Daddy Yankee Trivia: 30 fun facts about the king of Reggaeton!

Daddy Yankee is a Puerto Rican singer, songrwitter, rapper, actor and record producer. Let’s see some amazing facts and trivia about him!

1.His full name is Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez.

2. He was born February 3, 1977.

3. Ayala was born in Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was raised in the neighborhood of Villa Kennedy Housing Projects.

4. He is known as the “King of Reggaetón” by music critics and fans alike

5. Daddy Yankee is often considered to be one of the first pioneers of Reggaeton music

6. He first appeared on the 1992 DJ Playero’s Mixtape, Playero 34, with the song “So’ Persigueme, No Te Detengas”.

7. Ayala was originally going to become a professional baseball player but he was shot in his leg while taking a break from a studio recording session.

8. The bullet was never removed and he credits this incident with allowing him to pursue a musical career.

9. He made a few songs talking about the shooting incident, but his most “complete” song about it was “6 De Enero”, released in 2012.

10. His first official studio project as a solo artist was No Mercy, which was released on April 2, 1995 through White Lion Records and BM Records in Puerto Rico

11. Early in his career he attempted to imitate the style of Vico C. He went on to emulate other artists in the genre, including DJ Playero, DJ Nelson, and DJ Drako, taking elements from their styles in order to develop an original style. In doing so, he eventually abandoned the traditional model of rap and became one of the first artists to perform reggaeton.

12. In 1997, Daddy Yankee collaborated with the rapper Nas, who was an inspiration for Ayala, in the song “The Profecy”, for the album Boricua Guerrero.

13. He released two compilation albums: El Cartel and El Cartel II, in 1997 and 2001, respectively. Both albums were very famous around Puerto Rico, but were not very successful around Latin America.

14. Between those years, Ayala released a total of nine music videos, including “Posición” featuring Alberto Stylee, “Tu Cuerpo En La Cama” featuring Nicky Jam and “Muévete Y Perrea”.

15, Ayala has negotiated promotional deals with several companies outside of the music industry, releasing merchandise under his name. In 2005, he became the first Latin artist to sign a deal with Reebok, in order to produce accessories, including the licensed clothing line “DY”, which was released in 2006.

16. He also teamed up with the company to have his own shoes and sporting goods made, which were first distributed on May 23, 2006.

17. In August 2007, Pepsi began an advertising campaign titled “Puertas”, in which Ayala is depicted returning to his youth by opening a series of doors

18. Ayala has worked in the film industry as both an actor and producer. His acting debut was as an extra in the 2004 film Vampiros, directed by Eduardo Ortiz and filmed in Puerto Rico.

19. The film premiered at the Festival of Latin American Cinema in New York, where it received a positive reaction. This led Image Entertainment to produce a DVD, internationally released in March 2005.

20. Ayala played the main role, “Edgar Dinero”, in Talento de Barrio, which was filmed in Puerto Rico and directed by José Iván Santiago. Ayala produced the film, which is based on his experience of growing up in a poor city neighborhood

21. While the film is not directly a biography, Ayala has stated that it mirrors his early life.

22. Ayala has been involved in the administration of three organizations, the first being El Cartel Records which he co-owns with Andres Hernandez. He also created the Fundación Corazón Guerrero, a charitable organization in Puerto Rico which works with young incarcerated people.

23. On April 26, 2008, he was presented with a “Latino of the Year Award” by the student organization Presencia Latina of Harvard College, receiving it for his work with Puerto Rican youth and creating Corazón Guerrero.

24. On February 6, 2008, Ayala announced in a Baloncesto Superior Nacional press conference that he had bought part of the Criollos de Caguas’ ownership.He has also been active with Cruz Roja Puerto Rico in several media campaigns.

25. The most recent Daddy Yankee’s out-music project was the release of his game Trylogy, a 3D video game based in Tower Defense games. The game was successfully presented at the New York Comic Con and both young and old people were impressed by the 3D action video game. It was released on November 29, 2013 and also features Ayala’s songs like “Gasolina” and “Limbo

26. In 2008, Ayala participated in a campaign to promote voting in the 2008 general elections in Puerto Rico.  As part of this campaign, Ayala moderated a debate titled “Vota o quédate callado: los candidatos responden a los jóvenes”, which was aired on October 9, 2008

27. Ramón has kept most of his personal life private, rarely speaking about it in interviews. He has said that he avoids doing so because such details are the only aspect of his life that are not public and that they are like a “little treasure”.

28. He made an exception in 2006 when he spoke about his relationship with his wife and children in an interview with María Celeste Arrarás in Al Rojo Vivo.

29. He stated that his marriage is strong because he and his wife are “friends above anything”, adding that he has tried to ignore other temptations because “weakness is the reason for the downfall of several artists.

30. His first daughter was born when he was seventeen years old which he has described as confusing at first, adding that raising a daughter at that age was a hard experience