PIDIERON CACAO: LATINIDAD AND BLACK IDENTITY IN THE REGGAETóN OF DON OMAR

Parting from existing work on music and identity, this essay explores the ways that black masculinity and material culture structure Don Omar's claims of Latino unity. I use the performance of Don Omar to understand how black pride and capital become markers of latinidad. I analyze the persona of Don Omar via Afro Puerto Rican identity as compared to the development of the Italian gangster and the black gangsta and nigga in hip hop culture. I also examine the complex ways Afro-Puerto Rican and African-American men negotiate gendered subordination and ethnic pride through reggaetón.