The title of this blog post comes from a very specific line from an Afisha Daily article which calls the duo Miyagi and Andypana's style "Caucasian Reggaetón". The quotation reads as follows, "It turned out that the Caucasian reggaetón of Miyagi and Andy Panda is easy to borrow and replicate - this is how hookah rap appeared." However, as the quotation aptly notes, the group is mostly known for being the 'fathers' of the style called 'Hookah rap' and thus, by exploiting the seductive flow and down-tempo suave of reggae (albeit through the Central Asiatic lens, that's to say the 'Exotic' lens), the mainstream style of Russian 'pop-rap' (although not quite accurate aesthetically speaking) was born. But this post, in conjunction with my dissertation, will look specifically at the reggaetón style and its aesthetics, because it's a fascinating one that, in many ways predates the influx of R'n'B in the 2000s, although was certainly bolstered by its presence thanks to Timati and his many musical colleagues.
An interesting tangent is provided by a VKontakte poll which asked "Is Reggaetón possible in Russia?", to which responses were incredibly diverse in orientation. One responded, "I agree, reggaetón is only a Latin American theme in Spanish. And in Russian it would be nonsense like Timati", while another disagreed although capitulating that its presence in Russia would be less impactful than its Spanish one, "Possibly in Russian...but but but in Spanish is always better this music is perfectly suited for Latino beats." A particularly bold and impassioned response is worth quoting in full, as she brings up many good points:
"No! Impossible. It will get bad. When a boy from a cold and distant dozdropezdrinsk "according to Russian concepts" will try something there. let the Russians dwell on Russian rock, chistushkas and thieves' songs. and reggaetón, R'n'B and soul should not be touched! This is the music of blacks, about blacks and for blacks. Reggaetón has roots in puertorico, a lot of hip hop and salsa... you know.
However, there was one line that deserves special focus, as it highlights a tenuous difficulty in accepting the 'Russianness' theory of Russian hip-hop by which my dissertation lies:
How can you adopt a foreign culture without understanding its roots?"
She continues to note that "Reggaeton is performed only by Latinos, they accept that it is a mixture of rap and their national music", going on to make a distinction between rap as a sociocultural representation of the African-American and minority experience and an adopted art-form, "French rap is performed by at least colored or mulattos. but Japanese rap is really not rap))) at the expense of "rap" in Russia, it is not rap."
How do we move on from this? What can be gained from a blind adoption of music genres?
It must be admitted that 'reggaetón' in its socially-connected form does not truly exist in Russia, while its aesthetic form as a musical genre does. Is this a negative thing though? Depends on what one views the purpose of the genre's existence is, and by what rules the adoption of the artform the 'user' must abide by and respect if they are to use its aesthetics. With this in mind, let us now turn to the music by which 'reggaetón' finds its musical voice.
Reggaeton, in purely aesthetic terms, can be identified by its "dembow" rhythm, explained via Wikipedia as a mixture of, "kick drum, kickdown drum, palito (two small wooden rods knocked together), snare drum, timbal (set of shallow, metal-framed drums), timballroll and (sometimes) a high-hat cymbal." As Marshall (2008) explains in his analysis of the genre, the quintessential 'Reggaeton' rhythmic pattern of 3+3+2 (tresillio, a simplified variation of the syncopated, hemiola-based habanera rhythm) is the outcome of a composite of Caribbean influences. He also delineated, through his analysis of Nando Boom's 2016 song "Ellos Benia" the distinct heart of the 'dembow'. Namely, a on-the-beat kick-drum pattern with snare and timbal filling in the space. He also stresses that, although reggaetón began significantly growing in influence by the early 2000s with its coalition with dancehall music and hip-hop (leading to mixtape culture and synthesizer influence), the "dembow" rhythm, and variants like the 'Poco man jam', 'bam bam', and 'drum song', remained the thumbprint at the center of reggaetón. With the influence of digitalization and commercialization, reggaetón underwent stylistic pluralization with salsa, merengue (fast, 2/4 rhythms with a five-beat pattern known as quintillo), and bachata (essentially Latin bard music).
Marshall notes in his conclusion, and which becomes important for Russia, is the change of perspective on the genre now that the reggae style has been infused with more sensuous styles, "For most...it is body music; animated by lustful lyrics, bawdy music." Thus, while some scholars see reggae (with its dembow heart) and its "sexy profile" as an attempt to detach from dominating moral codes, others see it as "a classic example of...simply stealing musical figures (even from oneself!) in order to capitalize, crassly, on previous successes."
There's an interesting forum available if you are curious about the Russian artists who have used reggaetón, although most of them are unknown now given the forum is from 2007. However, you must only look to the new generation of Russian rappers (as well as the Old-School) to hear how reggaetón has infused itself into the sound of Russian rap today, whose primary influence in the Atlanta trap scene, so much so that a 'New Atlanta' festival was held in 2019 in Ufa to highlight its seminal power over the aesthetics of Russian rap today. Another addition to the pot is the title of "Latin trap", used in some cases as a synonym for reggaetón, although aesthetic differences boil down to the influence of dembow and trap. In any case, tracks like "Русский реггетон" (MIKMIL), OG Buda's album "OPG City", "Rise Up" by Miyagi and AndyPanda, along with many others if you stay vigilant to its presence, are good references for its diffusion into Russia. Although its dance style is much more popular, a detailed study of Russian reggaetón is required. A future project perhaps?
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