5 women that are changing the reggaeton

Staff November 29, 2018

62 4 minutes read

Female voices take this genre that is perceived by many as a sexist genre. There is a lot of Latin and feminine power in this list!

Reggaeton is changing. From its roots, there have been female voices, but these have been minimal and never with too much success. Now, for the first time in a long time, women are taking the genre, they are reclaiming it and transforming it. The women, who used to be around the reggaeton in their music videos, usually showing their bodies and seducing them, willing to satisfy their desires, are becoming reggaeton themselves, they are becoming protagonists of the genre. Here we present you some of its biggest representatives.

Leer en español: 5 mujeres que se tomaron el reguetón

Ivy Queen

To talk about how reggaeton is transforming, we must return to the classics. Ivy Queen is the undisputed queen of reggaeton. The first woman to enter the genre and emerge victoriously. She is originally from Afiasco, Puerto Rico, but grew up in New York. Then, at 18, she went to live in San Juan and there she got soaked in Latin and Caribbean hip-hop. There she lived during the decade of the 90s, during which she sang several times in The Noise with the help of his friend the rapper DJ Ngero. The Noise was a rap club where the nascent reggaeton scene was presented.

Aware of being a woman trying to fit IGNORE INTO a genre of men and sexist lyrics, Ivy Queen launched herself IGNORE INTO solitaire and in 2004 she gave us DIVA, the album that includes her song "Quiero bailar", a feminist reggaeton that spoke of the importance of consent before the age of #MeToo when she says "I want to dance, you want to sweat, get closer to me, rub the body, you can provoke me, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to bed".

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Becky G

With just 21 years old, this reguetonera already has a prolific and multifaceted career. Not only has she had songs on the radio, but she has also starred in a movie of the Power Rangers. She is Mexican-American and achieved success when she released last year her single "Mayores" alongside Puerto Rican Bad Bunny. This song reached the first place of views on YouTube in six countries. The video reached 100 million views in its first month on the digital platform.

Although its lyrics look like any other reggaeton, this song is one of the first to make sexual references of the male body. The double meaning of Becky G in the verses "I like them bigger, they do not fit in my mouth … the kisses that they want to give me and that they drive me crazy" flips the sexual references about the female body that the men have been doing reggaeton for years. Becky G makes reggaeton sexual liberation a liberation also for women. And even more: puts Bad Bunny, the benchmark of Latin trap, to dance too.

Read also: Coverage: Latin Trap is taking over the world

Anitta

The Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro is undoubtedly revolutionizing the urban genre in more than one language. Her simple debut "Show das poderosas" (The Powerful Show) was a feminist anthem and became the most watched YouTube video in Brazil in history. The artist learned English and Spanish and also sings in these languages, as well as in Portuguese, her mother tongue. She sang on the stage of the Olympic Games.

Last year she won the nightclubs with her single "Downtown", in whose remix later would participate nothing more and nothing less than the same J Balvin, who would sing the chorus "She liked me when I went downtown". Anitta has never hidden her interest in female sexual liberation and this is evident in this song, which takes away the taboo of female oral sex and exposes sexual practices that were not previously spoken of in reggaeton, always focused on the pleasure of man and never in that of the woman.

Karol G

Originally from Medellín, which is already returning to the new Meca del reguetón, this reggaetonera studied music at the University of Antioquia and participated in the El Factor X contest program. She became famous above all for her collaborations with reggaeton greats such as Reykon , Anuel AA and Nicky Jam. But now she comes to show that she can also make herself a name and a space in the reggaeton scene. Her first single, "Ahora me llama" was in collaboration with Bad Bunny, and is now internationally known for her hit "Mi cama".

Natti Natasha

This Dominican is perhaps the most extensive career on this list, after Ivy Queen. In 2010 his career took a turn when he was discovered by Don Omar one afternoon when he was recording in the studio. The reggaeton was impressed by his voice and asked him to collaborate with him on his song "Letter to Heaven". Since then the career of the artist has taken off quickly. She has collaborated with old school reggaeton players such as Farruko, Don Omar and Dadd Yankee, and with the new ones like Ozuna. Natti Natasha, then, is an artist who has gone through a lot of reggaeton. His latest hit was "Sin Pijama", which already has more than 321 million views on Spotify.