Centro Journal ISSN: 1538-6279
[email protected] The City University of New York Estados Unidos Domino Rudolph, Jennifer PIDIERON CACAO: LATINIDAD AND BLACK IDENTITY IN THE REGGAETÓN OF DON OMAR Centro Journal, vol. XXIII, núm. 1, 2011, pp. 31-53 The City University of New York New York, Estados Unidos Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=37722223002 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 xx111 Number 1 spring 2011 PIDIERON CACAO: LATINIDAD AND BLACK IDENTITY IN THE REGGAETÓN OF DON OMAR Jennifer Domino ruDolph a b s t r a c t Parting from existing work on music and identity, this essay explores the ways that black masculinity and material culture structure Don Omar’s claims of Latino unity. I use the performance of Don Omar to understand how black pride and capital become markers of latinidad. I analyze the persona of Don Omar via Afro Puerto Rican identity as compared to the development of the Italian gangster and the black gangsta and nigga in hip hop culture. I also examine the complex ways Afro-Puerto Rican and African- American men negotiate gendered subordination and ethnic pride through reggaetón. [Keywords: reggaetón, race, masculinity, black pride, transnationalism, poverty] [ 31 ] “Pidieron cacao [They ate crow].” Don omar “Intro” The LasT Don IN THE FIRST TRACK OF HIS DEBUT STUDIO ALBUM, DON OMAR positions himself in the regaetón world through a series of shout-outs to friends and foes.