The Bay Area explodes with Reggaetón - Reggaeton News

By William Hernández Reggaetonline.net

July 18, 2006

On Saturday the 15th, local Reggaetón station "La Kalle" celebrated its first anniversary on the air. The event organizers named the show "La Kalle Reggaetón Explosion" and that's exactly what the night was, an explosion of Latin rhythms, and an invasion of international artists. More than 6,000 people filled up the San José State University Event Center which opened its doors at 5:30 PM. While the people kept coming in, the La Kalle DJ's played some of the hottest songs of the moment to try to get the crowd started. About 45 minutes after the doors opened, all of La Kalle DJ's came out on stage to thank their listeners for supporting them throughout the last year and instroduced the first artists.

The show started with the performance of the legendary Carlos Santana's nephew, a young rapper named José Santana. Santana and his friend and rapper, Rida represented Bay Area Hip Hop to the fullest with their Hip Hop in Spanglish. They also promised the crowd to keep representing the Bay Area wherever they go and left the stage after performing two songs. Next up was Malverde a Mexican MC who came directly from the city of Los Angeles just to perform on the event. Malverde performed his hit songs "La Bala" "Bienvenidos al Barrio" and a song dedicated to his mother who worked in the fields picking grapes for over 20 years, titled "Marcha". Malverde also dedicated part of his show to his Mexican fans by singing famous songs by Vicente Fernandez & Ramon Ayala, both songs where applauded by all Mexican fans who were present at the show.

Chelo was in charge of starting the real party after José Santana and Malverde performed Hip Hop songs. Chelo, a young Puerto Rican singer caught the eye of many fans present at the show with his dance movements. He also took some time to promote his album "360º" which comes out in stores on the 25th of July by performing his first single titled "Cha Cha", the song is very popular in Latino stations and its video is in heavy rotation in Spanish channels also.

The duo Calle 13 was the next artists performing, Residente, vocalist of the group started his show performing his hit song "Se Vale To-To", song included in their debut album "Calle 13". After performing his first song, Residente thanked everyone who has supported him in his career and added that without fans he and Visitante wouldn’t be anything. Residente's show was a bit different from the rest of the acts, instead of having just a DJ playing an instrumental for him, Residente had a whole band with him, which included his brother and member of the group, Visitante. After listening to songs like "Suave" "Electrico" & "Japón", Residente finished his show with the hit single "Atrevete-te" a very popular song with a mixture of Cumbia & Reggaetón, the people helped Residente by singing the chorus and danced until the song ended.

After Calle 13 finished their performance, a familiar instrumental was playing in the background; it was none other than "Chulin Culin Cunflay" a popularized song by Residente & Julio Voltio. Both artists came onto the stage and put on a great performance to the crowd which danced non-stop to it. Voltio performed his hits "Chevere" "Julito Maraña" "Guasa Guasa" and others. Voltio admitted to the crowed that he was very excited to be back in San José for the second time in his career, after coming to the show "The Takeover" over a year ago, show were the rapper Tego Calderón was also present. Voltio closed his presentation with his hit "Bumper".

The famous Reggaetón DJ, DJ Kazzanova came onto the stage and thanked the fans for the support they have given to Reggaetón and also introduced one of the most awaited artists of the night, Tito "El Bambino". Tito got on the stage with his song "Caile" a very popular song that is included in his first album as a solo artist titled "Top of the Line", which according to the Billboard magazine has been on top of the Latin charts since it came out. The fans sang along Tito all his songs and made the artist feel like he was at home. After performing songs like "La Cazadora" "Dejala Volar" and "Chica Rebelde" Tito asked the crowed if they wanted to carry him on top of them from one side of the stage to the other, to what the crowed answered with a big Yes. After removing his jewelry, Tito helped by the security guards got on top of the people, who with their arms pushed him to the other side of the stage. Without loosing his concentration Tito keep singing and the people kept laughing, and dancing. After that, Tito said good bye to the crowd who he left satisfied after a really good performance.

Fans were surprised to find out that the Panamanian duo Match & Daddy got on to the stage, the duo was not announced on the radio as performing artists but that didn’t matter to them as they still put on a great show bringing the crowed to their feet when they performed their hit songs "Las Solteras" and "La Botella", the duo also let their fans sing the chorus of their songs to which their fans sang like if they were the original singers of them. After Match & Daddy the Bachata group Xtreme came onto the stage and performed their hit song "Te Extraño" to which the Bachata lovers danced happily. Xtreme performed a few other songs and left the stage to the group The New Ridaz. The New Ridaz formerly known as NB Ridaz are famous for their love songs and didn’t disappoint the crowd by performing their hits "Down for Yours" "Pretty Girl" and "Runaway". Angelina, the singer of the group confessed to being proud of performing in the city, after being raised in the Bay Area and being part of a local group. After their performance, The New Ridaz offered autographs to their fans who didn’t think twice of going and meeting their idols up close.

The last performance of the night was left to one of the most popular duos of the moment, Rakim & Ken-Y. They came onto the stage with their song "Dame Lo Que Quiero" song included in their album "Masterpiece" They told the crowd that they were happy to finally being able to perform in Northern California and continued their show. Many people doubted if the group was going to be able to make it to the event after Ken-Y had health problems during the last week after a show in Pennsylvania where he had breathing problems, after being taken to a hospital the doctor said Ken-Y suffers of "Pericarditis" (Inflammation of the muscles around the heart). But after a few days of rest Ken-Y felt better and his doctor gave him permission to fly to the West Coast of the country. On stage Ken-Y didn’t seem to have any problems, as his voice was magnificent as he sounds on CD's. Rakim & Ken-Y performed songs like "Tu No Estas" "Pasado" and "Cruz y Maldicion", after that they invited the new members of the label Pina Records, two young artists, Cruzito & Carlitos Way to join them and sing the remix of the popular song "Mayor Que Yo". The crowd helped Ken-Y and Cruzito with the chorus while Rakim & Carlitos Way did the Rap part of it. Without a doubt this performance was one of the best of the night and brought everyone to their feet. Carlitos Way then performed his solo song "Way Way" and Cruzito performed a song called "Dime Que Será". Cruzito has an awesome voice and definitely gained support from the crowd that had never heard him before. After giving a chance to the new talent of Pina Records, Rakim & Ken-Y performed two final songs, one called "Me Matas" and then said goodbye to the crowd by performing their super hit "Down". With it being the last song of the night, the crowed sang along Ken-Y the chorus and danced until it was over. Rakim & Ken-Y thanked their fans for their support and received a big applause from them who enjoyed their show.

People left the Event Center very satisfied of the show and showed once again that the Reggaetón genre is still popular and has the support of thousands of fans around the world. Many of the fans are now waiting for the next show in the Bay Area, and hope is as good as the "Reggaetón Explosion" from La Kalle.