Just to let you all know Fito Blanko has received a good write up on Billboard Magazine on Sept 24, 2005 issue. Top Canadian Latin Artist break through in canadian music air waves. Congrates to Fito, Sensei, MRP, Universal Canada, and TEN Crew. - TEN PROMO 2005 -
If FIto is actually reading this: **Congrats pa'Ti Nenito** all the Best! muahhz
__________________
Nat'Flores
**My Patience has Sunk all the way down 2My Feet**
It was great to see that article on Billboard. For those that perhaps have never heard of the magazine, Billboard is a music industry trade magazine read by anyone and everyone involved in music business. So the fact that Fito, Black Caco, Criollo, Loz Playaz and Viejo Oeste got mentioned is a big deal to all the above mentioned and our growing scene in general.
thought some of you would enjoy to read the article for yourselves. Enjoy.
-andres suarez-
September 24, 2005, CANADA'S REGGAETÓN BREW
By LARRY LEBLANC
Reggaetón may hold U.S. radio in its sway, but north of the border the genre is only starting to get mainstream attention. That is not stopping a home-grown blast of Great White North reggaetón acts.
For the past two years, the genre has been edging its way out of Canada's underground music culture, championed primarily by Spanish-speaking teenagers. The government estimates that there are as many as 700,000 Spanish-speaking people in Canada.
Only one year ago, reggaetón shows were drawing predominantly Latin crowds at clubs in Montreal and Toronto, the cities with the largest Latin populations. Today, the music is heard in clubs throughout the country.
Several major artists, including Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Ivy Queen and Pitbull, have made headway in Canada via club exposure. But the scene has also developed such domestic reggaetón-flavored acts as Criollo, Los Playaz, Black Caco, Viejo Oeste, Convoy Cubano, Billy One Play and DJ Medy in Montreal, and Toronto's Fito Blanko.
"Reggaetón was brewing underground in Montreal two or three years ago, before anywhere else in the country," says Jennifer Larry, label manager at MRP Music Group, a Toronto-based label and distributor that oversees marketing and promotion of Latin product for Universal Music Canada.
"Montreal is a party city," says Blanko, a Panamanian who grew up in Montreal and Toronto. "The club parties there don't end until 6 a.m. You hear the same music there as you hear in [Miami's] South Beach."
Blanko says he struggled underground for years before MRP signed him and released his debut album, "Higher Level," in June 2004. The album arrived in the United States last October from Miami-based Perfect Image Records.
"Right now, reggaetón is a catchphrase," Blanko says. "But with more artists creating reggaetón tracks for the mainstream, it will eventually become a subgenre of urban music."
Blanko has performed alongside such leading Latin names as Cabas, Amarfis, Ivy Queen, Adassa, Lito and Polaco. In addition, his single "By My Side" has aired extensively on national music TV channels MuchMusic and MuchVibe.
At Canadian radio, reggaetón was initially heard on Montreal community stations CIBL and CISM and Toronto's Voces Latinas. Webcasters Reggaetonline and Sound Beat Radio also back up the music's club exposure.
Montreal-based video channel MusiquePlus championed Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina" (Universal) throughout the summer, and artists like Daddy Yankee, Don Omar and Blanko are now appearing on playlists at such powerhouse top 40 stations as Montreal's CKOI and CKMF and Toronto's CIDC.
"We tried out Daddy Yankee and Don Omar and got a huge response," CIDC music director/afternoon-drive announcer Matt Wreggitt says. "We've kept with it because there's nobody [else] in this market playing it."
CKOI music director Guy Brouillard adds, "We first played 'Gasolina' on our specialized dance show. Now people are asking for reggaetón and asking for reggaetón remixes."
Daddy Yankee is the genre's first major crossover artist in Canada, but sales are still modest. His current Universal album, "Barrio Fino," has sold only 9,300 units since its March release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
MRP's Larry concedes that reggaetón is only now being embraced by Canada's mainstream music retailers. "As well as trying to break reggaetón at radio, our big challenge has been breaking it at retail," she says.
"Nobody understood that the word is not reggae; it's reggaetón," Larry adds. "This is a movement of music much like hip-hop over a decade ago."
Just to let you all know Fito Blanko has received a good write up on Billboard Magazine on Sept 24, 2005 issue. Top Canadian Latin Artist break through in canadian music air waves.
Congrates to Fito, Sensei, MRP, Universal Canada, and TEN Crew.
