If Wisin y Yandel's "Rakata" wasn't replaying itself endlessly in your head at the end of 2005, it's probably because you weren't listening to the right radio station. For any lover of the genre, that spitfire track off Luny Tunes' Mas Flow compilation helped permanently prop open the door that Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina" had kicked open in 2004. Reggaeton had become a mainstay on Latin pop radio and in some way Wisin and Yandel's story mimicked the genre's rise. Born and raised in Cayey, Puerto Rico, Llandel Veguilla and Juan Luis Morera took up rapping early; by 1998 they'd released their debut No Fear with a string of compilations and releases to follow. After a greatest hits release, the duo called it quits. But fate intervened -- or their solo careers didn't take off as planned -- and they reunited for 2004's La Mission IV en el ano 2004. Their timing was good -- Universal was launching its reggaeton imprint and the duo was quickly folded under Machete Music's wings. - Sarah Bardeen

Born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico in 1977, Daddy Yankee (aka Raymond Ayala) got his start singing with DJ Playero while he was still in his teens. After a few appearances on compilations, he released his platinum-selling debut El Cartel De Yankee I in 2000, which was quickly followed by El Cartel De Yankee II in 2001. Now firmly established as a star in the crowded reggaeton field, Daddy Yankee began his crossover bid in 2004, when his song "Gasolina" (off of 2004's Barrio Fino) climbed charts at home and abroad. Ayala's heart doesn't belong to reggaeton alone, however -- he's toured with Olga Tanon and sung with salsa greats Domingo Quinones and Andy Montanez. - Sarah Bardeen

Born William Omar Landron in Puerto Rico, Don Omar got his start in reggaeton producing tracks for Hector El Bambino, who would later become known as Hector El Father. His talent caught the ear of other artists, and before long, he was a respected songwriter and artist in his own right. The Last Don released in 2003, made him a bona fide hero in the community, and VI Records released a live double album a year later. 2005's Da Hitman Presents Reggaeton Latino, which rehashed Don Omar's hits, rocketed off with the hugely successful single "Reggaeton Latino," an all-star posse cut, and some remix work from Swizz Beatz. On King of Kings (2006), the Don adopted a post-apocalyptic warrior alter ego (onstage and on the album cover art) and departed from run of the mill reggaeton conventions by enlisting collaborators like Juelz Santana and Miri Ben-Ari, and working salsa, rock and arabesque rhythms into the mix. He also expanded on subject matter beyond love and adultery; the hit "Angelito" tells the tragic tale of a life cut short by AIDS while "Munecas de Porcelana" is a leftfield lesbian coming of age story. In March 2008, Don Omar and fellow reggaetonero Daddy Yankee squashed their epic beef at a Wisin y Yandel concert in Puerto Rico. By this time Omar gained a wider audience after friend Vin Diesel insisted his single "Bandoleros" be included in the film The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift; three tracks from his 2009 release, the futuristic-themed iDon, found their way onto the soundtrack of follow-up Fast & Furious. - Sarah Bardeen

If reggaeton is the sound of disaffected youth, Tito el Bambino may be the sound of youth getting re-affected. Something of an anomaly among reggaeton stars, Tito (born Efrain Fines Navares) frequently participates in campaigns against drugs, violence and guns, and he's worked with the Puerto Rican government to encourage kids to stay in school. He often cites the importance of his Christian faith in his life, and his lyrics are generally respectful toward women. But this Puerto Rican singer is no newcomer: he has been in the game since at least 1998, coming to prominence as one-half of the pioneering reggaeton duo Hector & Tito. His was the lighter and more romantic voice -- thin and reedy to some ears, boyish to others -- and in his solo career, this pop-leaning sensibility has stood him in good stead. Over the course of three solo releases -- 2006's Top of the Line, 2007's It's My Time and 2009's El Patron, Tito has crafted a sound that takes reggaeton as its starting point but detours through pop, tropical and dance music. - SBARDEEN

Reggaeton's resident rude girl, Ivy Queen (aka Maria Ivelisse Pesante) was born on March 4, 1972, in Anasco, Puerto Rico, and grew up in New York City. A gifted singer, Pesante actually got her start as a songwriter; at the age of 18 she moved back to Puerto Rico, where she began working with local star DJ Negro and ultimately joined the group Noise. She quickly started penning hits for Noise, and in 1997 she released her solo debut, En Mi Imperio, which spawned hits like "Como Mujer" and established Pesante as a voice to be reckoned with in the male-dominated reggaeton world. A 1999 collaboration with Wyclef Jean on "In the Zone" helped bring her to the attention of American audiences, but her career really took off when reggaeton rode the coattails of Daddy Yankee's mega-hit "Gasolina" into the international limelight. A string of excellent albums cemented her place as the diva to be reckoned with, with songs like "Yo Quiero Bailar" and "Que Lloren" becoming essential spins for any dancefloor. - Sarah Bardeen

Like their northern counterparts, most reggaeton and Latin hip-hop acts brag about their connections to the streets or their exploits in the clubs, but Calle 13 brothers Residente and Visitante grew up more concerned about their art-school credits than street cred. Their mother was an actress with Teatro del Sesenta, a renowned local acting troupe, and their father was a former painter. The boys wear this pedigree on their sleeve, and their two albums, 2005's self-titled debut and 2007's Residente o Visitante, are journeys into the outer regions of reggaeton. Flourishes of salsa and tango are blended into their poppy hip-hop beats, and emcee Residente's raps are both technically complex and lyrically playful (and, on their sophomore album, delightfully obscene), making this group the pranksters of the generally serious reggaeton scene. - Sam Chennault

Reggaeton star Tego Calderon grew up in a household where salsero Ismael Rivera was god ("Our Elvis Presley," Calderon says) and music was central. But Calderon's musical sensibility is less about the salsa of his native Puerto Rico and more about the sounds that move urban Latinos these days: Jamaican dancehall and rap. Calderon's 2003 debut, Abayarde, climbed the charts as soon as it was released. - Sarah Bardeen

He may just be the first bona fide romantic reggaetonero to emerge on the scene. Flex uses the beats that drive reggaeton, but you won't hear him telling women to "dale"...he's more of a gentleman than that. Unfortunately this young gentlemen also struggles valiantly to stay in tune -- and loses a little more frequently than we'd like. But Flex's sheer pluck and self-belief counts for a lot, as does his unusual embrace of reggae rhythms. There's nothing wrong here that a few singing lessons can't fix. - Sarah Bardeen

Raul "Alexis" Ortiz and Joel "Fido" Martinez have been in the reggaeton scene since they were teenagers trading verses with their buddy Wisin. But they didn't drop their debut until 2005, and what a debut that was. Los Pitbulls' first single, "Eso Ehh!", spent weeks in the top spot on the Latin Billboard charts, and it's become a reggaeton anthem just a rung below songs like "Gasolina" and "Rakata." A 2006 hits album collected their many mixtape contributions in one place, and that was followed by an appearance in the 2007 reggaeton flick Feel the Noise. Their subsequent release, Sobrenatural, kept up the pace with two charting singles and two Latin Grammy nominations, and in 2009, the group dropped Down to Earth, a masterfully produced release that stepped well beyond reggaeton's once-rigid boundaries. - Sarah Bardeen

Rakim and Ken-Y found themselves heading to the top of the reggaeton heap in 2006, just as the first generation of reggaeton's vaunted duos were disbanding. But the two Puerto Rican artists, who'd worked the house-party circuit in Puerto Rico for years, bucked that trend. Audiences rewarded them with adulation: The idiosyncratic single "Down" sat at the No. 1 spot in the charts for weeks. The duo's success is due in no small part to Ken-Y's silken, boyish croon, which cuts the intensity of Rakim's gruff flow and makes their reggaeton palatable to a broad cross-section of fans. - Sarah Bardeen

Up-and-coming reggaetonero Tony Dize has been working to get a foothold in the reggaeton world for years. Despite working with most of the major producers (including Luny Tunes), he wasn't getting much traction, and a track he recorded with Hector El Father, "Estrujala," didn't make it onto Hector's 2004 Los Anormales comp. Not to worry: A year later, Dize collaborated with longtime friends Wisin y Yandel on "Sensacion" from the groundbreaking Pa'l Mundo. The collaboration helped open doors, and Dize released his major label debut, La Melodia de la Calle, in 2008. - Sarah Bardeen

Growing up with a stepfather who DJ'd and exposed them to many different styles, identical twins Natalie and Nicole Albino from Queens, N.Y., became interested in music at a young age. Eventually, they both started singing and writing songs, in addition to learning multiple instruments. In 2000, they hooked up with production crew the Jettsonz, who in turn introduced them to veteran New York DJ Cipha Sounds. They performed at endless auditions and talent shows while refining their sound; their first single, "Move Ya Body," highlighted the duo's sleek R&B-meets-pop fusion and quickly became a runaway hit. After signing with Next Plateau/Universal, Nina Sky released their self-titled debut album in the summer of 2004. - Brolin Winning

Originally known as Noreaga, N.O.R.E. first emerged with Capone on their "L.A., L.A." single and brilliant debut The War Report (1997). While his partner in rhyme was sent back upstate, Nore went to work, releasing a strong first solo album N.O.R.E. in 1998. His decidedly unconventional rhyme cadence and unusual slang made him a very original emcee, and one that most heads either love or hate. His first single as a solo artist, "Superthug" was a landmark in the burgeoning club-thug movement and introduced the phrase "what what" into the annals of hip-hop vernacular. Constantly working, Nore has appeared on an astounding number of other records, collaborating with Big Pun, Pete Rock, and a slew of high-profile artists. In 1999 he released Melvin Flint - Da Hustler, which disappointed some fans with its glitzier beats. CNN's long awaited follow-up The Reunion dropped in 2000, and N.O.R.E. came back hard in 2002 with Grimey...God's Favorite, featuring the Neptunes-produced mega hit "Nothin'." - Brolin Winning

Budding reggaeton stars Angel y Khriz have been generating buzz since Hector "El Father" signed them to his MVP label and featured their platinum single "Cazando Voy" on 2002's MVP. The duo moved from guesting on mix tapes and other artists' songs to releasing their debut, Los MVP's, in 2005. The single "Ven Bailalo" hit big, winning a nomination for Latin Billboard Reggaeton Song of the Year in 2006. The group moved to Machete for their second record, 2008's Showtime. The duo's softer-edged reggaeton borrows liberally from bachata and other regional styles, while their two-voice attack strikes a balance between singing and rapping without losing the edge that makes reggaeton work. - Sarah Bardeen

Widely acknowledged by younger reggaeton stars as the granddaddy of the genre, Panama's El General (aka Edgardo Franco) never got the fame he deserved. Radio stations weren't ready for his tropical-infused Spanish-language dancehall when he dropped "Tu Pum Pum" in 1988, and the song became a hit with very little radio support. Record industry executives kept telling him this dance fusion was just a fad, but the hits accumulated year after year -- among them the anthemic "Muevelo," "Te Ves Bueno" and "Caramelo." In 2004 El General released his last album, La Ficha Clave, which included Celia Cruz's final duet, and then announced that he was moving on to pursue opportunities in film and television. At age 36, he'd been in the music industry for 16 years. As he bowed out, the genre he helped create began to cross over into the mainstream on the strength of songs like N.O.R.E.'s "Oye Mi Canto" and Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina." - Sarah Bardeen

Hector El Father didn't have a reputation for ... well, moderation in his heyday as one half of pioneering reggaeton duo Hector & Tito. As a bambino, he was part of the first wave of reggaeton coming out of Puerto Rico, with all the rawness and hedonism that implies. The group was the first to sell out a stadium in Puerto Rico, and their ensuing success took them around the globe. After they called it quits in 2005, Hector renamed himself "El Father" and signed with Roc-A-Fella. However, by 2008 he had experienced a change of heart about his profession and the dissolute life it encouraged; photos emerged of his baptism and conversion to devout Christianity. To fulfill his contractual obligation he released El Juicio Final, an album that details his lack of fulfillment in the midst of his success and his subsequent turn to God. He's scheduled to retire from music in fall 2008. - Sarah Bardeen

The brainchild of producer and reggaeton impresario Elias de Leon (hence the play on words: Casa de Leones), this quintet gathers several charting reggaeton acts to create, in de Leon's conception, a Wu Tang-esque conglomerate. Despite de Leon's prominence -- the head of White Lion Records, he sold Daddy Yankee's first tapes out of the trunk of his car in the early '90s -- the comparison may be a bit of a stretch. The group doesn't seem to be united by a common mythology a la Wu, nor do the Casa de Leones members share the same cult status. But de Leon appears to have hit on something nevertheless: though none of the acts had crossed over internationally, their first single as Casa de Leones, "No Te Veo," leapt to the top of Billboard's Latin Rhythms charts in 2007, much to everyone's surprise. Whether emcees Jowell y Randy, Maxima, Guela Star and J King can keep up the heat remains to be seen. - Sarah Bardeen

Also known as "Los Bambinos," Héctor Delgado Román and Efraín "Tito" Fines Nevárez were born in Carolina, Puerto Rico just as New Wave was starting to inspire angular hairstyles in the U.S. As kids, the duo studied dance and singing, while Tito polished his chops with bands including the Noise and the Point Breakers. He and Hector joined the band Parque Ecuestre in 1997, but a year later the "bambinos" broke off from the group and released their first album as a duo, Violencia Musical. Over the next few years they worked with other stars of the up-and-coming reggaeton scene, including Baby Rasta and Gringo and Lito y Polaco, and benefited from the production skills of deejays including Goldy, Blass, Playero, Luny Tunes and Eliel. In 2002 their fame spread beyond Puerto Rico with the release of A La Reconquista, and by the time they reached their mid-20s, they had assumed their rightful places in the emerging reggaeton pantheon. - Sarah Bardeen

A veteran emcee and producer, Vico C has been cooking up hits for over a decade, finding chart success in Puerto Rico as well as the States. Fusing hip-hop, reggae, and traditional Spanish music, he's released over a dozen albums since the early 1990s, and laid beats for such artists as Lisa M. and Francheska. In 2001 he dropped his first live album, entitled Vivo.

Julio Voltio was in the right place at the right time: born in Puerto Rico, he grew up in the Parque Ecuestre section of Carolina where he met future reggaeton star Hector "El Bambino" and reggaeton artist Rey 29. The trio started rapping and formed the small-time group Masters of Funk, which entertained much of the neighborhood for several years before folding. They left no record of their existence, but in 1997 a comic recording Voltio made with his friend Karel ended up getting the duo on a reggaeton compilation. Their future seemed assured when they were signed by Pina Records, but the label sadly sat on their debut for three years and gave it inadequate press support when it did launch. In 2003, Tego Calderon approached Voltio about moving over to White Lion as a solo artist and Voltio jumped at the chance. He released his self-titled debut in late 2005. - Sarah Bardeen

Reggaeton artists are at least as promiscuous with their guest stars as rap artists -- if not more -- and nearly topping the list of collaborators are Puerto Rico's native sons Yaga y Mackie (aka Javier Martinez and Luiz Pizarro). Part of the first wave of Puerto Rican reggaeton artists to make it big outside of their home country, the duo came of age in the 1990s, just as reggaeton was beginning to obliterate pop and salsa for poor Puerto Rican youth. The two got into the reggaeton game independently in 1995, when Mackie began contributing tracks to such productions as The Noise 4, DJ Eric 3 and Nico Canada 3. Yaga first tested his vocal chops on productions including Getto Style, DJ Joe 4Time to Kill by DJ Frank and the Francotiradores 1. The duo teamed up for the first time on the disc Warriors 3, which led to more recordings for artists like DJ Blass, DJ Sandunguero and DJ Nelson. After guesting on Daddy Yankee's El Cangri.com and the Kilates series, they released two albums of their own: Sonando Differente (2003) and Clase Aparte (2004). Their 2005 debut on Univision, La Moda, saw them embracing cleaner production while maintaining hot grooves with help from all-stars like Tego Calderon, Don Omar and Nina Sky. - Sarah Bardeen

Adassa's got a voice that's all out of proportion to her diminutive frame. When she takes the mic, it sounds like she's channeling Ivy Queen half the time. But Adassa's not just a voice: she's also an accomplished songwriter whose wide range of influences lifts her above the pack. Born to Colombian parents, raised in the tropical paradise of St. Croix and now residing in Caribbean-annexed Miami, she hits all the right spots: shifting from reggaeton to pop to full-bore urban without stalling once. - Sarah Bardeen

A master on the wheels and no joke on the mic, Brooklyn DJ Tony Touch is the undisputed king of mix tapes. Beginning in 1991, he has been blessing the faithful with consistently impressive products, compiling the finest in hip-hop, reggae, R&B, and Latin music. He has released over sixty hip-hop mixes alone, most notably the 50 Emcees Vol. 1 and 2. Each tape featured fifty of the industry's brightest stars, coming off the dome over familiar and unheard instrumentals alike. Other must-hear collections include 5 Deadly Venoms of Brooklyn and the Power Cypha series. He has rocked the tables on tour with some of NYC's biggest acts, including Fat Joe, the Beatnuts, and BCC. In addition to his feared DJ abilities and dope production, Tony Toca also rocks the mic with a vengeance, unleashing hot Spanglish flows flaunting his proud Puerto Rican heritage as one half of the Diaz Brothers. A card-carrying member of the legendary Rock Steady Crew, he DJs their yearly celebration in New York, and regularly spins at clubs worldwide. Despite his busy schedule, the self-proclaimed "Taino Turntable Terrorist" has also gotten into acting and recently launched his own record label. His debut "mix-tape album" The Piece Maker was released in early 2000, and features an array of impressive guests, including Gang Starr, Big Pun, Eminem, and Wu-Tang. - Brolin Winning

This pop singer is working to reinvent herself as a reggaeton and R&B singer in the 21st century, as those genres sweep the Latin pop world. But Noelia, with her clear, pop-perfect voice, started out primarily as an international pop star who found success playing smooth tropical pop music not only in her native Puerto Rico and Latin America but in Italy as well. But in 2004 she released Melao, a joint effort with Puerto Rican rapper/producers Yamil and DJ Eric which saw her veering into hip-hop territory. - Sarah Bardeen