Tego Calderón - El Abayarde

Tego Calderón's 2002 debut is the album to choose if you want reggaeton with a strong Afro-Puerto Rican identity. He mixes dembow with bomba, plena, salsa and hip-hop, and writes plainly about race and class on the island. Pa' Que Retozen is the party track, while Loíza, named after the town at the heart of the island's Black heritage, shows how pointed and proud the record can be.