent (“Candy Shop”, “Out of Control” and “Many Men in White Stuff”) and Sean Paul (“We be Burnen”).

“I’m very pleased with the work that Carlos Pérez and Jessy Terrero have done for this video. We have been redefining the blueprint of everything we have been doing in the past and this video is no exception”, said Daddy Yankee at a meet and greet with the local press at the location of his video” said the author of the world wide hit as he flashed his characteristic smile.

According to Carlos Pérez no expense was spared for the production of the video. “The final product will showcase Daddy Yankee and Reggaetón as the unifying force that will bring together the east and west coasts of the US with Latin America.”.

“A group of 40 dancers were part of the video’s cast. The group was divided into three dance troupes, each one performing three different dance styles; one performed Reggaetón, another break dancing and the third performed Krump.

“We wanted to integrate these three different dance styles into the video, so we brought together one of the founders of the Compton-born Krump style of dancing “Tommy The Clown” with the Break dance gurus of the Rock Steady Crew and Daddy Yankee’s own dancers who represent Reggaetón, the genre that is taking over the music industry”, explained Pérez.

“The video deals with the unification of diverse cultures through dance and music which is the universal language. We wanted to create an environment in which we brought together these three genres; break, Krump y Reggaetón”, commented the director of the music video. “In the end, its all about unity”, added Pérez.

In a convoluted stage which included missiles, military vehicles, steel barrels lit on fire, a gigantic boom box and a backdrop of abandoned cars and steel wreckage, the crew filmed scenes both during the day and well into the night. The cameras captured all of the action as the site was lit up by special effects and pyrotechnics which included collapsing walls and exploding cars. The renowned Karsten “Crash” Goponath was on board as the director of photography. He developed a complex illumination plan for the shoot which created a gritty street ambiance for the video. His most recent works include videos for 50 Cent, Jennifer López, Outkast, Busta Rhymes, and Snoop Dogg.

Stylist Milton Cruz was in charge of the wardrobe. Cruz was the stylist for Daddy Yankee’s most recent tour which spanned 14 cities in the United States and Latin America. The apparel used in the shoot was provided by Coogi, Drunken Monkey, Applebottom, Dollhouse, Azzure Denim, Sean John, Live Mechanics, Meezan and Reebok.

Renowned Makeup artist Kim Todd was in charge of the make up and hairstyling for the shoot. Her most recent works include the videos by Young Jeezy “Trap Star” and “Two Words” as well as “Oh Yes” by, Juelz Santana.

Once concluded his work on the production for this video, Daddy Yankee will remain in Los Angeles to take part in the upcoming American Music Awards, where he has been nominated for the Latin Artist of the year category. The show will take place on November 22, 2005. After this, he will be traveling to Miami to make an appearance on the Cristina show. Then he will go on to Chile for a tour to promote his appearance on the prestigious Viña del Mar Music Festival.