Reggaetón is more than a beat—it’s a bold statement on race, identity, and resistance in Puerto Rico and beyond.

In Remixing Reggaetón, Petra R. Rivera-Rideau uncovers the cultural and political power behind one of the most influential music genres in the Latin world. Far from being just party music, reggaetón becomes a tool for artists to challenge Puerto Rico’s enduring myth of “racial democracy”—the idea that racial harmony naturally exists due to the island’s history of racial mixing. Rivera-Rideau reveals how this myth conceals the marginalization of Afro-Puerto Ricans and reinforces a system that privileges whiteness.

Through the voices and performances of artists like Tego Calderón and Ivy Queen, the book shows how reggaetón pushes back against the dominant narratives. Calderón openly critiques the celebration of Black culture while Black communities remain excluded and oppressed. Meanwhile, Ivy Queen disrupts gender and racial norms by claiming space in a male-dominated genre, rejecting respectability politics and embracing Afro-Latin identity.

Rivera-Rideau also explores the censorship of reggaetón in its early years, when it was targeted as vulgar and dangerous, and tracks its journey from the marginalized neighborhoods of San Juan to the mainstream playlists of Latino audiences in the U.S. and around the world. With rich cultural analysis, Remixing Reggaetón positions the genre as a powerful expression of African diasporic belonging and as a language through which Puerto Ricans reclaim their Blackness.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in music, race, Latinx identity, or Caribbean culture. It will change how you hear reggaetón—and how you understand Puerto Rico.

Año: 2015 | Páginas: 240

Duke University Press