El General
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Edgardo Armando Franco (born 27 September 1969), better known as El General, is a Panamanian former reggae artist considered by some to be one of the fathers of "Reggae en Español". During the early 1990s, he was one of the artists who initiated the Spanish-language
dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...
variety of reggae music. Early examples of this were the international and somewhat mainstream songs, "Te Ves Buena" and "Tu Pum Pum". “Tu Pum Pum" emerged after a friend of El General invited him to collaborate with a Jamaican producer that was searching for a “different sound in Panama." Both songs, performed in Spanish
deejaying A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...
style, were very successful in North America. After getting his foot in the door of the commercial market, many other Spanish-language dancehall reggae artists became famous in the mainstream as well.Santos, Mayra. 1996. "Puerto Rican Underground." Centro 8, no. 1 & 2: 219–231. He has a unique, easy to listen to style of
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
and has produced many well-known songs all over Latin America. This style is called
reggae en Español In Panama, dancehall reggae sung in Spanish language by artists of Latin American origin is known as ''Reggae en Español'' (in English, Spanish reggae). It originated in the late 1980s in Panama. ''Reggae en Español'' goes by several names; ...
, because he makes dancehall reggae music with Spanish-language lyrics. El General retired in 2004 and became a Jehovah's Witness.


Early history

El General began singing and composing songs at the age of 12 in his home in
Río Abajo Río Abajo is a corregimiento within Panama City, in Panamá District, Panamá Province, Panama with a population of 26,607 as of 2010. Its population as of 1990 was 33,155; its population as of 2000 was 28,714. It is a West Indian neighborhoo ...
, Panama. El General is of Jamaican Descent. Jamaicans, Bajans, Trinidadans, other West Indians moved to Panama to fill the need of labor for the construction of the Panama Canal. As laborers on the Canal they were met with harsh conditions like low wages and terrible living conditions. Black Panamanians of Caribbean descent (antillanos) were also mistreated and segregated based on their Caribbean ancestry and were unable to assimilate to national Panamanian culture. While El General was growing up Spanish Regé as a genre began to rise in Panama. In the 1980s, Spanish Reggae in Panama was the use of riddims that were popular in Jamaica and the rapping/singing of direct translations on the same beat. As Panamaians of Caribbean descent the use of Jamaican riddims was anti-establishment and enforced what Wayne Marshall says, “ ‘provides a telling set of examples of how the meanings of Jamaican reggae continue to resonate in Panama, even after translation into Spanish’ ” The use of Caribbean sounds in Spanish Regé made the genre anti-establishment and a form of resistance to a country that denied Panamians of Caribbean descent. Describing himself as a “restless child,” El General would use different objects such as buckets, flutes, and anything in front of him to serve as an instrument. Musically influenced by
Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...
and Donkey Banton growing up, El General recounts in an interview his love for reggae. When he was younger, he was a part of a group called Renato and the Four Stars, which is when he got his nickname, “El General,” where they would sing reggae in Spanish. He then received a scholarship, the young artist moved to the United States to study
business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
, and became a professional accountant. While studying, he was also an MC for parties and opened up for dancehall and hip-hop musical acts. His connection to Black diasporic communities in New York both influenced his music and led to his music being spread across the Americas including the US, Panama, and Puerto Rico. This led to extreme popularity in the 90s with his first song “Tu Pum Pum,”


Career and Influence

His breakout performance came in 1994, when he was featured on the song "Robi-Rob's Boriqua Anthem" from
C+C Music Factory C, or c, is the third letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C" ...
's album
Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...
. During this time, he started working with Chino Rodriguez, an entrepreneur in the Latin music industry, who convinced Franco a.k.a. El General (as his close friends and family would call him), to perform a
salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...
song before his performance of "Robi-Rob's Boriqua Anthem". The performance was at the
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
produced by
Ralph Mercado Ralph Mercado Jr. (September 29, 1941 – March 10, 2009) was a promoter of Latin American music — Latin Jazz, Latin rock, merengue and salsa — who established a network of businesses that included promoting concerts, managing artists, Ri ...
(owner of
RMM Records RMM Records, also known as RMM Records & Video Corp, was an independent Latin music record label established in 1987 and based in New York City. The label was most active during the late 1980s and early 1990s and produced primarily salsa, Latin j ...
and who always produced large Latino events in New York). The fans were surprised that El General (Franco) sang a salsa song. Ralph Mercado gave El General more time in the tight schedule of stage allotment to do the salsa song before the scheduled performance of "Boriqua Anthem". Chino Rodriguez was able to convince Ralph Mercado to allow more time so that El General could surprise his fans. He started his musical career when he was 19 years old, and for 17 years, his albums achieved gold status 32 times and platinum 17 times. Popular reggae in Spanish music in Panama was (and is still) called plena. Songs like "Muevelo" (1991), "Tu Pum Pum" (1991), "
Rica y Apretadita "Rica y Apretadita" is a song by Panamanian reggae singer El General featuring Anayka. The song was released in 1995 and is one of El General's signature songs. Kumbia All Starz version "Rica y Apretadita" was later cover by Mexican-American cu ...
" and "Te Ves Buena" are among his greatest hits. In 1992, El General received an MTV award for Best Latin Video with the great success of "Muevelo" produced by Pablo "Pabanor" Ortiz and Erick "More" Morillo. In 1993, El General won the Rap Artist of the Year Award at the
Lo Nuestro Awards The Lo Nuestro Awards or Premios Lo Nuestro (Spanish for "Our Thing") is a Spanish-language awards show honoring the best of Latin music, presented by Univision, a Spanish-language television network based in the United States. The awards began in ...
. When asked in an interview about reggae and its true roots, El General responded with the history of the construction of the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
and migration of Jamaican folks into Panama.  He shared that his musicality had been influenced by Donkey Barton and
Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...
, and how he had hoped to gain musical acceptance in Jamaica out of respect for reggae native home: Jamaica. He also shared that reggae transitioned into a meaningful form of protest and a means of sharing information regarding everyday life, the news, or corruption in the government. The Panama Canal connects Atlantic and Pacific trade routes and the descendants of the Black workers brought over “dancehall—an updated version of Jamaican reggae—into Panamanian sound system parties,” Panama, as a result, became a “multicultural melting pot” in which folks from Jamaica and Barbados were entering Panamanian spaces. Many reggaeton songs use
dembow Dembow is a Dominican musical genre that can be traced to a riddim that originated in Jamaican dancehall. When Shabba Ranks released "Dem Bow" in 1990, it did not take long for the dembow genre to form. Riddims were built from the song and th ...
as their underlying basis for rhythm. The relationship between labor of Black, low-income folks in Panama City and reggaeton music has been their usage of reggae music as a form of protest. Afro-Panamanian artist Renato expressed that it was through singing reggaeton that financially struggling Black folks could protest the government and police brutality. This could be seen in the music of El General’s former band partner Renato, whose 1985 Spanish Reggae song “El D.E.N.I” recounts an instance of racial profiling with Panamanian police. In addition to reggae anti-policing history, themes regarding the commercialization of reggaeton, sexism, homophobia, and colorism emerged. In the podcast Loud hosted by Puerto Rican and reggaeton artist
Ivy Queen Martha Ivelisse Pesante Rodríguez (born March 4, 1972), known professionally as Ivy Queen, is a Puerto Rican singer, rapper, songwriter, and actress. She is considered one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre, commonly referred to as the Qu ...
, Ivy Queen shared her concerns regarding the role that commercialization of the genre plays in potentially silencing the rebellious fundamental themes in the music. The pushing away of Black roots can be detrimental to the very history that is reggaeton. El General’s success has been tremendous and influential to the genre of Reggaeton today. After gaining international notoriety in the early 1990s, his style of Spanish Regé influenced “Underground” which would birth what we now consider Reggaeton in Puerto Rico.  El General’s success also serves as a way of understanding how important the connection between Black communities in Panama, the Caribbean (Jaimaica, Barbados, etc), and the Caribbean-American communities in New York. The influence of El General and Panamanian Spanish Regé artists,  has been noted by popular reggae artists like Maicol Superstar


Retirement

In 2004, El General went on a farewell tour, announcing his retirement to focus on producing. However, after a few years, he seemed to have disappeared completely. A video that surfaced in 2008 features El general explaining his return to the Jehovah’s witness faith and his leave from the music scene. Franco describes his time making music as a dark era and refers to his platinum records and accolades as “trophies from the devil”. Franco is part of a wave of Latin artists (like
Hector El Father In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
and
Farruko Carlos Efrén Reyes Rosado (born May 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Farruko, is a retired Puerto Rican singer and rapper. He rose to fame collaborating with Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Don Omar, and J Álvarez. He came to prominence in 201 ...
) who have left Reggaeton for religious reasons. Gata, a cultural critic and Reggaeton artist, links the trend of these artists to notions of patriarchy and machismo and feeling guilty over sexual explicit lyrics.


Discography

*''No Me Va a Matar'' (1988) *''Estás Buena'' (1989) *''Muevelo Con el General'' (1991) *"Son Bow" (1991) *"No Más Guerra" (1991) *''El Poder del General'' (1992) *''Es Mundial'' (1994) *''Clubb 555'' (1995) *''Rapa Pan Pan'' (1997) *''Move It Up'' (1998) *''Grandes Éxitos'' (1998) *''Colección Original'' (1998) *''Serie 2000'' (2000) *''Back to the Original'' (2001) *''IS BACK'' (2001) *''General De Fiesta'' (2002) *''El General: The Hits'' (2003) *''To' Rap-Eao'' (2003) *''La Ficha Clave'' (2004)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:General, El 1969 births Living people People from Panama City RCA Records artists Rodven Records artists 20th-century Panamanian male singers 20th-century Panamanian singers Panamanian reggaeton musicians Panamanian Jehovah's Witnesses Panamanian songwriters Polydor Records artists 21st-century Panamanian male singers 21st-century Panamanian singers Panamanian people of Jamaican descent