There’s a new wave of Latin music coming, and there’s no place you can run to escape it, not even Central Iowa.

The so-called Latin music explosion started with “Livin’ la Vida Loca” in 1999, when Ricky Martin showed the world how well he could shake his “Bon-Bon.” Then Enrique Iglesias became the “Hero” of many ladies who fell in love with his Spanish accent and romantic tunes. And Shakira showed everyone that she can dance and sing “Whenever, Wherever” she wishes to. These and other Latino and Hispanic artists have become world-known, and it is normal to hear their Top 40 tunes even on an Iowa radio station.

However, this past Friday, my ears could not believe the song that came out from the speakers. I don’t usually listen to the radio, except for my daily dose of NPR before I run out to class in the morning, but on Friday, while the radio was tuned to 106.3 FM, I heard reggaeton made its way to Iowa.

Most of you do not have a clue what reggaeton is, so here it goes. Reggaeton is a genre that can be traced back to around 1989 with influences of Jamaican reggae and rap in Spanish from Panama. Currently, this genre is best recognized for its Puerto Rican artists and beats that will make your entire body move even if you try to keep still. Reggaeton became huge in Puerto Rico around 2002; politicians use reggaeton to attract the younger crowds, and TV commercials advertise with reggaeton music.

Reggaeton’s impact in Puerto Rico can be compared to hip-hop and rap in the United States. Young people from barrios voice their opinions on issues ranging from social justice to violence, from love to sex and from religion to personal decisions. They were also able to create a new cool by expressing a culture that has been overlooked and ignored in the past. In Puerto Rico, this music was banned in the early 1990s by the government because of the explicit lyrics and content.

After producers and artists cleaned their lyrics a bit, it was made legal and available to the public through regular music stores. But once again, in 2002, there were complaints about reggaeton from worried parents and the government, this time because of the sexual content in music videos and because Puerto Rico’s youth like to “perrear” too much. “Perrear” is a term given by Puerto Ricans to the way reggaeton is danced, the root of the word could be translated to “doggie.” Even though there has been many complaints, reggaeton has become bigger than ever.

This type of music has gained popularity in the states of New York and Florida because of the high numbers of Latinos in those states. Reggaeton lyrics are usually in Spanish or Spanglish, but reggaeton doesn’t sound like Big Pun or Fat Joe’s music; reggaeton is different — it mixes reggae, hip-hop, rap, bachata and traditional Puerto Rican music like bomba and plena.

The reggaeton artist who can now be heard on 106.3 is the first one to ever reach No. 1 on Billboard in the genre. Daddy Yankee, a native of R¡o Piedras, Puerto Rico, will make you sing “boricua morena, dominicana, colombiana” (the dark Puerto Rican, Dominican, Colombian ladies).

Reggaeton is the music that is played at parties and clubs in Puerto Rico; it is the music that young Puerto Ricans on the island have been exposed to ever since they walked for the first time to a party or a club.

In the past, the only place where people could hear this type of music in Ames was at home or at the Boheme Bistro. But things change; technology connects our worlds, and now, music from my homeland is directly shared with my fellow Iowans through the local radio stations.