Rap with a Spanish Accent: Top 10 Best Latino Rappers Aug 05 '11 (Updated Sep 08 '11)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music The Dirtchamber Sessions, Vol. 1 by The Prodigy From $11 Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 The Bottom Line Top 10 Best Latin Rap Artists. Hip-Hop in Spanish. Ten Best. Latin Rappers. Latino. Hispanic. Rap. Hip-Hop. Call it what you want... Latin rap used to be a niche that was easy to ignore. (I certainly did my level best to ignore it.) Those days are gone. Today, there are quite a few latin rappers who have become mainstream artists with the sales numbers to hit the single digits on Billboard charts. There's also a serious move afoot for rappers to collaborate with pop and rock artists, creating exciting cross-genre fusions that are both contemporary and very urban in feel. The cross-genre fusions also broaden the appeal of rap, bringing it to audiences that would normally shun the gritty, rough urban sound that characterizes rap and hip-hop. Latino rap and hip hop isn't a recent phenomenon though. It's been around for more than 20 years --- it's just that you had to go looking for it back then whereas today, it's everywhere! Old school latin rappers in the 80s were mostly New York Puerto Ricans who picked up on the street beats of black artists. The movement spread though, and today you find latin rappers everywhere you find hispanic communities. Places like Miami, Texas and Southern California may have had different sounds dominating the play lists at latino night clubs, but even in the clubs that are still salsa, tejano or pop, you hear a lot of rap working its way into the play lists. It's taken time, but latin rap has become mainstream. I credit reggaeton for pushing rap and hip-hop across the entire latin music spectrum. In the 1990s, rap was being picked up by Panamanian artist, El General, but not too many others. El General is often regarded as one of the earliest reggaeton artists. But reggaeton has been a tsunami in the latin music world creating dozens of major stars and fusing with very different styles, though the crux of reggaeton remains very close to rap and hip-hop. The parallels in rhythm and mood between reggaeton and rap are obvious, and its no surprise that most major reggaeton do frequent collaboration with rappers (or simply do songs that are virtually indistinguishable from those done by artists who call their style "latin rap" or "latin hip-hop".) I'm not sure the distinctions between reggaeton, latin rap and hip-hop are all that important anyway. A purist can slice a sliver a hundred and ten different ways, but that still doesn't change the music or what we get out of it. So, without further ado, here's my list of 10 hispanic rappers who I think represent the "top 10" in latin rap. Hope you enjoy it! ************************* Ten BEST Latino Rappers Instead of counting them up or down, I'll just cut to the chase and give you the list. We can sort out the order over a chilly brewski or two! Vico C - Vico C is often credited as being one of the earliest of the reggaeton artists. He's a native of New York who grew up in San Juan Puerto Rico and he was doing rap and hip hop for several years before reggaeton took off in Puerto Rico. His style is urban, but with the tropical influences of Caribbean latin styles like salsa and merengue. Vico C's first big hit was "La Recta Final", but he really hit his stride in 1992 when he rolled out a slew of consecutive rap hits, like "Saborealo" and "Maria". And then came some sort of divine intervention: Vico C became a born again christian and came out with a christian rap CD in 1998 called "Aquel Que Habia Muerto". Since then, he's rollercoasted up and down through cycles of drug rehab and christian revival. When he's not strung out, he's contributed some great rap riffs to such talented performers as Gilberto Santa Rosa and Texas hometown favorites, A.B. Quintanilla y los Kumbia Kings. Daddy Yankee once said that Vico C was one of his greatest influences. Who would have guessed? Pitbull - I've got to give Pitbull some begrudging credit --- the guy is heads and shoulders above most latin rap artists. He's got a genuine attitude that's not just a copy-cat version of somebody else. He's a Cuban from Miami, and he reflects his own background and local culture. He sometimes sounds black, but he doesn't affect the mannerism for long, quickly shifting back to what he is in his heart and soul. So you end up with songs like "The Boatlift" and "M.I.A.M.I. - Money Is A Major Issue". He even did a gritty rap version of the Cuban classic, "Guantanamera"!  His sound is distinctive too, and he's earned his way to very popular hits like "I Know You Want Me" (awesome tune) and "Shake Senora". He recently collaborated with Colombian pop diva, Shakira, on her Sale El Sol album (the song, "Rabiosa" is magnificent, especially if you see the video, featuring a barely clothed Shakira sliding up and down the pole in a strip club --- CALIENTE!) Kemo the Blaxican - Kemo is one of the early pioneers of the latin rap movement. He started off with a mainstream hip-hop group called Delinquent Habits but evolved his own style around 2004, splitting from the group when he released his debut album, "Tres Delinquentes". Kemo is one of the few latin rappers who totally walks in 2 worlds: he is hispanic, and speaks both English and Spanish perfectly, but he is also half black and is perfectly at home in that context. Mix it all up and you get Kemo --- one of the real godfathers of latin rap and hip-hop. Kemo's signature style is that he works in a lot of old-school funk and soul along with rap lyrics that rarely pander to English-speaking listeners. So many latin rappers make the mistake of thinking that they're blacks with hispanic names, but Kemo the Blaxican is one of the few who actually live on that road. Mellow Man Ace - Hey!  Don't laugh at the silly stage name!  If your mom named you "Ulpiano", you'd have a stage name too!  Anyway, Mellow Man Ace is a Cuban raised in Los Angeles. The California Cuban rapper's single "Mentirosa" became an instant hit when it was released in 1988 and it remains his best-known work to date. He's done several albums since then, including last year's release of "Restoring Order". Well known for his frequent work with Los Angeles based rappers, Cypress Hill. Kid Frost - The East L.A. rapper's single "La Raza" managed to cross the barrio line between black and latino audiences, being respected in both camps. It would be the most successful hit of his career. The frosty fellow's real name is Arturo Molina, and though he's a popular latin rapper, he's also appeared in a few movies, including "American Me" and a starring role in "The Neighborhood" The popularity of "La Raza" is credited for paving the way for other latin rappers to follow quickly on his heels, several of whom have enjoyed wider acceptance than the Frost man. His most recent album was the 2007 release of Blunts N Ballerz. It didn't sell much outside the barrio... Molotov - Molotov is the latin rap group that most appeals to me, but that's because I tend to favor rock over all other genres....and so does Molotov. Molotov crosses the line between what should be "rock" and what should be "rap". There's not a lot of acts that do that. When I first started listening to Molotov, it was because I liked the straight-ahead rock ethic that they spotlighted on their album "Donde Jugaran los Ninos". That was back in the late '90s though...an eternity in the music industry. Molotov has evolved too, with lyrics that are more rap and a sound that's rougher and more urban. By the time 2003 rolled around, they were pretty gritty and tough, with hard-driving lyrics in songs like "Frijolero". Baby Bash - Gotta include Baby Bash on this list, even if he did start out in California before finding his way to Houston. The dude is popular with urban hispanics who don't speak Spanish and who somehow think they are actually blacks (it's a huge market --- simply HUGE). Baby Bash is widely respected in latin rap circles for his intellectually stimulating lyrics, like those in "The Yummy Song", which goes "Na Na Na Na", and of course, his recent masterpiece, "Sexy Eyes", which goes "Da Da Da Da".  There is no truth to the oft-repeated rumor that he gets his creative juice from watching the 1980s childrens show, "The Smurfs", whose theme song goes "La La La La". No truth at all --- even though I'm the guy who started the rumor (and who repeats it). Baby Bash's most recent hit is called "Suga Suga" (two-syllable misspelled words....WOW! This guy is CREATIVE!) Control Machete - I'm not sure how popular these guys are in the U.S., but I spend an inordinately large percentage of my life in Monterrey Mexico, and I can tell you that the group is HUGE there. They've been around for more than a decade and they're one of several latin rap groups that seems to never stray far away from sounding like Cypress Hill. The formula works for them though. They had a huge hit with their 1997 release, "Mucho Barato", but that turned out to be chump change compared to the 9 times platinum release they did just 2 years later --- "Artilleria Pesada Presenta". My personal feeling is that Control Machete's sound is far more urban black than it is urban latino --- but you're free to disagree with that possibly gross overgeneralization. Calle 13 - I'm hesitant to include Calle 13 on this list since they're most often associated with the reggaeton style that's been sweeping through the latin music world for much of the past decade. They do often build on the dembow beat, but they also rap so strongly and convincingly that it would be a shame to let a mere technicality overshadow them. After all, Calle 13 is almost definitely the smartest, slickest, coolest latin rap act on the stage today. Their talent was obvious right from their debut album in 2005, but my very favorite Calle 13 track is the slyly sexy "Atrevete-te-te" (watch the video on YouTube --- the one that starts with the pied piper on the roof --- HOT!  SLICK!) And just in case you think I'm the only person who thinks these guys are great, they've won 2 Grammies and 10 Latin Grammies (they won every award nominated). And yeah, I know they've done collaborations with Shakira too (who hasn't?) --- but they've also done work with Cafe Tacuba and Ruben Blades, which may say even more... Darkroom Family - These guys from Northern California have more of a niche following than some of the other acts I've listed, but they make up for audience share with a style that I find to be oddly entrancing. They're rappers, and they've got the urban grit down pat, but they mix it with norteno --- which is a traditional Mexican style that's popular along the border region between the U.S. and Mexico. There's a style of norteno called the narcocorrido that seems to especially influence the Darkroom Family. Narcocorridos sing the tales of drug gangs battling it out between each other and the police and military. It's rough and brutal --- but it's not rap, nor even "urban". It's more of a country musical sound. My favorite narcocorridos are done by Los Tigres del Norte, but a lot of norteno fans think los Tucanes de Tijuana are just as good. The Darkroom Family borrows influences from both, and ratchets up the violence and switches the sound from the outlying open spaces to the confined urban jungles of the barrio. Most music fans will hate the Darkroom Family, but fans of hard-driving latin rap and hip-hop will find lots to like about it. ************************** Bottom Line... Vanilla Ice proved once and for all that white boys can't rap. There's a lot of hispanic artists out there who think that latinos CAN. Give these Ten Great Latin Rappers a listen, and decide for yourself. Until next time, see you in the concert hall !!!

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