De la disco al caserío: Urban spatial aesthetics and policy to the beat of reggaetón

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. I conclude suggesting that reggaetoneros have made public the plight of the urban poor in Puerto Rico and unearthed their potentials, becoming sociopolitical ambassadors who calibrate the urban policy frames in Puerto Rico.