Straight Outta Puerto Rico: Reggaeton's Rough Road to Glory

The Spanish-language musical form known as reggaeton took shape in Puerto Rico during the late 1990s. In lieu of emerging as its own unique and inimitable genre, it actually comprised a mélange of several pre-established genres - specifically, rap, hip hop, reggae and Caribbean music. Per its title, the documentary Straight Outta Puerto Rico: Reggaeton's Rough Road to Glory discusses the evolution of reggaeton from an indigenous Puerto Rican style (born and bred in the poverty-strewn barrios of San Juan) to a transcontinental phenomenon. It also details reggaeton's ultimate status as a government-discouraged form of grassroots personal expression with incendiary political content that prompted widespread censorship, political crackdowns, and suppression. The program contains interviews and performances featuring reggaeton superstars such as The Luny Tunes, DJ Nelson, Mexicano 777 and many others.