Daddy Yankee

Gavin Mueller sniffed the trend back in November, but who knew reggaeton would reach whitebreak America so quickly? Like other urban subgenres crunk and grime, reggaeton will get deluxe treatment at Target. Not only are six titles featured in their weekly sales insert in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Target compiled their own mix!

Subgenres have obvious drawbacks as far as commercial viability go. How long has it taken for people to figure out what grime is, after all, much less associate the term with its more prominent artists? And as is often the case, when a subgenre breaks into the mainstream, overexposure kills the trend in spite of critical success. Nevertheless, as more marginal music crosses into the heretofore mainstream hip hop/rockbifurcated dichotomy - let’s face it: our radio is for the most part segregated, and record stores are too - this is a welcome change.