Latin pop's crossover into the mainstream opened up the way to more underground Latin styles to get global recognition, and the first to break was reggaeton. As implied by its name, reggaeton is inspired by Jamaican music, and its roots go back to the seventies, when Central-American musicians started to play reggae and combine it with local sounds. In time, reggae turned into dancehall, which focused less on mysticism and more on the earthly and sensual sides of reggae. The change affected the Latin musicians as well, but the term reggaeton stuck. And in 2004, just as the big waves of hip-hop and Latin pop subsided, reggaeton broke into the mainstream to unify them, and become a new global craze.
There were several big reggaeton hits that year, and 'Gasolina' was the biggest. I wasn't taken by it back then, but listening to it now, it is better than I remembered. Pure electronics, strong rapping, and still sounds distinctly Latin. Duro!
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