MTV News Spotlights My Block Puerto Rico April 16th |
Written by Robert ID2502 |
Monday, 10 April 2006 04:50 |
MTV News My Block has been to the Bay Area, scoured South Beach, and invaded Houston. Now, MTV News heads to one of the hardest and roughest hoods in My Block: Puerto Rico. From San Juan to Loiza, My Block spread out across the island to find the heart of Latin hip hop and Reggaeton. An A-list of Puerto Rico's biggest stars - Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Tego Calderon and many, many, more - give Sway a members-only tour of hip-hop's hottest block. My Block: Puerto Rico premieres on Sunday, April 16 at 2 PM on MTV2 and re-airs Thursday, April 20 at 7 PM on MTV. Featured guests and segments Daddy Yankee – Arguably the biggest star to come out of the Puerto Rican reggaeton scene, Sway catches up with the man who turned up the heat on the music scene with “Gasolina” and helped bring reggaeton to the mainland. Sway meets Daddy Yankee on the diamond where he earned his stripes as a top baseball prospect to find out what lessons learned on the streets led him to music and reggaeton. Tego Calderon –El Abayarde (the Underdog) takes Sway to the city which bears his family's roots, Loiza, Puerto Rico’s ghetto. Like Tego, the vast majority of the people of Loiza are descendants of freed and escaped African Slaves, and El Abayarde reveals how racial and class tensions still linger in Loiza, which motivates him to create music that speaks out for those taught to be ashamed of the color of their skin. Don Omar – One of the most popular Latin artists who used his status to unite all Latinos under the umbrella of reggaeton, Don Omar takes Sway off the tourist’s track on a walk tour of Paseo Piñones to sample some of Puerto Rico’s cultural fare. Perreo – If there's one thing Latinos are known for, it's expressing themselves through dance and music. And nothing has helped define reggaeton more than the dance that has accompanied it: perreo. A highly- charged, sexual dance once taboo on the island, perreo is now a mainstay in the reggaeton scene. But before Sway makes his way up to the perreo, he first takes on the Puerto Rican classic salsa. Luny Tunes – Though bubbling below the music industry's radar for 20 years, reggaeton didn''t create the notoriety in the States until the Luny Tunes took the sound to the next level. Known as the reggaeton version of the Neptunes, the dynamic producing duo has been responsible for such hits as Daddy Yankee's “Gasolina,” and have even been tapped by some of the biggest heavy weights in the American music industry like the Black Eyed Peas, R Kelly, and even Paris Hilton. Voltio – One of the island's biggest up-and-coming stars, Voltio takes Sway over to Fajardo, where he shows Sway one of the most popular past times among the natives in PR: Bikes. From motorcycles to ATV's, Sway gets a glimpse of the street culture and popularity of bikes. Calle 13 – In a genre whose artists sometime get a bad rap for “all sounding the same”, Calle 13 shatters that myth blending a fusion of exotic sounds with off-the-wall humor. Sway caught the duo’s more serious side when he visited them in one of the roughest, rawest barrios in all of Puerto Rico, the original “barrio” of Old San Juan: La Perla. N.O.R.E. – Before reggaeton crossed over to mainstream America, it found a welcome home with American Puerto Ricans from NYC to LA. One thing that defines Puerto Ricans in the states, they never forget their roots back on the island. And no American artist represents that better than hip hop heavyweight N.O.R.E., the man they call “the Bridge”who’s hit Oye Mi Canto helped permanently import reggaeton into the fabric of American culture. MTV Overdrive features Daddy Yankee: Raw, an extended, uncut interview with the reggaeton superstar; a tour on La Perla, the oldest and toughest barrio in Puerto Rico; a segment on Tego Calderon teaching Sway the African Bomba; and outtakes from the making of My Block: Puerto Rico. MTVNews.com will include editorial features on Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderon, Don Omar, a selection of new sounds and artists including Calle 13, Voltio and N.O.R.E., and an exclusive behind-the-scenes reportage and photography on the making of My Block: Puerto Rico. |