“Al fin veo la meta.”
On Sunday, the “King of Reggaeton” announced on his website that he’s biding his farewells from music by releasing “Legendaddy,” the “best produced album” with music styles that have defined him throughout his three decade journey.
Born Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, the Puerto Rican artist has worked for 32 years to be a respected Latin artist.
In his video, he explained his strives to be a role model for other people and set himself as an example that showed there are no limitations when it comes to what is meant for you.
And he did just that.
Daddy Yankee started his journey into the music scenes back in 1994 when reggaeton was not well known or appreciated for its combination of Latin Caribbean music, Jamaican reggae rhythms and combination of rapping and singing.
But with poise and style, Daddy Yankee paved ways for artists like him to enter the scene and bring reggaeton to a greater scale. Greater than what he brought it to with his famous single “Gasolina.”
Daddy Yankee obtained the accomplishments of:
- First Latin artist to reach No. 1 on Spotify’s Global Artist chart
- Most No. 1 singles on the Billboard Latin Rhythm Airplay chart
- Most titles charted on the Billboard Latin Rhythm Airplay chart
- Most viewed video online (for “Despacito”)
- Most viewed music video online (for “Despacito”)
- Most viewed music video on YouTube (duet) (for “Despacito”)
- Most weeks at No. 1 in the USA (single) (for “Despacito”)
- Most liked video online (for “Despacito”)
- First YouTube video to receive 5 billion views (for “Despacito”)
- Most streamed track worldwide (for “Despacito”)
“Este género la gente dice que lo hice mundial, pero fueron ustedes quienes me dieron las llaves para abrir las puertas, para converti este género en el mas grande del mundo.”
Translation: “People say that I made this genre worldwide, but it was you who gave me the keys to open the doors, to make this genre the biggest in the world.”
The album, which is set to be followed by the followed by “La Ultima Vuelta” tour, marks his first studio album since 2012’s “Prestige.” Legendaddy is set to be about fight, party, war, and romance — “es lucha, es fiesta, es guerrea, es romance.”
His retirement comes with the conclusion of meeting his goals of bringing hope to Puerto Ricans and other Latin communities that wished to do something more with their talents.
“En los barrios donde nosotros crecimos, la mayoría queríamos ser narcos traficante, hoy por hoy, voy bajo por los barrios y los caseríos y la mayoría quiere ser cantante,” said the singer. “so para mi vale mucho.”
Translation: “In the neighborhoods where we grew up, most of us wanted to be drug traffickers, today I go through the neighborhoods and the farms and most of them want to be a singer,” said the rapper. “To me, that’s worth a lot.”
“Legendaddy” is set to release on March 24 and “La Última Vuelta” world tour is set to begin in August.
