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252:, and became a professional accountant. While studying, he was also an MC for parties and opened up for dancehall and hip-hop musical acts. His connection to Black diasporic communities in New York both influenced his music and led to his music being spread across the Americas including the US, Panama, and Puerto Rico. This led to extreme popularity in the 90s with his first song âTu Pum Pum,â
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was anti-establishment and enforced what Wayne
Marshall says, â âprovides a telling set of examples of how the meanings of Jamaican reggae continue to resonate in Panama, even after translation into Spanishâ â The use of Caribbean sounds in Spanish Reggae made the genre anti-establishment and a form of resistance to a country that denied Panamanians of Caribbean descent.
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and who always produced large Latino events in New York). The fans were surprised that El
General (Franco) sang a salsa song. Ralph Mercado gave El General more time in the tight schedule of stage allotment to do the salsa song before the scheduled performance of "Boriqua Anthem". Chino Rodriguez was
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While El
General was growing up Spanish Reggae as a genre began to rise in Panama. In the 1980s, Spanish Reggae in Panama was the use of riddims that were popular in Jamaica and the rapping/singing of direct translations on the same beat. As Panamaians of Caribbean descent the use of Jamaican riddims
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and police brutality. This could be seen in the music of El
General's former band partner Renato, whose 1987 Spanish Reggae song âLo que el D.E.N.I. puede hacerâ, based on Lloyd Lovindeer's Jamaican hit "Babylon Boops", recounts a case of police brutality in response to a domestic violence incident.
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The Panama Canal connects
Atlantic and Pacific trade routes and the descendants of the Black workers brought over âdancehallâan updated version of Jamaican reggaeâinto Panamanian sound system parties,â Panama, as a result, became a âmulticultural melting potâ in which folks from Jamaica and Barbados
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The relationship between labor of Black, low-income folks in Panama City and reggaeton music has been their usage of reggae music as a form of protest. Afro-Panamanian artist Renato expressed that it was through singing reggaeton that financially struggling Black folks could protest the government
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Jamaicans, Bajans, Trinidadians and other West
Indians moved to Panama to fill the need of labor for the construction of the Panama Canal. As laborers on the Canal they were met with harsh conditions like low wages and terrible living conditions. Black Panamanians of Caribbean descent (antillanos)
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variety of reggae music. Early examples of this were the international and somewhat mainstream songs, "Te Ves Buena" and "Tu Pum Pum". âTu Pum Pum" emerged after a friend of El
General invited him to collaborate with a Jamaican producer that was searching for a âdifferent sound in Panama." Both
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in Puerto Rico, establishing the popularity of
Spanish-language reggae rap in Latin America and the Caribbean. El General's success also serves as a way of understanding how important the connection between Black communities in Panama, the Caribbean (Jaimaica, Barbados, etc.), and the
316:, and how he had hoped to gain musical acceptance in Jamaica out of respect for reggae native home: Jamaica. He also shared that reggae transitioned into a meaningful form of protest and a means of sharing information regarding everyday life, the news, or corruption in the government.
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He started his musical career when he was 19 years old, and for 17 years, his albums achieved gold status 32 times and platinum 17 times. Popular reggae in
Spanish music in Panama was (and is still) called plena. Songs like "Muévelo" (1991), "Tu Pum Pum" (1991),
336:, Ivy Queen shared her concerns regarding the role that commercialization of the genre plays in potentially silencing the rebellious fundamental themes in the music. The pushing away of Black roots can be detrimental to the very history that is reggaeton.
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style, were very successful in North
America. After getting his foot in the door of the commercial market, many other Spanish-language dancehall reggae artists became famous in the mainstream as well. He has a unique, easy to listen to style of
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El General's success has been tremendous and influential to the genre of Reggaeton today. After gaining international notoriety in the early 1990s, his style of Spanish Reggae influenced âUndergroundâ which would birth what is now considered
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In 2004, El General went on a farewell tour, announcing his retirement to focus on producing. However, after a few years, he seemed to have disappeared completely. A video that surfaced in 2008 features Franco explaining his return to the
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growing up, El General recounts in an interview his love for reggae. When he was younger, he was a part of a group called Renato and the Four Stars, which is when he got his nickname, âEl General,â where they would sing reggae in Spanish.
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faith and his leave from the music scene. Franco describes his time making music as a dark era and refers to his platinum records and accolades as âtrophies from the devilâ. Franco is part of a wave of Latin artists (like
367:) who have left Reggaeton for religious reasons. Gata, a cultural critic and Reggaeton artist, links the trend of these artists to notions of patriarchy and machismo and feeling guilty over sexual explicit lyrics.
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In addition to reggae anti-policing history, themes regarding the commercialization of reggaeton, sexism, homophobia, and colorism emerged. In the podcast Loud hosted by Puerto Rican and reggaeton artist
297:" and "Te Ves Buena" are among his greatest hits. In 1992, El General received an MTV award for Best Latin Video with the great success of "Muévelo" produced by Pablo "Pabanor" Ortiz and
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Describing himself as a ârestless child,â El General would use different objects such as buckets, flutes, and anything in front of him to serve as an instrument. Musically influenced by
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Caribbean-American communities in New York. The influence of El General and Panamanian Spanish Regé artists, has been noted by popular reggae artists like Maicol Superstar
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were also mistreated and segregated based on their Caribbean ancestry and were unable to assimilate to national Panamanian culture.
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When asked in an interview about reggae and its true roots, El General responded with the history of the construction of the
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and migration of Jamaican folks into Panama. He shared that his musicality had been influenced by Burro Banton and
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His breakout performance came in 1994, when he was featured on the song "Robi-Rob's Boriqua Anthem" from
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This article is about the Panamanian considered father of Spanish reggae. For the Tunisian rapper, see
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able to convince Ralph Mercado to allow more time so that El General could surprise his fans.
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675:"Perreo 101: Puente Entre Panama y Puerto Rico feat. Maicol Superstar on Apple Podcasts"
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song before his performance of "Robi-Rob's Boriqua Anthem". The performance was at the
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He then received a scholarship, the young artist moved to the United States to study
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During the early 1990s, he was one of the artists who initiated the Spanish-language
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Santos, Mayra. 1996. "Puerto Rican Underground." Centro 8, no. 1 & 2: 219â231.
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733:"Panamanian Artists Helped Birth Reggaeton, Then the Industry Left Them Behind"
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El General began singing and composing songs at the age of 12 in his home in
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El General retired from music in 2004 and became a Jehovah's Witness.
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648:. United States of America: Duke University Press. pp. 29â31.
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301:. In 1993, El General won the Rap Artist of the Year Award at the
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and has produced many well-known songs all over Latin America.
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were entering Panamanian spaces. Many reggaeton songs use
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Leonard, David J.; Lugo-Lugo, Carmen R., eds. (2015).
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607:"ÂżDĂłnde quedĂł Edgardo A. Franco, "El General"?"
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225:, Panama. El General is of Jamaican descent.
268:. During this time, he started working with
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572:Latino History and Culture: An Encyclopedia
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542:Latin Music: Musicians, Genres, and Themes
179:(born 27 September 1969), better known as
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201:songs, performed in Spanish
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605:Vanguardia (2 March 2016).
539:Stavans, Ilan, ed. (2014).
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826:Rodven Records artists
397:"No MĂĄs Guerra" (1991)
389:Muévelo Con el General
177:Edgardo Armando Franco
53:Background information
278:Madison Square Garden
46:Viña del Mar Festival
467:El General: The Hits
449:Back to the Original
401:El Poder del General
299:Erick "More" Morillo
256:Career and influence
821:RCA Records artists
189:and a precursor to
21:El General (rapper)
646:Remixing ReggaetĂłn
437:ColecciĂłn Original
655:978-0-8223-5964-7
582:978-1-317-46646-8
552:978-0-313-34396-4
461:General De Fiesta
356:Jehovah's Witness
303:Lo Nuestro Awards
295:Rica y Apretadita
262:C+C Music Factory
186:reggae en Español
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611:Vanguardia
486:References
443:Serie 2000
425:Move It Up
407:Es Mundial
377:Pu tun tun
349:Retirement
314:Bob Marley
284:(owner of
238:Bob Marley
181:El General
115:Instrument
107:Occupation
64:1969-09-27
32:El General
413:Clubb 555
342:ReggaetĂłn
334:Ivy Queen
264:'s album
223:RĂo Abajo
203:deejaying
198:dancehall
191:reggaetĂłn
128:1990â2006
93:dancehall
737:Remezcla
155:PolyGram
76:, Panama
506:28 July
455:IS BACK
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160:Polydor
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322:dembow
150:Rodven
133:Labels
118:Vocals
110:Singer
81:Genres
742:5 May
717:5 May
684:5 May
274:salsa
98:ragga
791:IMDb
770:2022
763:VICE
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