In a single hour on Yakaleo you can hear classic reggaeton, Latin trap, hard perreo and some Dominican dembow. To a lot of people it is all "reggaeton," but each style has its own rhythm, history and people. Here is a quick guide to telling them apart.

Reggaeton

It is the base of everything. It grew out of Spanish-language reggae in Panama and the Puerto Rican underground of the '90s, and you know it by the dembow beat: that "boom, ch-boom, chick" that repeats through the whole song. It usually sits at a medium tempo, made for dancing close. Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina" (2004) is the textbook example. Here is the full history of the genre.

Dembow: a beat and also a genre

This is the most common mix-up. "Dembow" is the name of the rhythm reggaeton uses, and it comes from "Dem Bow" (1991), the song by Jamaica's Shabba Ranks. But in the Dominican Republic "dembow" is also its own genre: faster, more repetitive, with short phrases made for shouting along. El Alfa and Tokischa are two of its best-known names.

In short: all reggaeton uses the dembow beat, but Dominican dembow is something else.

Perreo

Perreo is the dance, and also the reggaeton made for that dance: harder, more club, with the bass up front. It is not a separate genre but a style within reggaeton. Bad Bunny's "Yo Perreo Sola" (2020) gave the word a new reading: perreo as women's own space on the dance floor.

Latin trap

Latin trap comes from Southern U.S. hip hop and developed in Puerto Rico from the late 2000s, gaining strength around 2014. It does not use dembow: it sounds slower and darker, with long 808 bass and fast hi-hats. The lyrics often deal with street life. Arcángel is considered one of its pioneers, and Anuel AA, Bryant Myers, Farruko, De La Ghetto and Bad Bunny are among its leading figures.

A few milestones: in 2017 Trap Capos: Season 1 became the first Latin trap album to reach No. 1 on Latin Rhythm Albums, and in 2018 "I Like It" by Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin became the first Latin trap song to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100.

What about romantic reggaeton?

That is reggaeton with pop melodies and lyrics about love or heartbreak, made for radio. "Despacito" (2017) by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee is the biggest example. Today almost every major artist moves between these styles on the same album.

The quick test

  • Does it have the "boom, ch-boom, chick" beat? It is reggaeton (or perreo, if it is hard and made for the club).
  • Is it fast, repetitive and Dominican-flavored? It is Dominican dembow.
  • Is it slow, dark, with long bass and no dembow? It is Latin trap.
  • Does it have a pop chorus and love lyrics? It is romantic reggaeton.

Photo: Anuel AA in the studio. Timelezzzz (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.