Twenty years ago, reggaeton was well on its way to becoming the sound of urban Cuba. The 1990s had belonged to timba, a polyrhythmic, driving style of contemporary salsa known for its humor and social commentary. In the 2000s, Puerto Rican-inspired reggaeton began to overtake timba’s popularity, especially among the youth, with artists like Eddy K, Elvis Manuel, El Micha, Los 4, and of course Gente de Zona ushering in the era of Cubatón, as Cuban reggaeton is sometimes called.
Roughly a decade ago, a few Havana-based reggaetoneros decided to infuse more Cuban elements into the genre, like layering the rumba clave rhythm on top of the reggaeton dembow rhythm. The new style, known as reparto (or raggamorfa, a Cubanization of the Jamaican term "raggamuffin"), was also notable for its sexually explicit lyrics, more aggressive rapping style, liberal use of auto-tune, and allusions to Afro-Cuban religion. In Cuba the term "reparto" refers to poor, largely Black neighborhoods on the outskirts of Havana, and the genre is closely associated with these identity markers, as evidenced in the heavy use of Havana-specific slang. As Cuban journalist Jesús Jank Curbelo put it, reparto is "reggaeton of the poor."
Reparto has many parallels with gangsta rap — including its rampant objectification of women — and has been met with similar derision by Cuban elites and cultural officials. Because the genre lacks the support of government-owned radio and television outlets, it has grown in popularity via informal networks like the paquete semanal (weekly package), a digital media platform in the form of a USB drive that contains music — as well as telenovelas, YouTube videos, and other media — and is passed around among Cuban friends and family. Almost a decade after its emergence, reparto has become the predominant musical representation of Cuban youth.
Although reparto’s audience is still mostly confined to Cuba and the Cuban diaspora, its fan base is growing steadily beyond the island as well. Here’s a list of the seven most significant reparteros, all of whom are men. There are a few reparteras on the scene, like Liz La Diva, but they’re not widely known.
Known as "El Rey del Reparto" (The King of Reparto), Chocolate MC is recognized as the main pioneer of reparto. First heard in his 2010 song "Parapapampan," it was Chocolate who had the idea of adding the rumba clave rhythm to reggaeton’s rhythmic matrix, in the form of digital handclaps. In 2012, Chocolate was working with a teenage producer, David El 22 (a.k.a. Lobo King Dowa), who had the idea of adding a kick drum from Cuban timba to the clave handclaps. Together, they made "Vívela," the first song to feature this combination — although in many ways it sounds similar to mainstream reggaeton. The more Cuban-sounding reparto sound didn’t really catch fire until 2015.
That was the year Chocolate released one of his biggest hits, "Guachineo," introducing the world to the reparto dance ("el guachineo"), which is performed, as the chorus states, "on your tip-toes." This may be evidence, as Curbelo has suggested, of influence from the Afro-Cuban male secret society called Abakuá, whose dance style includes intricate footwork. (Language associated with Abakuá also appears regularly in reparto songs, both by Chocolate and others.)
After moving to Miami in 2017, Chocolate released "El Palón Divino," whose title is a euphemism for his genitals. In the chorus he sings, "I’m Black, I’m ugly, but I’m your ‘killer’/ It's not my face or body, it’s my divine ‘big stick.’" Also heard, in the bridge section, is a percussive chant that’s become a signature only for Chocolate, but for reparto in general: "Po-po-po-po, por eso." In 2018, he released another hit, "Bajanda," one of the many tiraderas (diss songs) between reparteros. The song uses a cat and mouse metaphor, where Chocolate is the predatory cat, the alpha, hunting and casting aside the lowly mice and rats of the city (other reparteros).
While Chocolate’s role in the creation of reparto is indisputable, he’s a complicated ambassador for the genre. He has been in and out of jail since migrating to the U.S., and among his many charges are domestic violence, sexual assault, kidnapping, and aggravated assault.
Adonis MC’s "Pónte que estoy puesto," featuring El Iyawó Oggun and released in 2015, was one of the first reparto songs to make it big on the streets of Havana.
Mirroring the rawness of the song’s sound, the video is a DIY affair, opening with a reenactment of a drive-by shooting. Gun violence in Cuba is not only rare (very few citizens have access to firearms), but heavily stigmatized. The song’s lyrics are a warning to Adonis’s enemies: last time he was attacked he was caught off-guard, but now he’s ready (he has a gun). Beyond the lyrics and macho posturing, the song features a rapper (El Iyawó Oggun) whose name references the Afro-Cuban religion widely known as Santería: presumably, he is a recent initiate (or iyawó) and is sworn to Oggún, the deity of war.
Adonic MC’s "El Eribanga," featuring El Jhona, also references Afro-Cuban religion, opening with an Abakuá chant. Its chorus references men who walk around shirtless, showing their eribangas, or Abakuá-themed tattoos. The male secret society has a long history of criminalization in Cuba, and Abakuás have a reputation for being aggressive and violent. Notwithstanding the racist notions about Abakuá that date back to colonial times, it’s not surprising that a genre defining itself as hyper-masculine and of the streets aligns itself so closely with this tradition.
Harryson is one of reparto’s most prolific artists. In 2016, along with El Taiger, he released a major hit, "Le Gusta el Ona Oh!," and just a year later, following Chocolate’s departure for Miami, Harryson proclaimed himself the new king of reparto in the catchy "El Rey." In the tradition of tiraderas, Harryson taunts Chocolate, saying he no longer has his finger on the pulse of Havana’s streets.
Harryson moved to the Dominican Republic during the pandemic, when the economic situation became quite dire in Cuba. One of his biggest hits has come out since then, his 2022 song "El Lunarcito." It’s an ode to a woman’s birthmark located near her groin, which surprisingly (given reparto’s masculinist orientation) is about giving a woman pleasure rather than the other way around.
Harryson has also become an innovator, mixing reparto with Dominican dembow, another Latin genre that has exploded in popularity in the past decade. The result is a hybrid genre some are calling "rembow." DJ Unic, one of reparto’s most important producers, released a whole album titled Rembow in 2022, and the first track, "Birribiri," featured Harryson breathlessly rapping over a very fast beat and using lots of vocables.
Wampi is one of reparto’s newest stars, and among the genre’s best singers. Wampi and several other popular reparteros — including Wow Popy, Fixty Ordara, and Ja Rulay — are a product of Rami Records, a locally-owned recording studio founded in Havana’s Luyano neighborhood dedicated to promoting reparto.
One of Wampi’s first hits, a love song, was released in 2022: "Clímax" features keyboard accompaniment and a very sparse rhythmic track — which is almost unheard of in reparto. In 2022, the label sent Wampi to perform in Peru — which has long been one of the largest fan bases for Cuban popular music — for the first festival of reparto, an event that still doesn’t exist in Cuba. Wampi performed in Lima’s soccer stadium to thousands of fans who already knew the words to his song "Pornosotros," which also features Wow Popy, Fixty Ordara and Ja Rulay.
One unique aspect of this song — an example of what Cuban journalist Rafa Escalona refers to as "pornoreparto" — is the relative absence of auto-tune as compared with most reparto songs. Presumably, Wampi’s vocals are so pleasing that the label didn’t want to distort them too much. The song was such a big hit that the four recorded a sequel a few months later, "Por Ustedes (Pornosotros 2)," as well as a remix with Chocolate MC in 2023.
In 2023, Wampi scored another huge hit with "Maleante," a ballad lamenting the fact that "good girls like villains." His musical versatility bodes well for his career — and it’s notable that he was invited to perform at the Getting Funky in Havana Festival earlier this year, along with artists like Trombone Shorty.
One of reparto’s biggest names is El Taiger, whose music lives on the porous border between reggaeton and reparto. He began his career with the popular timbatón (timba-tinged reggaeton) group Los 4, with hits like "El Motorola." He has also had more international exposure than most reparto artists, particularly since moving to Miami. In 2017, he was featured on the soundtrack of The Fate of the Furious (filmed in Havana), on a song called "La Habana."
In 2021, El Taiger released "Habla matador," a massive hit that crossed over to the larger Latin urban market. Although you can hear the rumba clave, the song sounds more like reggaeton than reparto, particularly because of the melodic use of the Cuban tres, one of the island’s quintessential instruments. The song also has slick production and an upbeat vibe that contrasts with some of the "grimier" reparto songs. El Taiger has continued recording prolifically, scoring a big hit this year with Bebeshito, one of the hottest young reparteros, called "Marca Mandarina."
In early October 2024, El Taiger suffered a gunshot wound to the head; it’s unclear whether he will be able to recover. Several reparteros, such as Charly y Johayron, have recorded songs praying for El Taiger’s recovery. The incident has united the usually divisive reparto world.
El Kamel has been another staple of reparto since 2018, the year he broke out with songs like "Haz tu vida." That same year, in response to Chocolate MC’s "Bajanda," El Kamel put out "A la carandanda," in which he extended the cat and mouse metaphor to include a dog (himself), who in turns hunts the cat (Chocolate).
Notwithstanding this tiradera, the two artists collaborated in 2021. Among El Kamel’s many other successful collaborations is "El Cuadro," recorded in 2019 with Yomil y El Dany. This was just a year before the Cuban reggaeton/reparto world was rocked with the sudden death of El Dany at the age of 31.