Daddy Yankee

Daddy Yankee did more than anyone to establish reggaeton as a marketable music style during the early 21st century.Daddy yankee's success was so phenomenol in the wake of his 2004 mainstream breakthrougt, Barrio Fino, an in particular in the international hit single"Gasolina"that he that he transcended cultural boundaries and genre trappings. He became more than just a reggaetonero, having transformed himself into an international name brand by the time his 2007 follow-up album, El Cartel: The Big Boss, was released. Daddy Yankee's name, image, and music were used to sell soft drinks for Pepsi and footwear for Reebok, as well as a syndicated show for ABC Radio Networks (Daddy Yankee on Fuego) and a feature film for Paramount Pictures (Talento de Barrio). Daddy Yankee indeed had become a business empire, of which the primary asset -- his music -- remained independent from major-label control: he keenly operated his own independent label, El Cartel Records, and chose to partner with labels such as Interscope only for purposes of marketing and distribution. Although the business side of Daddy Yankee threatened to overshadow his music, Barrio Fino stands tall as the definitive reggaeton album of its time. Boasting a pair of fantastic hits, "Gasolina" and "Lo Que Pasó, Pasó," the album was a standard-bearer, influencing a legion of followers and establishing the production duo Luny Tunes as reggaeton's hottest hitmakers. Barrio Fino was also the first reggaeton album to reach number one on the Top Latin Album chart, a position it held for roughly a year's time while selling over a million copies in the United States alone.