Daddy Yankee is currently on his farewell tour and the Recording Academy has posted a tribute summing up his most legendary work. The Puerto Rican superstar made reggaetón what it is today. So many of the new reggaetoneros owe it to him for introducing the genre to the world.
Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez hadn’t always dreamed of being a worldwide phenomenon. His initial goal was to be a baseball player, but after an unfortunate gun firing incident he was forced to give up on that dream and because of that Daddy Yankee was born.
El Jefe is now 46 years old and has 3 decades of work he can be proud of. No artist has achieved what he has in the past years. He’s rewritten the música urbana and garnered more than 20 billion total YouTube views. Daddy Yankee is the reason reggaeton is highly admired and loved globally.
Yankee’s first step to world domination was his Barrio Fino album. Later came Legendaddy and Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito,” which is the second most watched video with almost 8 billion views.
Daddy Yankee’s influential and prolific discography has earned him four GRAMMY nominations and Six Latin GRAMMY awards. He may be retiring, but his impact will last for years to come.
