Daddy Yankee

The be-all-end-all of reggaeton superstardom during the early 21st century, musical pioneer Daddy Yankee (born Ramón Ayala in Puerto Rico) managed to transcend all cultural and stylistic barriers and turned himself into a veritable household name, a unique accomplishment for one in his genre. He did so chiefly on the basis of two recordings, the 2004 Barrio Fino and the 2007 El Cartel: The Big Boss; the twist, however, lay in his ability to parlay the towering success of those recordings into commercial endorsements, a syndicated television program, and, significantly, a movie deal. As his premier film project, Yankee headlined the Maya Entertainment release Talento de Barrio (2007), playing a young Puerto Rican man violently torn between two possible futures: one in the criminal underworld and one as a successful recording star.