on reggeaton

you know, there has never been a time where i have felt more Puerto Rican, more connected with my people, than now. i mean, i was born, raised, and cultivated in Puerto Rico, meaning that i should have felt this way a very long time ago, but in my 17 years on the island, i didn't always feel like i belonged.

now, while living in New York, where most of my friends are PRs just like me, who grew up minutes from me, who also came to the US for college and beyond, NOW i feel culturally stable. and i think it's because of reggeaton.

the music of my people, you see, has completely bonded me and my friends, and it ALWAYS makes me feel at home. it does so much more than that though. when people dismiss it as ghetto and trashy, i defend it as i would defend my island. when others question its musical value, i stand up, shake my ass, and prove that music you can dance to is the best music of all. reggeaton, i believe, has elevated my moods when i need it the most, all while speaking of sexual acts, women in g-strings, and haters. it has done it all.

when my friends called me from Barcelona, only to have me listen to a Daddy Yankee song that was playing at the club they were in, i knew we had made it. Puerto Rico, Daddy Yankee, and me.