Master Joe & OG Black

To better understand Reggaeton you need to be familiar with artist the artist and were they come from. Just like Hip-hop most artists come from the streets. Back in the early 90’s young men and women began using music as a way to express themselves when no one else in society would listen. OG Black who is Dominican and Master Joe who is Puerto Rican began their careers at the age of 14 in 1993. “We’ve been part since the beginning and that’s why we came up with the album “Los K-Becillas” so that people could know that we were part of starting this movement. When asked about the origins of their names O.G. Black said “Well I don’t know if you noticed the black on me,” with a chuckle“ ‘O.G.’ comes from the Hip-hop world for “Original Gangster.” “Well, I got the opportunity to live in New York for 5 years and noticed Hip-hop artists liked to abbreviate their names, recalls Master Joe. “My real name is Joel and called me Joe and I came up with Master Joe because I liked how it sounded.”

“We started at the age of 14, when this started there was no saying that this was going to be something big. We would just do it because we loved music, O.G. Black and Master Joe explain to Reggaetonline’s Eddie ‘Nino Brown’ Rosas. “We united in Puerto Rico Cazerillo (slang Spanish term meaning Projects or Hood) and that’s when the first CD was born, “Playero 37”, which featured artist such as Daddy Yankee. It was just made for all the local kids in the hoods and just to have something to play in the stereo during parties. However, this kept growing and growing and it became so famous that its now Reggaeton”.

The demand for Reggaeton in Puerto Rico was enough to turn this new genre into a self-propelled vehicle of expression for the underclass youth of Puerto Rico. Poverty and harsh living conditions were everyday life for Reggaeton artists, and it showed through the lyrics of their songs. Young artists found Reggaeton was a means to share their experiences in life, raw and uncensored, which has made Reggaeton’s lyrics hard for much of the upper class of Latin America to digest. Those who could not relate to the lyrics of the music saw Reggaeton as vulgar, and claimed that the music was a negative representation of life in Latin America.

Reggaeton’s reputation has suffered severely in several Latin American countries due to the derogatory nature of its lyrics. Reggaeton artists were not allowed to perform concerts in a few Caribbean countries. It was banned on radio, and albums were boycotted in countries like Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The governments of these countries often criticize Reggaeton because they feel its lyrics are too violent, vulgar, sexual and derogatory towards women. The Dominican Republic is the latest country to attempt to place a nation-wide ban on Reggaeton. “Sex is in everything, including Reggaeton, we also do it, we sing about it to women. Many people find it offensive but, in no way do we disrespect them. Many artists do it; for example “Juan Gabriel” (a very famous Mexican singer) does it but he does it in a very different way. We will never put any woman down, they are the base of Reggaeton they are very important”.

Despite the tough criticism that Reggaeton has endured over the past ten years, it has developed a strong following. The drastic changes artists have made recently to their lyrics have made Reggaeton’s transition from being classified as an underground music, to becoming a part of mainstream radio. “It was very difficult because in the time of 1994 Reggaeton was illegal,” says Master Joe. “If the police saw you with a Reggaeton CD they would take it away. It wasn’t allowed in stores either. But it wasn’t all that, we were just kids with good intentions. Now we have a more mature mentality and know we have to take our music to the next level because now everybody listens to Reggaeton even children.” What started as an underground movement in the Caribbean and Latin America, has seemingly become an overnight success in the United States because a few artists were mature enough to see that Reggaeton needed to evolve in order to reach a larger audience.

“Los K-Becillas” is actually their first production. They have worked with DJ Blass, DJ Nelson, Playero, Noriega, Rafy Mercenario, and the plan to work hard to make sure that Reggaeton continues to climb the charts. They were also Feature in Daddy Yankee’s 2005 tour. “We there are a lot of artist we admire. We’ve worked with Daddy Yankee and a lot of Reggaeton artist from Puerto Rico. If it comes to Hip-Hop we would like to work with 50 Cent, if its dancehall it would be Beanman, We like different style of music,” says Master Joe.O.G. Black states that he would like to work with mariachi’s. “I’m a fan of Mexican artist “Antonio Aguilar”. If I could work with him it would be great and if not I would like to take some of his greatest hits and make a remix. I would also like to work with Mexican artist Alejandro Fernandez. We’re actually working on something like that. Ever since we were kids we loved Mexican music. Fans can look forward to more from the duo like the high energy track ‘Mil Amores’ from their last CD “Los K-Becillas.” With artists Like O.G. Black and Master Joe who are committed to the success of the genre, Reggaeton will definitely become even stronger in the years to come.