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Daddy Yankee has no formal music training, but he's become by far the most popular and critically acclaimed star in reggaeton, the upbeat urban hybrid of rap, salsa and Jamaican dancehall that has become the hottest Latin music trend since the so-called Latin explosion six years ago.
He has no business degree, but he runs his own label, El Cartel, and manages his real estate investments. He has no high-powered management firm to represent him, but he has embarked on the first major U.S. arena tour in the history of the genre. It includes a stop Friday at Staples Center.
His only training ground has been the hardscrabble San Juan barrios in Puerto Rico, which served as crucible both for the music and his disciplined personality. Though he confessed to feeling nervous on the eve of the tour's kickoff last month at New York's Madison Square Garden, the handsome rapper says he feels ready for the big time. "There's not a big difference between the music industry and the street world I come from," says Yankee, who still limps slightly from gunshots he took in the right leg as a teenager.
"You have the same characters; they just dress more elegantly and use a different language. On the street, they use a pistol to take your life. Here, a bad contract can take your life just the same.... So since I already know all these characters, I'm well prepared."
Now the question is: Is the rest of America ready for Daddy Yankee?
There's a lot riding on this tour, appropriately dubbed the "Who's Your Daddy?" tour, both for the artist and for reggaeton, a musical style mostly relegated to Puerto Rican ghettoes for most of the last 15 years.
If Yankee succeeds as a solo headline attraction, he will establish the commercial appeal of the genre. Observers say Yankee's success could open doors for other artists and encourage continued collaborations with mainstream English-language hip-hop stars, a linkage...
