Daddy Yankee
Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (Spanish: [raˈmon lwis aˈʝala roˈðɾiɣes]; born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdædi ˈjæŋki]), is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor who rose to worldwide prominence in 2004 with the song "Gasolina". Dubbed the "King of Reggaeton", he is often cited as an influence by other Hispanic urban performers. He retired on December 3, 2023, after completing his final stage performance on his "La Meta" tour in Puerto Rico.
Ayala was born in Río Piedras and was raised in the Villa Kennedy Housing Projects neighborhood. He aspired to be a professional baseball player and tried out for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. 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. 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.
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. Since then, he has sold around 30 million records, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Daddy Yankee's album Barrio Fino made history when it became the top-selling Latin music album of the decade between 2000 and 2009.
In 2017, Daddy Yankee, in collaboration with Latin pop singer Luis Fonsi, released the hit single "Despacito". It became the first Spanish-language song to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Macarena" in 1996. The single gained global success. The video for "Despacito" on YouTube received its billionth view on April 20, 2017, and became the most-liked video on the platform. Its success led Daddy Yankee to become the most-listened artist worldwide on the streaming service Spotify in June 2017, the first Latin artist to do so. In March 2022, Daddy Yankee announced that he would be retiring from music after the release of his seventh studio album Legendaddy and its supporting tour.
During his career, Daddy Yankee earned numerous accolades, including five Latin Grammy Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, 14 Billboard Latin Music Awards, two Latin American Music Awards, eight Lo Nuestro Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, and six ASCAP Awards. He also received a Puerto Rican Walk of Fame star, special awards by People en Español magazine, and the Presencia Latina at Harvard University. He was named by CNN as the "Most Influential Hispanic Artist" of 2009, and included in Time 100 in 2006.
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