Alternative Music Influence on Reggaeton

Article by Katherine Garcia –

It’s known that all good artists take inspiration from other artists, and lately we have been seeing a very unusual pairing. Growing up, I have seen Spanish music grow and change and being able to see that and listen to other genres like alternative music on my own as well was amazing but I never thought I would see the modern reggaeton and trap take influence from alternative music.

We have seen huge reggaeton artists like Karol G and Bad Bunny take alternative influences and incorporate them into their albums. Karol G recently released one of her biggest albums last year Mañana Sera Bonito and it features a song called “Tus Gafitas.” Unlike the rest of the album, it has an upbeat rock feeling to it. Using bass and guitars, she encapsulates feeling love through a person by using a “rock vibe” that she had never used before.

Some artists have publicly said that they use alternative influences regularly, producer Tainy being one of them. Tainy started out producing in his early teen years in Puerto Rico with established producer Luny Tunes and not only did he take inspiration from Dominican and Puerto Rican music from his roots, he was heavily influenced by rock bands such as Blink-182 and Linkin Park. His last album Data shows the diversity of his influence and how he incorporated it for his audience to enjoy. There is a wide range of songs with features like Skrillex. A memorable song on that album is “mañana” featuring Young Miko and The Marías. The Marías are an alternative/indie band known for hits like “Cariño” and “Only in My Dreams” and have started working and crossing genres with Tainy and also Bad Bunny.

This song mixes the roots of reggaeton beats and the psychedelic feel that The Marías gives to portray the feeling of longing for a love interest. Something also very interesting about this song is the frequent beat switches and how the highs and lows of this song switch throughout. This isn’t a usual thing for reggaeton and the alternative influence brought on to create a new sound.

There are plenty of examples of this even in past years that got swept under the rug or had a bad reaction. “GRACIAS POR NADA” by Rauw Alejandro and “MALDITA POBREZA” by Bad Bunny were two songs that most fans didn’t resonate with. I think this was the rise of this influence and it was an amazing way to expose everyone to different genres because so many people tend to close themselves off. There have even been crossovers between artists themselves, J Balvin and Metallica made a mix of the song “Wherever I May Roam” where Colombian artist J Balvin put his twist onto the infamous song.

I hope that in the future this influence grows and different genres and cultures can continue to share their ideas, inspiration, and love for music.

 

Featured Image from Amazon.com.