In 2004, Daddy Yankee released his international hit single ' Gasolina', which is credited with introducing reggaeton to audiences worldwide, and making the music genre a global phenomenon.
Ayala spent roughly a year and a half recovering from the wound the bullet was never removed from his hip, and he credits the shooting incident with allowing him to focus entirely on a music career. Before he could be officially signed, he was hit by a stray round from an AK-47 rifle while taking a break from a studio recording session with reggaeton artist DJ Playero. He aspired to be a professional baseball player and tried out for the Seattle Mariners of the Major League Baseball.
He is often cited as an influence by other Latin urban performers.Īyala was born in Río Piedras and was raised in the Villa Kennedy Housing Projects neighborhood. Daddy Yankee is the artist who coined the word reggaeton in 1994 to describe the new music genre that was emerging from Puerto Rico that synthesized American hip-hop, Latin Caribbean music, and Jamaican reggae rhythms with Spanish rapping and singing. He is known as the ' King of Reggaetón' by music critics and fans alike. Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and rapper.
