EXPLORING REGGAETON: Part 8: Scrappy Young Punks, Alexis and Fido and the Good Fight

You sometimes see articles about how reggaeton simply "burst" on the scene a couple years ago, but like most things that "burst", there's actually quite a bit more to the story. In fact, reggaeton didn't just burst, it simmered and gestated for several years. If you've been following the earlier parts of this series, you know that from reading about some of those early pioneering artists.

The part of the story that's often missing is the part of the slow-building street scene and the young careers and newly inked recording contracts that are owed to the loyalty of "the guy in the street". That's really the crux of the story behind Alexis y Fido --- a story that culminates in the success of their debut album, The Pitbulls.


The Alexis y Fido Story...
Someday there's gonna be an artist who works under his own name, but today's not that day. Today, we're talking about the duo of Alexis and Fido. Alexis is Raul Ortiz and Fido is Joel Martinez. Both hail from smaller towns in Puerto Rico, and both got into music via parallel but independent tracks.

As 18-year olds going on 20, the two were each into hip-hop music and they each got their start about 8 years ago by emulating the already well-defined black urban sound --- but with spanish lyrics. Between 1995 and 2000, Ortiz and Martinez did latin hip-hop. Basically, the Vico C recipe. In the late 90s, Alexis and Fido were essentially garage artists, recording a song on their own, and distributing tapes themselves to people they knew, who then passed them on to people they knew. Most reggaeton stars have similar stories. The early stories just don't always get told because the roots aren't all that glamorous.

But they're impressive, those roots. Artists like Alexis and Fido essentially made their own opportunities and they cultivated their local fan bases. Nothing was handed to these guys and they didn't wait around hoping that the Zorro television network's Puerto Rican Idol would pick them as their TV darlings.

As reggaeton started being recognized as its own budding style, almost all performers got their first exposure through compilation albums. This is still the case --- even three years after the first reggaeton solo albums on major labels started hitting retail shelves. If twerps like Luny and Tunes do anything useful for the reggaeton movement, its that they give them exposure and give them buzz. The Dominican duo have a track record of pulling together tunes from lesser known and younger acts and get them out into the market via compilation discs, like their Mas Flow 2.

Alexis and Fido had their songs on some of these compilation discs, and their turn at the spotlight finally came in 2003 when their single, El Palo became the most played song in Puerto Rico (for a while).

The exposure got them invitations from other artists to do collaborations, of which they did several in 2004, all the while honing their own distinctive sound (a sound which tends to include dog-like barking, a trademark that got the duo their nickname "The Pitbulls"). By the end of 2004, they were in the studio recording their first real album....so without further ado, let's spin up that album and give it a listen...


What's Hot on The Pitbulls...
Let's cut to the quick here. The most well-known track on this disc is El Tiburon --- it's been played out the yin-yang on reggaeton radio and I'd consider it the signature song of this album. It's probably the strongest straight reggaeton tune on the disc, with slick production and every element in just the right places, from the background chants of "dale, dale", to the rolling thrumming sound that gives it a mechanical feel that perfectly augments the chanting lyrics. Reggaeton doesn't get a lot better than this track. But it's less typical of the Pitbull sound in that it's too polished, and it lacks the quirky charm, odd fusions, and even dog barking signature of some of the duo's most distinctive tunes.

Reggaeton sometimes packs a big fusion punch, but the fusion is usually with tropical styles like bachata. The song Kumbiaton is kind of interesting to me because it packs a cumbia punch, and there's elements here that are more of the Mexican or Tex-Mex style cumbia than the Colombian style cumbia (for example, the incorporation of some brass, especially an occasional trombone, and even an edge of the banda-style tuba). It's not quite like your everyday reggaeton, and that's a big reason I like it...it stands out.

Most of the tunes on this disc are pretty much straight shootin' reggaeton, but you do get the occasional fusion track. Kumbiaton, sure, but that's a huge contrast in itself to the very breezy, salsa heavy sound of Tributo Borincano --- one of the most truly unique tracks on the disc.

Perro Caliente stands out too, with an odd wood-honed percussion effect, almost like a cross between a marimba and a bongo --- I wish I knew what it was. The background female chitter-chatter gives it a strange kind of individuality. I could do without the ray gun sound effects, which come across as hokey, but aside from that, it's a listenable tune in the same way that some folks actually liked the B-52s tune, Planet Claire. No accounting for taste, I suppose.

I love the mesmerizing beat on Gelatina --- a song that really captures some of the underlying soul of great reggae. The lyrics are strongly rhymed and strongly repetitious, especially in the constant refrain of "mueve se cu, mueve se cu". And I don't think it takes a whole lot of imagination to guess what moves like gelatine...

Salgan a Cazarnos is a great tune. Heavy and ponderous, but with a brutally brilliant blast of bass and a pounding beat that would shake the whole damn 'hood if you've got yourself a good set of woofers.

Like many reggaeton albums, there's elements of techno here, with strong synthesizer and electronic keyboard effects. I mentioned that it's on Perro Caliente, but nowhere does it jump out and grab you moreso than on Agarrate el Pantalon ("hang on to your pants").

Oh, yeah. Almost forgot to talk about the dog sounds....you know, the sounds that give Alexis and Fido their moniker of "The Pitbulls". Dog sounds, seriously?? Yep. On just about every track, at some point or other. Growling at the beginning of Eso Ehh...!!, and a snap of the teeth on the end. Howlin' like ye olde canis lupus at the beginning of El Lobo. A few snarls in that one too, just for good measure. Straight up woofs on other tracks.

Lemme shift gears a bit and talk for a second about the imagery and attitudes on this disc. There's a whole lot of content here that could be deemed offensive. Most of this is sexual in allusion or double entendre, and a lot of it conveys a message that women are nothing but sex toys. Here's an example that illustrates:

Eso Ehh...!! has a slick and sassy attitude to it, with a low, guttural quality to the vocals that lend it a gritty quality. The lyrics are totally misogynistic. Basically, Eso Ehh...!! is a young guy's musings of what he's gonna do when he gets it on with his gata (girlfriend, but it's literally "cat", and has a connotation closer to the way colloquilism uses the "p" word for cat...got it, or do I need to spell it out? Didn't think so.) Here's my 2-penny translation: "Shhh. Don't say nuthin', My girlfriend doesn't know what she's gettin'. Cuz tonight I'm goin' doggy style. That's it, that's it, uhhh huh. Tonight I'm all camoflaged in my shades and do-rag. Goin' in the disco and lookin' for my new conquest. My gata's gonna pay the price when I catch her. Come on, let's go where it's nice and dark. Aye! Look how elegant. All decked out with Paris Hilton perfume and rhinestone purse, with all her accounts from Verizon, Sprint, and Cingular." It goes on in that vein...(and it rhymes better in spanish)

I'm uncomfortable with some of the imagery in Eso Ehh...!!, especially allusions to Mike Tyson and hints of violence (call me "old fashioned", but that don't sound like no "love makin'" to me). Some folks would be outright offended by it. I'm uncomfortable with it. Believe it or not though, the song is said to be very popular with the duo's female fans. Go figger. I'd have thought they'd be offended...guess they're just not "that kind of girl."


Bottom Line...
The Pitbulls is classic reggaeton, constructed by workmen who've built their reputation, song by song, street by street. There's no silver spoons when it comes to Alexis y Fido. They're the real deal. The typical street performers who've just stuck with it long enough and well enough to fight their way into the spotlight. The production quality occasionally misses, but by and large, this is a good album that represents the style's street soul.


Cuttin' To the Tracks...
Fourteen tracks on the list, one is an intro throwaway, so a lucky thirteen real tunes. 44:52 total running time. Here's what's on...

1. Intro (Bomba del tiempo)
2. Eso Ehhh...!!!
3. El Lobo
4. Gelatina
5. Solo un Minuto
6. Agarrale el Pantalone
7. Kumbiaton
8. Perro Caliente
9. Tu No Sabes
10. Salgan a Cazarnos
11. Tributo Borincano
12. No Lo Dejes Que Se Apague
13. Quien Soy
14. El Tiburon


EXPLORING REGGAETON: The Series...
This has been Part 8 of a 10-part series exploring the roots, heart, soul, and future of the reggaeton style. Stay tuned as we delve deeper into the works and influences of the artists who are forging the new flavor of urban latino music, and seeing it spread to unexpected corners of foreign genres. Here's where we've been and where we're going on this musical journey...

Part 1: Rise of a New Urban Power
Part 2: Movers, Shakers, Players, and Names to Know in Reggaeton
Part 3: Conceiving a New Style, El General and the Panamanian Nexus
Part 4: Defining the Boundaries, Tego Calderon and the Puerto Rican Claim
Part 5: A Star Is Born, Daddy Yankee Fought the Pop Machine --- Yankee Wins
Part 6: Machisimo versus the Feminine Ideal, Ivy Queen in a Male-Dominated Genre
Part 7: Heard in the Streets, Wisin and Yandel Give the People What they Want
Part 8: Scrappy Young Punks, Alexis and Fido and the Good Fight
Part 9: A Prophet Pointing the Path, Don Omar Today and Tomorrow
Part 10: Little Kids, Big Kids, and Explicit Content: an Ongoing Controversy