Río Abajo is a corregimiento within Panama City , in Panamá District , Panamá Province , Panama with a population of 26,607 as of 2010. Its population as of 1990 was 33,155; its population as of 2000 was 28,714. It is a West Indian neighborhood; the unique culture of this area of Panama stems mainly from the English Caribbean people who relocated to the area from Anglophone islands in the Antilles more than a century ago, namely Jamaica and Barbados . Rio Abajo consists of over 30 streets, the most notable are 4th, 13th and 17th streets, 2 story wood houses, churches with old southern architecture. Rio Abajo is also the name of a river flowing through Rio Abajo neighborhood.
23-417: One of Rio Abajo's most famous sons is El General (born Edgardo A. Franco), arguably the one musical artist who most helped to spread the popularity of Spanish Reggae. The latter a product of Panamanian youth of Caribbean descent with the first known one to be sung by Renato. 9°01′10″N 79°30′05″W / 9.01944°N 79.50139°W / 9.01944; -79.50139 This article about
46-521: A salsa song before his performance of "Robi-Rob's Boriqua Anthem". The performance was at the Madison Square Garden produced by Ralph Mercado (owner of RMM Records 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
69-403: A domestic violence incident. 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 Ivy Queen , Ivy Queen shared her concerns regarding the role that commercialization of the genre plays in potentially silencing the rebellious fundamental themes in
92-461: 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 Jehovah's Witness 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 “trophies from the devil”. Franco
115-437: A form of protest. Afro-Panamanian artist Renato expressed that it was through singing reggaeton that financially struggling Black folks could protest the government and police brutality. This could be seen in the music of El General's former band partner Renato, whose 1987 Spanish Reggae song “Lo que el D.E.N.I. puede hacer”, based on Lloyd Lovindeer's Jamaican hit "Babylon Boops", recounts a case of police brutality in response to
138-778: A meaningful form of protest and a means of sharing information regarding everyday life, the news, or corruption in the government. The Panama Canal connects Atlantic and Pacific trade routes and the descendants of the Black workers brought over “dancehall—an updated version of Jamaican reggae—into Panamanian sound system parties,” Panama, as a result, became a “multicultural melting pot” in which folks from Jamaica and Barbados were entering Panamanian spaces. Many reggaeton songs use dembow as their underlying basis for rhythm. The relationship between labor of Black, low-income folks in Panama City and reggaeton music has been their usage of reggae music as
161-580: Is of Jamaican descent. 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) were also mistreated and segregated based on their Caribbean ancestry and were unable to assimilate to national Panamanian culture. While El General
184-408: Is part of a wave of Latin artists (like Héctor el Father and Farruko ) 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. Chino Rodriguez James Mui , known professionally as Chino Rodriguez (February 2, 1954 — November 5, 2022),
207-626: The Lower East Side of Manhattan . In his late teens, he met Orchestra Dee Jay in Brooklyn , who brought him into the fold as a band boy, then later as an occasional coro (chorus) singer. He formed his first band on the Lower East Side, simply called Chino Rodriguez and his Orchestra in 1968-69, playing at weddings, birthdays, and private parties. Through the local musician's union, American Federation of Musicians 802, he found work playing music for
230-634: The Americas including the US, Panama, and Puerto Rico. This led to extreme popularity in the 90s with his first song “Tu Pum Pum,” His breakout performance came in 1994, when he was featured on the song "Robi-Rob's Boriqua Anthem" from C+C Music Factory 's album Anything Goes . During this time, he started working with Chino Rodriguez , an entrepreneur in the Latin music industry, who convinced Franco a.k.a. El General (as his close friends and family would call him), to perform
253-618: 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 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 In 2004, El General went on
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#1732858065934276-543: The New York City Department of Parks arts program, from 1970-74. Rodriguez recorded two albums for Ismael Maisonave's label, Salsa Records: Maestro De Kung-Fu , produced by Andy Harlow, and Si Te Vas Mi China , produced by Larry Harlow . Maestro de Kung-Fu contained "La Computadora", the first Latin recording using a MOOG synthesizer, played by Larry Harlow . Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez played on "Moonlight Serenade." Chino Rodriguez y La Consagración
299-606: The Spanish-language dancehall variety of reggae music. Early examples of this were the international and somewhat mainstream songs, "Te Ves Buena" and "Tu Pum Pum". “Tu Pum Pum" emerged after a friend of El General invited him to collaborate with a Jamaican producer that was searching for a “different sound in Panama." Both songs, performed in Spanish deejaying style, were very successful in North America. After getting his foot in
322-543: 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 dance music and has produced many well-known songs all over Latin America. El General retired from music in 2004 and became one of Jehovah's Witnesses . El General began singing and composing songs at the age of 12 in his home in Río Abajo , Panama. El General
345-411: The genre anti-establishment and a form of resistance to a country that denied Panamanians of Caribbean descent. Describing himself as a “restless child,” El General would use different objects such as buckets, flutes, and anything in front of him to serve as an instrument. Musically influenced by Bob Marley and Burro Banton growing up, El General recounts in an interview his love for reggae. When he
368-403: The geography of Panamá Province is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . El General Edgardo Armando Franco (born 27 September 1969), better known as El General , is a Panamanian former reggae artist considered by some to be one of the fathers of reggae en Español and a precursor to reggaetón . During the early 1990s, he was one of the artists who initiated
391-876: The great success of "Muévelo" produced by Pablo "Pabanor" Ortiz and Erick "More" Morillo . In 1993, El General won the Rap Artist of the Year Award at the Lo Nuestro Awards . When asked in an interview about reggae and its true roots, El General responded with the history of the construction of the Panama Canal and migration of Jamaican folks into Panama. He shared that his musicality had been influenced by Burro Banton and Bob Marley , 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
414-563: The music. The pushing away of Black roots can be detrimental to the very history that is reggaeton. 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 “Underground” which would birth what is now considered Reggaetón in Puerto Rico, establishing the popularity of Spanish-language reggae rap in Latin America and
437-612: The scheduled performance of "Boriqua Anthem". Chino Rodriguez was able to convince Ralph Mercado to allow more time so that El General could surprise his fans. 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), " Rica y Apretadita " and "Te Ves Buena" are among his greatest hits. In 1992, El General received an MTV award for Best Latin Video with
460-659: Was an American musician and impresario who specialized in Latin music , salsa and Latin jazz . Rodriguez was born James Mui on February 2, 1954 in the Little Italy / Chinatown area of Manhattan , New York City , to a Chinese father, Chueng Mui (Chinese: 梅莊, Méi Zhuāng ), who obtained U.S. citizenship by joining the Merchant Marines during World War II , and a third-generation Puerto Rican mother, Gloria Figueroa Rodríguez. Rodriguez studied music at Junior High School 65 on
483-604: 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 was anti-establishment and enforced what Wayne Marshall says, “ ‘provides a telling set of examples of how the meanings of Jamaican reggae continue to resonate in Panama, even after translation into Spanish’ ” The use of Caribbean sounds in Spanish Reggae made
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#1732858065934506-526: Was nominated for Latin New York Magazine' s award for Best New Band. Rodriguez's second album, Si Te Vas Mi China , was recorded in 1976 after a year's worth of daily rehearsals. It produced two hits upon its release in 1977 and, like his debut album, achieved gold status. Rodriguez began working part-time at Fania Records as a teenager, after FANIA was about to purchase Salsa Records. On the record label Chino Rodriguez recorded on and began helping with
529-648: Was younger, he was a part of a group called Renato and the Four Stars, which is when he got his nickname, “El General,” where they would sing reggae in Spanish. He then received a scholarship, the young artist moved to the United States to study business administration , 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
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