BMI will pair with the Los Angeles Times to present the second annual “How I Wrote the Song” panel Saturday, February 9, from 1p.m. until 3p.m., at the Key Club in L.A. Mirroring the format of 2007’s sold-out forum, another elite cross-section of established hitmakers, including Rodney Jerkins, Chris Daughtry, Mos Def, Ben Moody of Evanescence, Polow Da Don, Anthony Hamilton and Brian Howes will discuss their work, the raw ideas and the occasionally idiosyncratic processes pooled into composing songs that resonate with a broad spectrum of listeners. Moderated by BMI’s Vice President, Writer Publisher Relations Catherine Brewton and Los Angeles Times Music Critic Ann Powers, the event is open to the public. Advance tickets are available now for $10 through Ticketmaster at www.keyclub.com or the Key Club box office; day-of admission at the door will be $20.

Grammy Award-winner Rodney Jerkins’s creative dexterity materializes in distinct but diverse musical triumphs. The pen behind take-charge smashes including Destiny Child’s “Say My Name,” Brandy & Monica’s duet “The Boy is Mine” and Beyoncé’s “Déjà Vu,” Jerkins has also produced work by contemporary superstars including Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and Destiny’s Child. His unerring ear led to a vice president of a&r position with Island Def Jam, while Janet Jackson’s forthcoming project Discipline features his signature production.

American Idol alum Chris Daughtry has brazenly staked a record-breaking place in contemporary music, confidently fronting the aptly titled rock band Daughtry. The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter signed with RCA and management powerhouse 19 Entertainment after his fan-propelled success on American Idol, and his band’s eponymous debut sold more than 1 million copies in only five weeks. The projectile success of the album, featuring songs “It’s Not Over,” “Home” and “Over You,” resulted in the fastest-selling debut in the history of SoundScan.

Rapper, actor, musician and activist, Mos Def’s sheer versatility places him amongst contemporary pop culture’s premier creators. Musically, his work includes blithe collaborations with legendary group De La Soul and artist Talib Kweli. Def’s partnership with Kweli, the duet album Black Star, resulted in underground frenzy and glowing critical praise. His subsequent solo album, Black on Both Sides, produced more of the same. Nominated for two Grammys, Def also boasts Golden Globe, Emmy and Source award nods.

Serial hitmaker Ben Moody first gained recognition as guitarist and co-founder of the Grammy Award-winning group Evanescence. His output during and after the band has further exposed an adroit singer/songwriter capable of powerful hooks and lush layers; songs including Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life” and “My Immortal,” along with Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You,” sprang from Moody’s id. Collaborations as a producer with Clarkson, Celine Dion, Bo Bice and Lindsey Lohan further emphasize his seemingly limitless versatility.

Super producer and innovative songwriter Polow Da Don’s quintessential hip factor springs from authentic skill. His innate musical savvy has finessed infectious hits including Fergie’s “Glamorous,” the Pussy Cat Dolls’ “Buttons,” Ciara’s “Promise” and Jamie Foxx’s “DJ Play a Love Song.” Fergie’s enthusiastic shout out, “Polow!” on her smash “London Bridge,” made Da Don’s fluid alias a pop culture catch phrase, adding household recognition to the power player’s growing reputation.

Singer/songwriter Anthony Hamilton’s blend of old-school soul and cool contemporary grit is artist’s art in the best sense of the phrase: Members of the neo-soul and poetic hip hop elite including D’Angelo, Tupac Shakur and Eve have looked to Hamilton for backup harmonies, while the North Carolina native’s critically-acclaimed solo work has landed on arguably avant-garde projects including the American Gangster film soundtrack. His 2007 effort, Southern Comfort, features eleven new songs all written by Hamilton.

Brian Howes' life in music did not come as a surprise with a great-great grandfather who was a baritone opera singer, a grandmother who was a songwriter, and a grandfather who played alto sax for swing band greats Benny Goodman and Louis Prima, his career choice was practically predetermined. As part of punk-ska-rap band DDT early on in his career, Brian toured with bands such as Public Enemy, Kid Rock, Alice Cooper, The Scorpion and DOA. Post DDT, he penned hits and earned placements in several movies all while maintaining number 1 and top 10 international hits. Brian then added production to is arsenal and has had success by writing and producing with Grammy-nominated Atlantic band Skillet amongst others. Brian’s recent success has included collaborations with Kara Dioguardi, Shelly Piken, Chad Kroeger, Hinder and Chris Daughtry of American Idol fame for his RCA Records Album.

T.I. and Carrie Underwood each earned two awards. T.I. won Favorite Male Artist (Rap/Hip-Hop) and Favorite Album for T.I. vs. T.I.P. (Rap/Hip-Hop), while Underwood garnered the Favorite Female Artist award (Country) and Favorite Album award (Country) for Some Hearts.

BMI’s songwriters dominated the country category with Tim McGraw picking up the Favorite Male Artist award and Rascal Flatts winning the Favorite Band, Duo or Group award.

Additional BMI AMA winners include Rihanna (Favorite Female Artist, Soul/Rhythm & Blues), Linkin Park (Favorite Artist, Alternative Rock), Nickelback (Favorite Band, Duo or Group, Pop or Rock), Jennifer Lopez (Favorite Latin Music Artist) and Casting Crowns (Favorite Artist, Contemporary Inspirational).

And amazing is what she has proven herself to be in the short time she has been writing. Upon graduating from the Baltimore School of Performing Arts, Makeba attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where she received her Bachelor’s degree in music business management with a minor in songwriting. Shortly thereafter, she moved to New York City where she began honing her skills as a songwriter, eventually gaining the attention of Bad Boy Music Publishing VP Francesca Spero.

It wasn’t long before Makeba found herself writing and even singing background vocals for artists such as 3LW, Jennifer Lopez and B2K. One of her first successful songs was “All I Have” by Jennifer Lopez and by the end of 2002, Makeba was officially signed to Bad Boy Music Publishing/EMI Music Publishing.

In the last five years, Makeba has co-written several hit songs, including “Déjà Vu” by Beyoncé, “Do What You Do” by Katharine McPhee and “If It’s Lovin’ That You Want” by Rihanna.

A young woman with a wealth of talent that sets her apart, Makeba’s dream of becoming a solo artist should soon be a reality.

Méndez, best known for blending styles in both English and Spanish, includes an array of dance, pop, house, ballad, bolero, cumbia, merengue, salsa, electronica, techno, and jazz in his recordings. A multi-talented artist, he can be seen in the upcoming film, En Cantante, starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.

Many agree that the salsa genre was officially born when the song “Salsa y Bembé,” by Jaime “Jimmy” Sabater, appeared on fellow Puerto Rican Joe Cuba’s (Gilberto Miguel Calderon) album, Stepping Out, in 1962. Sabater’s most recent effort was “Mo” with José Mangual, Jr. and his band Son Boricua, on the Cobo label in 2002 and with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, recording “Un Gran Dia En El Barrio” in that same year.

Shown are (front row): songwriter Josiah Bell; BMI’s June Neira; songwriter/artists Matthew Mayfield, Frankie Storm and Duncan Sheik; composer Steven Sater; and songwriter/artists Lady GaGa and Lanz; (back row): BMI’s Ben Tischker and Wardell Malloy; songwriter Claude Kelly; songwriter/artist Brent Smith of Shinedown; BMI’s Charlie Feldman; songwriters Curtis Richardson and Dave Katz; and BMI’s Samantha Cox.

Josiah Bell
Songwriter/producer/engineer; signed first production deal to M2 Entertainment at 14-years-old; produced and wrote six songs for Stellar Award and Grammy-nominated gospel artist Vickie Winans at age 15; produced and wrote two songs for gospel artist Smokie Norful, including the hit single, “Can’t Nobody”; Smokie’s CD went Gold and won a Grammy for Gospel Album of the Year. Josiah is currently working on a solo project.

Dave Katz
Prolific songwriter for bands like Coheed + Cambria, Gym Class Heroes, Boys Like Girls; wrote and produced “Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)” for the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack; worked with Roger Daltry on his 1992 release, Rocks in the Head.

Claude Kelly
Singer/songwriter/vocal arranger for artists like Carl Thomas, Trey Songz, DJ Clue, Ray J, Danity Kane, Brooke Hogan, Frankie J

Lady GaGa
Singer/songwriter and N.Y. native, GaGa was chosen by the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame as one of nine performers in the 2006 New Songwriter’s Showcase, and as result, was signed to a production deal with Sony’s multi-platinum producer, Rob Fusari; since then GaGa has been in the midst of a label and industry frenzy!

Lanz
Songwriter/rapper; by 13, Lanz was already making an impression on New York’s underground rap scene, performing at clubs around town. At 16, her razor sharp lyrics and delivery on tough issues caught the attention of Interscope/Geffen/A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine, who signed her. Currently finishing up her debut CD.

Matthew Mayfield
Lead vocalist/guitarist for Moses Mayfield who was writing his own songs by 12. For him, songwriting is about connecting on a personal, emotional level, “dealing with my own demons and other peoples’ demons, vicariously.” Moses Mayfield has opened for Switchfoot, The Fray, My Morning Jacket and will be opening for Pete Yorn in early ’07. Debut release on Columbia set for March 27.

Curtis Richardson
Has written for Jennifer Lopez and LL Cool J (No. 1 hit “All I Have”), Joss Stone, Rihanna, Sharissa. Coming up in ’07, Curtis will be writing with Craig David, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Chaka Khan.

Steven Sater
A multiple threat with projects in theatre, film, music and television. Sater makes his Broadway debut with the book and lyrics to Spring Awakening. His partner, Duncan Sheik, wrote the music to the smash musical, which topped some of 2006’s Ten Best lists from Time Magazine, USA Today, New York Magazine and both critics from Time-Out New York and The New York Times, placing Spring Awakening among the front-runners for this year. In just a matter of weeks, the CD is already No. 3 on the Billboard charts for Cast Albums and Virgin’s No. 1 best seller for Cast Albums.

Duncan Sheik
Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/recording artist who scored for film and the stage; produced Gold records for himself and his peers; year-long ride on the pop charts with “Barely Breathing”; new CD White Limousine. Broadway debut with writing partner Steve Sater of critically acclaimed Spring Awakening, the new musical based on Frank Wedekind’s controversial 1891 play about a young person’s sexual awakening.

Brent Smith
Lead singer and songwriter for Atlantic platinum recording artists, Shinedown. Brent currently co-wrote the album cut, “There and Back Again” with RCA chart-topping American Idol finalist Daughtry and is currently co-writing in all genres, including rock, pop and country.

Frankie Storm
Philly-based 24-year-old singer/songwriter currently working with production teams like Stargate, Soul Shock and Karlin and the Underdogs.

BMI and the Los Angeles Times will present “How I Wrote That Song,” a panel discussion with some of music’s most successful songwriters. The panel will be held Saturday, Feb. 10 at 2 p.m. at the Key Club (9039 Sunset Blvd.) in Los Angeles in celebration of Grammy Week. Tickets are $10 and are on sale now through Ticketmaster at KeyClub.com, or at the Key Club box office.

Scheduled to participate are top BMI songwriting talents including Cee-Lo (Gnarls Barkley), Dallas Austin, Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy), Sean Garrett, Kara DioGuardi, Butch Walker and Jeffrey Steele. The panel will be moderated by BMI Writer/Publisher Relations VP Catherine Brewton and Los Angeles Times music critic Ann Powers. Attendees can expect an inside look at the creative process, featuring performances of hit songs by each panelist and a Q&A session on the business of songwriting and music.

Panelists:

As lead singer and frontman for the breakout group Gnarls Barkley, Cee-Lo continues to bring his American hip-hop, funk, soul and r&b style to the world. He is a singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Goodie Mob before Gnarls Barkley, and has also recorded two critically acclaimed solo LPs. His successes as a songwriter and producer also include the 2005 hit “Don’t Cha” by The Pussycat Dolls, as well as tracks and guest appearances on upcoming releases from Kelis and Amerie.

At the age of 35, Grammy Award-winning hitmaker Dallas Austin is one of the most sought-after producers in the entertainment business. His creativity and innovative style have shaped the sound of today’s pop and r&b music. He has had the opportunity to work with such legendary stars as Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Usher, Pink, Shakira, Janet Jackson and Gwen Stefani. In 2002, he began a foray into film serving as the executive producer and musical director of the hit Drumline, and then as a producer and composer for ATL. He was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame last fall, an honor he received alongside R.E.M., Jermaine Dupri and Gregg Allman.

Patrick Stump is lead vocalist and guitarist for Grammy-nominated band Fall Out Boy, an American pop-rock band from Wilmetter, Ill. Stump and band members Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley released their 2005 major label debut and third full-length album, From Under the Cork Tree, which went double platinum. Their first single, “Sugar We’re Goin’ Down,” peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and reached No. 1 on MTV’s TRL. The video also won the MTV2 Award at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. A 2006 “Best New Artist” Grammy nominee, Fall Out Boy’s next album, Infinity on High, is scheduled for release on Feb. 6. The lead single, “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race,” debuted at the 2006 American Music Awards.

Sean Garrett got his start after college as a mortgage broker. After the loss of his mother, he realized his heart was in music and he turned his passion of songwriting into his profession. Nicknamed “The Pen” by Jay-Z, the four-time Grammy Award nominee earned the moniker by having three songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two consecutive weeks and helping to ink a majority of Destiny’s Child’s last album, Destiny Fulfilled. He’s responsible for smash singles like Chris Brown‘s “Run It,” Ciara’s “Goodies” and Usher’s “Yeah,” Garrett’s biggest composition to date. Upcoming projects slated for 2007 include works from Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani and Cassidy.

Kara DioGuardi is a Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur. She has had charting singles with a variety of artists, including Christina Aguilera ("Aint No Other Man"), Gwen Stefani ("Rich Girl"), Ashley Simpson ("Pieces Of Me"), Kelly Clarkson ("Walk Away"), Pussy Cat Dolls ("Beep"), Enrique Iglesias ("Escape") and Hilary Duff ("Come Clean"). Kara’s collaborators include Lil Jon, Danja, Dr. Dre, Jon Shanks, Glen Ballard, Scott Storch, Polow, Matt Serletic and will.i.am. She has new releases on albums by Katharine McPhee, Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, Taylor Hicks, Nicole of Pussycat Dolls, Britney Spears, Daddy Yankee and Ashley Tisdale. Kara is also co-owner of Arthouse Entertainment, which was ranked the No. 7 music publishing company of 2006 by Billboard/Nielsen.

Hitmakers fill Nashville’s publishing houses, churning out the twangy sing-alongs that blanket country airwaves. Standing out in such a talented community can’t possibly be as easy as songwriter, artist and producer Jeffrey Steele makes it look. Rascal Flatts, LeAnn Rimes, Montgomery Gentry, Gretchen Wilson, Pat Green, Trace Adkins, Tim McGraw and numerous others have all turned to Steele for a hit or two, a list that covers a virtual “who’s who” of contemporary country’s elite who have wisely come to trust the energetic songwriter with the easy, infectious grin. Steele’s own impassioned performances make him a constant favorite at songwriter festivals and his full-band gigs, where his rugged, boisterous vocals breathe new life both into songs made famous by the stars and other tunes that are patently his. The 2003 BMI Songwriter of the Year’s new album, Hell on Wheels (February 2007), showcases some of those patented Steele tunes, thrusting Jeffrey Steele the artist into a deserved spotlight.

Butch Walker is a recording artist, performer, songwriter and record producer. He formed the popular pop-rock band Marvelous 3, which spawned the hit “Freak of the Week.” Butch then began a solo career in 2000, releasing the albums Left of Self-Centered in 2002 and Letters in 2004, finishing 2005 playing over 200 live shows across both the U.S. and Japan. Several of his songs have been hits for other artists, including Bowling for Soup’s “Girl All the Bad Guys Want.” He has written and produced records for such artists as Pink, Simple Plan, Sevendust and the All-American Rejects. He also co-wrote the song “My Happy Ending” with Avril Lavigne. Walker was named Rolling Stone Producer of the Year in 2005, and having served as a judge on the reality TV series “Rock Star,” he was the producer for the new “Rockstar: Supernova” group.

About the Los Angeles Times:

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Los Angeles Times is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country, with a daily readership of nearly 2.2 million and about 3.3 million on Sunday. The Los Angeles Times and its media businesses and affiliates, including latimes.com, TheEnvelope.com, Times Community Newspapers, Recycler Classifieds, Hoy, and California Community News, are read by approximately 8.1 million-or 62% of all adults in the Southern California marketplace-every week.

The Los Angeles Times has been covering Southern California for over 125 years and is part of Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB), one of the country’s leading media companies with businesses in publishing, the Internet and broadcasting. Additional information about the Los Angeles Times is available at www.latimes.com/mediacenter.

Over 1,000 songwriters and artists entered the highly anticipated competition, which ran from January through early April 2006, with Bentley chosen as the winner by a panel of prominent music industry A&R executives. As the winner, Bentley will be flown to New York City to record a three-song demo Nov. 4-5 at the Demo Center's state-of-the-art recording studios. Bentley's demo will be produced by Ernie Lake, who was twice-nominated for a Grammy for his remixing and production work for artists like the Backstreet Boys, Faith Evans, Britney Spears and Cyndi Lauper, among others, and Mike "G" Guerriero, who has produced chart-topping hits on the Billboard dance charts.

The top prize also includes round-trip airfare for up to four people from anywhere in the continental U.S. and a three-night hotel stay. DiscMakers, the leading CD manufacturer for the independent musician, will also provide Bentley with 1,000 finished demo CDs.

A native of Oklahoma, daRome Bentley is quickly emerging as one of Atlanta's soul music scene-makers. He began singing in church, and later performed as an opening act for r&b hitmakers K-Ci & JoJo, Next and Joe. With influences such as Marvin Gaye and Kenny Lattimore, Bentley has also competed in songwriting competitions with the Georgia Music Industry Association (where he was a finalist) and the International Songwriting Competition. He has also performed as part of Atlanta's Atlantis Music Conference. The buzz on the talented urban artist continues to grow, with a much-rumored record deal on the near horizon.

The Demo Center is a full-service music production company that specializes in cutting-edge demos and artist development. The company works with all major labels, including J, Atlantic, Jive and Warner Bros., Billboard magazine, and artists such as Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, Pink, Jessica Simpson, and many others.

Sonicbids.com is at the forefront of creating electronic press kits (EPKs), and is becoming one of the fastest-growing music communities on the web, trusted by over 70,000 artists and over 6,000 festivals, music conferences and clubs from over 100 countries. It aspires to be the common "language" that people who make music and people who promote music use to connect and transact with one another.]]> 2006-10-26T05:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/334715 Artists, Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, Evanescence, Fat Joe, Ja Rule, Lopez, Jennifer, Luny Tunes, Neptunes, The, Omar, Don, Shakira, Snoop Dogg, TANG, Musical Styles, Latin, Musicworld, Feature Levitating from the underground to the top of the Latin charts, the genre known as reggaetón has pumped a much-needed shot of vitality into a complex and shifting record market. In the first half of 2005, unit shipments of various formats of Latin music increased a monumental 27.7 percent, a figure attributed in great part to the rise of reggaetón. Correspondingly, mainstream artists have now appropriated the trademark rhythms as reggaetón remixes of tracks from Alicia Keys, Enrique Iglesias, Shakira and even Evanescence shake the dance floors. This cross-cultural popularity has everything to do with the music’s core audience: the growing demographic of young, American-born Latinos, nearly 20 percent of all Americans 34 and younger. They speak English, listen to hip-hop and are more connected in their attitudes than their parents and grandparents were. Reggaetón has also had a global impact, most notably in Central and South America, along with such European countries as France, Germany and Spain.

The genre’s defining feature is a relentless drum-machine track, almost identical across different songs, derived from Trinidadian soca music and Jamaican dancehall and reggae rhythms. This beat is called “Dem Bow” after the beat in a Shabba Ranks song of the same name. Although it emerged from the island of Puerto Rico, reggaetón reflects cross-cultural roots. In the ’70s, Jamaican workers migrated to Panama to work on upgrading the country’s famous canal and the trademark “riddims” they imported were appropriated into the popular songs and styles in this adopted locale. DJs helped popularize this hybrid form of Latin reggae, and by the early ’80s it could be heard mainly in underground settings across Latin America. Meanwhile in Puerto Rico, artists were translating Jamaican reggae into Spanish, and fusing these lyrics with Panamanian-style reggae beats after artists like El General introduced this blend of rap and reggae music to the island. Translating Jamaican reggae into Spanish, and fusing these lyrics with Panamanian-style reggae beats, hip-hop and dancehall, reggaetón was born. DJ Playero, who produced Vico C’s first underground recordings, is one of the pioneers in the introduction of this genre. He produced five reggaeton compilation albums with artists like Daddy Yankee, Yaviah, Mexicano, Big Boy, and Frankie Boy, among others, in the early ’90s.

“The Queen of Reggaetón,” Ivy Queen, is the genre’s undisputed female ruler. Born in Puerto Rico but raised in New York, she returned to the island in the ’90s and teamed up with impresario DJ Negro, who invited her to join a rap compilation label known as The Noise. Ivy Queen wrote and performed her first hit song, “Somos Raperos Pero No Delincuentes,” with them and launched her career as a formidable artist. “Sabes Que Tu,” a collaboration with Wyclef Jean, raised her profile even higher. With her own releases and projects with others — notably El Mexicano, K-7 and Don Omar — she maintains her powerful allure through self-penned lyrics that often speak of her alliance to her native Puerto Rico with pointed pro-feminist messages injected into the rhymes.

Francisco Saldaña and Victor Cabrera — the duo known as Luny Tunes — are often described as “the Neptunes of reggaetón,” owing to their chart dominance and canny knack for inventing hits for other artists. Former kitchen workers at Harvard University, they migrated to Puerto Rico, where they added bachata and meringue to the reggaeton formula and crafted one of the genre’s biggest smashes, Daddy Yankee’s track “Gasolina,” from Barrio Fino, a benchmark release that hovered on the Latin charts for nearly two years. Since then, Luny Tunes has showcased a rotating cast of talent on their own releases. The two’s Mas Flow (2003), La Trayectoria (2004) and Mas Flow, Vol. 2 (2005) — arguably the party album of the year — solidified their reputation as songwriters and artists of note whose productions are conspicuously musical. “We never use samples,” confirms Saldana. “We want to create everything new.”

An illustrious cast of contributors, including Ivy Queen, Pit Bull, D’Mingo and Nina Sky, join Tony Touch on his latest opus, The ReggaeTony Album, proof of his prominence in the genre. Alternately known as “Tony Toca,” the Brooklyn-based DJ has orchestrated massive releases via his mix tapes, beginning with The Piece Maker, featuring the music of Big Pun, Wu Tang Clan, Eminem and others. Also an alumnus of The Noise nightclub in Puerto Rico, the DJ and producer has enriched the genre with his deft productions, grafting the incendiary street smarts of hip-hop to more tropical Latin grooves. With a regular slot on New York’s Power 105.1, Music Choice Television and Sirius Satellite Radio plus choice DJ gigs spinning from Spain to Switzerland, Touch/Toca is among the genre’s foremost ambassadors, spearheading a roster of artists that often includes Vico C and Don Dinero.

His frequent guest artist, D’Mingo, a vocalist, keyboardist and arranger, was originally a more traditional singer. His debut, Que Vacile Mi Gente, (executive produced by Jelly Bean Benitez) presented a salsa-flavored style, while Rumbero Soy upped the Latin quotient considerably.On all of the projects on which he now guests, his distinctive tenor voice connects the high-octane rhythms of reggaetón to the seductive melodies of classic Latin songcraft.

From Hector “El Bambino” to Hector “El Father”: A name change signifies the musical maturation of the artist/producer often compared to his stateside counterparts, P. Diddy or Dr. Dre. In the ’90s, Hector Delgado Roman was one half of a pioneering duo, Hector and Tito, notably the first reggaetón artists with the drawing power to sell out massive concerts in Puerto Rico. In 2005, after a heady 12-year run, Hector launched his solo career with a performance in Pasto, Colombia, to a stadium filled with 60,000 adoring fans. His compilation album, Los Anormales, with guest spots by Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Wisin y Yandel and others and released on his own imprint, GoldStar Music, sold 130,000 copies in just two days in Puerto Rico. In addition to founding his label, he was the first reggaeton artist to sell out two concerts in the new 18,000-seat coliseum in Puerto Rico. Today, most of these artists have signed contracts with major labels such as Universal, Columbia, EMI and Interscope.

DJ Playero is another notable figure in the growth of the genre, compiling some 39 volumes of reggaetón and helping to launch the careers of Daddy Yankee, Chezina, and Baby Rasta y Gringo, among others.

Reggaetón is clearly a genre of inclusion, and the most accomplished artists now collaborate outside of the genre. Ivy Queen’s Real has pairings with Sean Paul, Beenie Man and Fat Joe, and Luny Tunes anticipate working with Jennifer Lopez, the Black Eyed Peas and Ja Rule. Boundaries aren’t limited to the Caribbean or the East Coast. In Southern California, two brothers, Johnny and Victor Lopez, the duo known as Crooked Stilo, have mixed hard-core rap and cumbias into a stew they describe as “crunketón,” incorporating such far-flung sounds as the regional Mexican bounce of banda and hard core hip-hop. Says Victor, “We grew up with Dr. Dre, NWA and Snoop Dogg. It’s a big influence. We’ve been in this for 10 or 12 years, and we’ve always mixed the Latin and English stuff. It’s just lately that the reggaetón blew everyone out of the water. It’s something new, it’s hot in the clubs and people like dancing to it, plus the words and melodies have something to them.”

With their latest release, Retrasalo, Crooked Stilo advances their genre bending sound. Victor Lopez, who lives in the San Gabriel Valley town of Temple City, attests that he listens to potential beats in his car, “bumping” them before his lyrics arrive. Reggaetón is, he says, a physical experience. “There’s a saying that with the music you can only get the people through their hearts or through their feet. Reggaetón does it through the feet.”

He also co-wrote the Usher smash "Yeah!", which was named BMI's 2005 Urban Song of the Year, and received additional BMI Urban Awards for Ciara's "Goodies" and the Destiny's Child hit "Lose My Breath" at the same ceremony.

BMI's Catherine Brewton and songwriter Sean Garrett

Garrett has lent his songwriting expertise to a number of BMI-sponsored events, including last year's Songwriter101.com panel at the DIY Convention and the 2005 Kauai Music Festival.

A soulful r&b vocalist, Garrett inked his first recording contract with Ariola/BMG at the age of 17 while living in Europe. He was in the process of signing a deal with Warner Bros. when he returned to the States a few years later, but the velvety-voiced prodigy never released an album.

After taking a few years off to attend college, the 27-year-old landed a job as a mortgage broker but quickly realized that his heart wasn't in it. He cites losing his mother as a pivotal moment in his career, when he finally decided to turn his passion for songwriting into his profession.

Having a knack for writing outstanding hits that appeal to a wide fan base, Garrett has established himself as the go-to man for a surefire hit. He has worked with a dazzling array of A-list talent, from Kanye West, Jennifer Lopez, Ciara, Fantasia, Bon Jovi and Janet Jackson, to Destiny's Child, 112, Mario Winans, Donnell Jones and Christina Milian.]]> 2006-01-29T17:00:00-05:00