He was a pioneer and still has “gasoline” left, but he has decided to retire.
Daddy Yankee says goodbye this weekend with a series of concerts in Puerto Rico, where he forged his more than 30-year career as the “King of Reggaeton” and influenced many artists.
Yandel, MC Ceja, Maldy and Elena Rose were some of these artists who expressed to EFE their respect and admiration for Daddy Yankee, who was “a musical inspiration” in their respective careers.
The self-proclaimed “Big Boss”, who announced his retirement from music in March 2022 to give himself “the opportunity to live life”, had planned to perform three last concerts in Puerto Rico in January 2023.
However, these were postponed until now, when he will take to the stage of the Puerto Rico Coliseum for five presentations, titled ‘La Meta’, from today until Sunday.
A few hours separate us from arriving #LaMeta The path that one day we saw as far away is finally arriving ?
We are ready for the goal?? and how many of us are ready for streaming?? pic.twitter.com/TZXLWQEmlH
— El Cartel Records (@Cartelrecordsdy) November 30, 2023
Yankee was already famous when Yandel didn’t even start
Yandel, from the duo Wisin y Yandel, explained that his friendship with Daddy Yankee is so strong that he is the artist with whom he has collaborated the most, in hits such as ‘No me dejes solo’, ‘Paleta’, ‘Everything begins at the disco’ or ‘If you knew’.
“Daddy Yankee has been an inspiration for me since the beginning. He was one of the pioneers. When he was already famous, I was in the neighborhood trying to survive. So my respect for Daddy Yankee is very great,” said Yandel.
Raymond Ayala, given name of Daddy Yankee, 46, started his musical career in the early 1990s on the album ‘Playero 34’, by music producer DJ Playero, and where for the first time the performer mentioned the word reggaeton or reggaeton.
Due to the talent that DJ Playero saw in the promising young man, he decided to place him in his following productions, which catapulted him in Puerto Rico, although he achieved international stardom in 2004 with the song ‘Gasolina’.
An inspiration for the competition
MC Ceja, one of the most veteran and current reggaeton players in music, recalled how in the mid-90s he competed with Daddy Yankee, since he was part of DJ Eric’s La Industria group, and the “Big Boss” of DJ Eric’s Dream Team. DJ Playero.
“When I started in the times of La Industria, Daddy Yankee influenced (sic) a lot on me, in what reggaeton was. I have always been a rap artist, and the style and the ‘delivery’ (style of releasing the Yankee’s words were something unique when listening to him in those times,” recalled Alberto Mendoza, MC Ceja.
The veteran rapper also assured that Daddy Yankee, winner of multiple awards and actor, had a lot of influence in composing and producing his song ‘Confusion’, with which he opened his first album, ‘Luz Solar’.
To close his successful career, Daddy Yankee released his latest album, ‘Legendaddy’, in March 2022, which exceeded 600 million views in less than a month and featured collaborations with artists such as Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro, Pitbull, Natti Natasha and Becky G.
Maldy thinks Yankee has gas left
Another member of the so-called ‘reggaeton school trip’ who expressed his admiration for Daddy Yankee was Maldy, who although he accepts the retirement of his veteran colleague, considers that he still has gas left in the tank to continue in music. .
“I think it’s time for him to retire, but I would say the opposite, that he should not leave this music and industry because he has time for more. He is the ‘Big Boss’, there is nothing more to say,” he said. .
By the time Daddy Yankee started his career, there were no music platforms, a tool that new urban artists have taken advantage of to download their songs and manage to “monetize” or obtain money from them.
One of those new artists is Elena Rose, who contributed her talent as a composer to the song ‘De Vuelta Pa’ La Vuelta’ that Daddy Yankee made in collaboration with Marc Anthony.
“I feel a lot of respect and admiration for the person who opened so many doors for us and paved the way for us to be able to do what we do today,” Rose stressed.
