There's something about this enormously popular reggae/hip-hop hybrid that, to my sensitive ears, sounds like a hunting knife tearing into nubile flesh. What really bugs me is that insistent, staccato drumbeat (boom-tap-tap, boom-tap-tap)--which nearly every reggaeton track has. Surely, people like Daddy Yankee and Don Omar--Latins through and through--must recognize the value of changing their backing beats? Maybe I'm just too old to dance with the kids anymore.

Are there any particular genres of music that you actively avoid?

There is nothing to like about reggaeton. It must be destroyed.

sux

That's all my students listen to.

If I cared about them, I might cry over their horrible taste.

I love Reggae, tons!

Otherwise I have no idea what your talking about.

Reggaeton makes my right eye twitch. I have yet to hear one musically redeeming thing from that steaming pile of a genre.

HORRID HORRID genre.....

I don't know what the hell reggaeton is.

I also am not a fan of reggae.

I don't even know what this is, but I don't like hip hop or reggae, so it sounds like a losing combination to me.

I find that my life is much better when I manage to avoid reggaeton and all of the "Lil" artists.

BOOM! di-dah-dah... di-dah-dah BOOM!

:suicide:

Well if you don't like reggae music, and you don't like latin music, then you won't like reggaeton. I love it. Daddy Yankee is a little bit pop, but Omar and other stuff is primo.

I'd be curious if those saying that it is horrid, like reggae or latin at all?

I bet y'all would hate the Nortec Collective series.... nothing like a rockin' tuba.

I love reggae and I love latin music, but i hate reggaeton.

What's wrong with that? It's generally the same tempo with cut and paste tracks.

It's a genre with no depth and hopefully no staying power.

Latin music is all right, but of course that's a huge variety of genres instead of just one, and I'm not that well-informed on any of them. I friggin' love me some reggae, though. Reggaeton just drives me nuts. The sameness of the rhythm and instrumentation, the sort of standard rapping cadence, and the completely vacuous lyrics. It just reminds me of crunk with a latin feel and pseudo-reggae beat, and I HATE crunk (except for the new Three Six Mafia, that shit is hott).

it's a genre in it's infancy and it needs to expand.
right now it all sounds very similar, but when it's done right i like it very much.
but after four or five tracks i'm ready to go back to hip hop.

also it sounds nothing like reggae.
and i can't fathom why people don't like reggae. when i hear people say that i assume they haven't heard the good stuff yet.

Like what? I am admittedly not well-versed in reggae, but that's because most of what I've heard hasn't blown my skirt up.

i posted a song in pop todd's thread the other day.

hssp://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=07CU ... ANW6QJTZIX

this is considered "rock steady" and to my ears sounds like early american RnB with a different beat.

Have you listened to Toots & The Maytals? Specifically "Funky Kingston", "Louie, Louie", and "Pressure Drop". I'm firmly convinced that people that don't like "Funky Kingston" are deaf. Also, Culture: "Two Sevens Clash" and "See Them A Come".

I enjoy some reggae and latin music but dislike reggaeton for the very reasons that Phil mentioned.

"The Harder They Come" was the album that got me into reggae, particularly the Toot's stuff.

This latina likes reggae AND latin music, but that reggaeton shit has gotta go.

Thanks, Jewels. This song is not bad, I even like it, but not to the point where I'd want to run out and hear more from Pat Kelly. I think it's that different beat may be drives me batty. It's almost like the song is running in place rather than actually going anywhere.



I plugged in Toots to Pandora, and the first song was "Funky Kingston" and I skipped the next few and got "Pressure Drop".

I'll take deaf. Neither one of these songs made it to the end. These two songs are worse at the running in place description I made above, and neither seem real eager to go anywhere anytime soon. The vocals are good, but the rest of it just grates on my nerves. It seems like there are plenty of interesting sounds, but they aren't doing anything interesting with them. And I'm far from one of the prog freaks.

I know it ain't the same genre, but I'd rather listen to War.

It's huge in Pananma and PR and Cuba and in most spanish-speaking communities around the US, but especially among the young. Old folks don't like it... very much like hip hop. I work with farmworkers in Watsonville and I see them bouncing to the beat as they ride around town, cleaned up and ready to party. It is clearly party and dance music... have you ever danced to it?

Individual taste is always mysterious, but I can't see how anyone who would like Champeta, Soukus, mento, calypso, or soca wouldn't like at least some of this. I never choose to listen to more than one CD, a little goes a long way. Actually, since I stopped smoking dope I never listen to more than one CD of reggae either, unless it's Marley, who transcends everything.

But it's interesting, I don't really like Dancehall, which is often said to be a source of reggaeton.

I think Jewels is right, it is a young music (even though it's sorta been around 20 years) but it is just starting to give voice to the postcolonial latino youth majority that is wrestling with the white technocapitalist hegemony... oops, never mind.

Andale.

Memphis represent!

Corey, I can't see hwo you don't like Pressure Drop. If I can dig up The Harder They Come, I'll try to shoot it to you this week sometime.