Centro Journal ISSN: 1538-6279
[email protected] The City University of New York Estados Unidos Dinzey-Flores, Zaire Zenit DE LA DISCO AL CASERÍO: URBAN SPATIAL AESTHETICS AND POLICY TO THE BEAT OF REGGAETÓN Centro Journal, vol. XX, núm. 2, 2008, pp. 35-69 The City University of New York New York, Estados Unidos Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=37712148002 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative CENTRO Journal Volume7 xx Number 2 fall 2008 De la Disco al caserío: Urban Spatial aeStheticS and policy to the beat of reggaetón Za i r e Ze n i t Di n Z e y -Fl o r e s a b s t r a c t Conversing with urban sociological theories, and relying on a content analysis of the songs’ lyrics, this essay exposes the “urban spatial aesthetics” of reggaetón. The paper examines the particular views of the city that reggaetón makes public and the policy manifestations of these representations. I exhibit the reggaetoneros’ lyrical construct of an urban socio-spatial community actualized between the disco, the barrio, the caseríos, and the street. I show that the lyrical profile of reggaetón underscores poverty, violence, masculinity, and race as vital constructs of an authentically urban experience. The environmental elements and themes display an aesthetic that recognizes the city as dualistically liberating and constraining; an aesthetic identified here in the “blin-blin” sensibilities.