Reggaeton

Reggaeton (also spelled with the Spanish accent as Reggaetón, and sometimes as Reguetón in Spanish) is a form of dance music which became popular with

Reggaeton (also spelled with the Spanish accent as Reggaetón, and sometimes as Reguetón in Spanish) is a form of dance music which became popular with Latin American (Latino) youth during the early 1990s and spread to North American, European, Asian, and Australian audiences during the first few years of the 21st century. Reggaeton blends Jamaican music influences of reggae and dancehall with those of Latin America, such as bomba and plena, as well as that of hip hop. The music is also combined with rapping (generally) in Spanish. Reggaeton has given the Hispanic youth, starting with those of Puerto Rico and Panama, a musical genre that they can consider their own. The influence of this genre has spread to the wider Latino communities in the United States, as well as the Latin American and Central American audience.

While it takes influences from hip hop and Jamaican dancehall, it would be wrong to define reggaeton as the 'Hispanic'- or 'Latino'- version of either of these genres; reggaeton has its own specific beat and rhythm, whereas Latino hip hop is simply hip hop recorded by artists of Latino descent. The specific rhythm that characterizes Reggaeton is referred to as "Dem Bow". The name is a reference to the title of the Jamaican dancehall song that first popularized the beat in the early 1990s.