For many, the lyrics of reggaeton and the Christian faith are at the opposite end, but the reality is that several urban artists have had ties with churches, and in many cases they have been their refuge due to extreme personal situations or addictions.
The most recent case is that of Daddy Yankee, who last weekend closed what he has said will be his last concert, announcing that he will dedicate the rest of his life to preaching the word of Christ.
“To all the people who followed me, they signed Jesus Christ that he is the way, the truth and the life,” the artist said Sunday night from the Puerto Rico Coliseum, before dozens of drones in the hall of the concert will light up the sky with the message “Christ loves you.”
Almost two years earlier, his colleague and compatriot Farruko had done the same. At a concert at the Miami Heat basketball team’s arena, the artist surprised his fans by apologizing for the messages in his music, especially for the biggest hit of his career, his song “Pepas.” .
“I believed my own lie. Because my song was number one, I didn’t know the message I was giving, that I was telling people ‘take a pill to be happy’. And you know what? I don’t feel proud of that. God knows how many of their children I hurt!… And today I stand up, as a man, to tell them to forgive me as a human being,” he expressed.
“God is a just being, he allowed me the bad and the good and wants to use me as an instrument for everyone who perhaps has many doubts. It is a real testimony. A message of light in the midst of darkness,” he added.
His stories echo those of Panamanian artist El General, considered the father of the urban Latin music movement, and Héctor ‘El Father’, one of the creators of the current sound of reggaeton. Both made more radical decisions and abandoned public life to become pastors.
SEE: They accuse a religious leader who sang at a Daddy Yankee concert of being a ‘false prophet’
life and death
The Christian faith has been the response that some of these artists have found in extreme situations.
Daddy Yankee said that his approach to religion began at the age of 17, when he received a bullet in the leg that kept him in bed for more than a year and left him with a slight disability.
Vico C, Voltio and even Don Omar found in religion the way to keep their addictions under control and stay away from violence.
Vico C, Julio Voltio and Don Omar.
Don Omar told CNN that the first time he approached Christianity was when he was a teenager, when he saw several of his friends die, victims of organized violence.
“At that time I sold drugs,” the artist confessed.
He embraced Christianity and was ordained as a pastor. Years later he tried to reconcile his faith with a musical career and when the church authorities prevented him from doing so, he abandoned it.
He eventually returned to the fold, after acknowledging his addiction to sex, alcohol and drugs.
Héctor “El Father”, Lary Over, Voltio, Almighty and El General did not achieve that conciliation either, but decided the opposite. After declaring their faith, they will retire from music.
Héctor ‘El Father’, Lary Over, Almighty and The General.
“I don’t understand how you can be in two of those worlds,” Héctor ‘El Father’ told EFE when he presented the autobiographical film “Héctor ‘El Father, you will know the truth” in 2020.
In the same vein as Daddy Yankee and Farruko, Tito ‘El Bambino’ has become an amplifier for other Christians. In the pandemic he regularly held Instagram Live sessions with preachers and Christian music artists.
The growing number of Christian reggaeton artists, including Alex Zurdo, Kike Pavón, Redimi2 and others, demonstrates the expansion of this movement.
These artists not only maintain the essence of reggaeton, but also infuse their lyrics with messages of faith and hope. EFE
READ: Daddy Yankee and the religion he professed before converting to Christianity
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Source: vtt.edu.vn