The Rice University Neologisms Database

A form of dance music that blends reggae, hip hop, and Latin dance music Reggaetón is a type of dance music that has become popular with youth in Latin America. It blends reggae with traditional Latin American music, as well as hip hop. Generally, a large portion of the music contains rapping (usually in Spanish). Reggaetón today is most commonly associated with Puerto Rico, although reggae first arrived in Latin America with Jamaican laborers who came to build the Panama Canal. However, it has really flourished and spread from Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican influence on reggaetón involves the addition of hip hop to the Panamanian reggae style. In Puerto Rico, reggaetón has now become something of a national obsession. Reggaetón is formed by adding the Spanish-sounding affix “-tón” to reggae, thus having the effect of Hispanicizing reggae, which is essentially what Reggaetón is: a Hispanicized version of reggae.