Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, better known as Daddy Yankee, is a Puerto Rican singer, actor, record producer, radio host, and businessman, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on February 3, 1977.
Considered one of the pioneers of reggaeton in the 1990s and its foremost representative, Daddy is now the most popular reggaeton artist as well as one of the most influential and respected figures in the genre worldwide. Thanks to his established and successful artistic career, along with his numerous collaborations that have helped promote other Latin artists in the genre, reggaeton has solidified its place as a musical style recognized and enjoyed in all corners of the globe.
The term reggaeton (derived from the word reggae and the suffix -ton) is attributed to Daddy Yankee in Puerto Rico in 1992, where he first mentioned it in the mixtape "Playero 36" (alongside DJ Playero). In the mixtape, Daddy Yankee can be heard saying, "I want you to keep jumping, and I want you to jump again because it's the phenomenal man who sings reggaeton."
Among his most famous songs is "La gasolina," which features on his third and best-selling album, released in 2004, titled "Barrio Fino."
He has won 5 Grammy Awards, 1 Lo Nuestro Award, and other prestigious accolades honoring Latino artists. In 2009, he was recognized by CNN as one of the most important and influential Hispanics in the world.
In recent years, his collaborations with other rising musicians in the urban music scene have become a surefire bet, turning the tracks he works on into guaranteed hits that dominate charts worldwide. For instance, in 2017, his song with Luis Fonsi, "Despacito," reached the number one spot in over 80 countries and became the most viewed song on YouTube. Additionally, he won four Latin Grammy Awards in 2017 for Best Song, Best Record, Best Urban Fusion/Performance, and Best Short Form Music Video.
His subsequent version in English with Justin Bieber reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. That same year, Daddy Yankee became the most-streamed artist in the world on Spotify.
Among his collaborations are tracks with artists such as Anuel AA, Kendo Kaponi, Rosalía, J Balvin, Farruko, Sech, Zion, Lennox, Steve Aoki, Play-N-Skillz, Elvis Crespo, and others. With the last three, he recorded "Azukita," which has nearly 200 million views on YouTube.
On January 24, 2019, he once again achieved the top spot with his single "Con calma," a reinvention of the 90s hit "Informer" by rapper Snow.
In July 2020, he announced that he was suffering from prediabetes after feeling unwell during a tour in Colombia and being hospitalized urgently.
Recently, an old interview from 2007 resurfaced, which took place during Daddy's visit to the television program Estudio Billboard hosted by Colombian journalist Leila Cobo. In the interview, he was asked about the possibility of singing in Cuba. His response was that he would actually love to go to the Island, but he had great respect for the people of Miami and did not want to create political chaos; therefore, he preferred to leave things as they were and wait for the right moment to go.
In July 2018, Issac Delgado, who was then the president of the organizing committee of the Varadero Festival, mentioned that he had already spoken with the reggaeton artist and that the performance was coming together.
In 2017, he created a remix of Bad Bunny's song "Tú no metes cabra," in which he compares the dictatorships of Fidel Castro and Nicolás Maduro to those of Italian fascist Mussolini and Soviet leader Stalin.
The Puerto Rican artist has shared twice on his Instagram the talent of Cuban violinist Zamir Muñoz Hernández, who has impressed the singer with two versions of his songs played on his electric violin: "Que tire pa' lante" and "Llamado de emergencia."
