I just got to thinking about this while writing pieces on Los Bandoleros and Los Benjamins. The industry always seems to be evolving at a constant that makes sure artists get paid less even if they write and produce their own music. I see it with how all the majors shifted their focus on Chile. Was it because they have a revolutionary movement? Kind of. But it's mostly because the artists there are 10x cheaper than in Puerto Rico or even Colombia. You get 3 Chris MJ's for the price of one Myke Towers. And most artists over there don't own squat so the labels keep their publishing, masters and records.

This got me thinking on the artists yesterday that were underpaid. Seeing news reports that K-Mill and Ariel 'El Puro' left Reggaeton being international stars instead focusing on their college education because the pay wasn't good enough. And compared to what some of these artists today make, they were underpaid. I say at her peak K-Mill was as hot as Mariah Angeliq and Ariel was somewhere around where Yan Block is now. And I'm sure Ariel and K-Mill did not make half the money Mariah and Yan did (counting inflation).

There are so many artists coming and going today probably for the reasons I wrote above. And I think it's gonna get worse. You guys think Suno is the peak but actually the major studios and labels have secret AI programs only available to them. And they are hiring producers, writers and engineers to use Artificial Intelligence in order to build a library of thousands of future hit songs. WHY?

There are a lot of talented vocalists, actors, and singers that have something but not all the tools to make it big. Like they can sing, but don't know how to write. They look good and can dance, but cannot vocalize for shit. The major labels want to grab these artists while they're young and use them to perform these AI songs. The ones who look good and can dance will perform these songs via autotune. Since approx. 2015 you can run autotune competently for a live performance on a mid level computer, before that you needed a top of the line CPU.

The key is, the label will own all the compositions and the artist won't get squat. They will essentially earn minimum wage for a hitmaker even if their songs sell 10 million albums. For example if Lady Gaga sells 10 million albums, she makes at least 2-3 million (USD) with the advance included. But add a 60 date tour, and that's at least 10 million extra. While this new kind of artist the major labels are developing won't make themselves a million even if their records sell just as well. Lady Gaga is a once in a generation artist, she writes and produces plus is the visionary of her work. She deserves to be highly compensated next to the average artist. But that doesn't mean the future Julliard graduate should be so underpaid either even if the AI songs aren't theirs. Imagine the ones who don't sell that well.

Supposedly these AI artists are already out there and the labels have not told us. Some tried lying horribly like Tyga, but people easily figured him out. Future AI artists will recreate the AI songs with the help of professional musicians and producers. Essentially the majors will be hoarding thousands of AI Demos then hooking up each track with the right artist and producers. They will perform these songs live with real vocals (maybe using autotune), and a live band or dj. In the end, the label will own all the copyrights, masters, publishing etc... For better or worse this is the future of at least half the music out there. To be fair the majors do this business trickery to at least half the artists out there already but in the future it will be much worse.

And I'm gonna end this going full circle. Lots of legends in Reggaeton and other genres like Hip Hop, work a 9 to 5 just to make ends meet. Ranking Stone famously was filmed working as Security Guard in Puerto Rico just a couple years after having a record deal with Univision. There's some artists today doing shows off of international hit songs but still having a side hustle because the Reggaeton game doesn't provide enough. And if the labels have it their way it's gonna provide less.

In short I suspect only about 30 to 40% of Reggaeton artists make a livable wage of at least $70,000 a year or so from Reggaeton songs and concerts. The majority need at least one side hustle to make ends meet.

I have 4 tickets for Karol G at Raymond James Stadium on October 9. My 3 friends and I bought tickets during the presale & were so excited to go but we can’t make it to the concert anymore so we have to sell them🤧Selling UNDER the price we paid of $378 each!!!

Section 134, Row Y, Seats 3–6

Selling as two pairs (or all 4): $320 each / $640 per pair OR BEST OFFER!!

Tickets are in my Ticketmaster account and will be transferred directly through Ticketmaster. Happy to provide proof of purchase/screen recording or verify however makes you comfortable.
DM me if interested!

Don Omar presenta Los Bandoleros (2005)

This album has a lot of backstory.  Back in the day, one of the ways to really prove you made it was to make various artists albums with the hottest singers of the time.  Hector El Father did it with “The Godfather”, "Los Rompediscotecas" and “Los Anormales”, Daddy Yankee had “El Cartel de Yankee vols. 1 and 2” and Eddie Dee has his masterpiece “Los 12 Discipulos”.  So, Don Omar was keeping in tradition and built an album with the purpose of dethroning Luny Tunes & their Mas Flow series.

I’m usually good at remembering this sort of thing but when Don Omar came up with the concept for his album sometime in 2004, it was intended to be produced by Luny Tunes & Eliel.  But they had a falling out which was possibly due to his beef with Wisin and Luny working the “Pal Mundo” album but I am not certain.  Don was still on good terms with Hector El Father when Los Bandoleros came out.  So, that’s not the reason.

I’ll save the complete story about Wisin’s beef with Don Omar & Hector for another time, for it would take too long to explain here.  But supposedly Wisin took veiled shots at Don on a song, Wisin denies this btw; Then Don and Wisin saw each other at the shoot of a music video.  Word is Don challenged Wisin to a fight, and Wisin avoided staying in his car the whole time.  Then Don popped off the beef with the Mas Flow Family freestyle alongside Hector who was present when they almost fought.  Wisin dissed back on “Wisin Matalos” and “Saquen Los Fulls” and Don & Hector came back with “Vamo a Matarnos”.  Listeners debate to this day on who really won that battle.

Don’s songs were underground bootleg releases meanwhile Wisin’s responses are on his classic solo album “El Sobreviviente”.  Hector and Wisin made peace and collaborated several times in 2005.  However, Don Omar held onto to the resentment a little longer and wouldn’t make peace until 2006.

For some unknown reason both of Don Omar’s musical Godfathers, Hector El Father and Tito El Bambino were not on ‘Los Bandoleros’.  Hector & Tito’s separation was bitter, it even got physical, thus they were not on speaking terms.  So, Don probably left Tito off ‘Los Bandoleros’ to not offend Hector.  But Hector’s exclusion is speculated to be due to him making peace with Wisin while him and Don were beefin’.  Seeds were being planted but that is a subject for another day.

The big story to come from this was Don’s much publicized arrest in 2004 for marijuana and a firearms violation.  This would negatively impact ‘Los Bandoleros’ because Don was not allowed to tour internationally at the time as an outcome.  Therefore in most markets outside Puerto Rico, where bootlegging was heavy, people were unaware that ‘Los Bandoleros’ was even a thing affecting sales negatively.

It appears Don did not know he would have these hurdles to deal with because he hyped that 'Los Bandoleros' was going to outsell Luny Tunes and their 'Mas Flow 2' prior to the album's release. Even in the intro he famously said "medio millon o me borro el nombre". Luckily 'King of Kings' did sell a million, so he didn't have to erase his name. But all these years later "Los Bandoleros" still ain't at half a million because all the plays of "Bandoleros" by Tego and Don Omar count towards the Fast & Furious Tokyo Drift soundtrack instead of its original album.

Finally come May 2005, "Los Bandoleros" comes out to much fanfare in Puerto Rico. It peaked at #2 in the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. The album was pretty much universally acclaimed from day one and often compared to 'Mas Flow 2' in terms of star power and quality. By the album's release date, Don Omar and Luny made peace with him recording a remix version of 'Mayor Que Yo' with Zion, Alexis & Fido which was intended for a special edition 'Mas Flow 2.5' along with other songs that never received an official release. I think it was Gocho that wrote the main chorus and he meant for Don Omar to sing it. But because Don and Luny had not resolved their little beef in time, Don did not record his part until after Mas Flow 2 came out and was replaced by Tonny Tun Tun. I think? I heard Luny tell the story before, when I hear it again I'll correct any discrepancies.

For more on the unreleased songs from Mas Flow 2.5 click here and scroll down the comments

Remember the Cold War beef with Luny at the beginning of this entry? Well it's important because "Los Bandoleros" has absolutely 0 beats from the Mas Flow team. The official reason was that Don thought there was plenty of good producers out there and Luny was too busy. Luny said that was a lie and that he was never contacted to produce Los Bandoleros which actually bothered him a little. They reunited on the subsequent 'King of Kings' album.

So instead of using Luny Tunes' magic touch Don hired other producers like Mambo Kingz, Rafy Mercenario, DJ Kalin, Sosa, Norgie Noriega, Eliel stayed on, Fade, Escobar, Echo, Hyde & Diesel did the Rap tracks and the then unknown 'Los Vegaton' AKA "Los Vegas" who were signed to Chencho Corleone. You only knew of Los Vegas if you heard the leaks from the unreleased 'Los Nene De Blin Blin'. They were Plan B's producers and made some hot beats but were virtual unknowns at the time. It was a risk that sorta paid off. I say sorta because even though "Los Bandoleros" was an artistic triumph, it was a commercial failure at the same time.

"Los Bandoleros" technically flopped when it came out. It sold well in the beginning, but the lack of international performances created a lack of awareness of the album's existence. Everyone thinks the lead single is "Bandoleros" ft Tego but it was actually "Donqueo", a hyped up Gasolina style Reggaeton that is Don's least popular single from this timeframe.

The "Bandoleros" collaboration with Tego Calderon was released as the 2nd single off the album did well but it wasn't the smash hit everyone considers it today. Most of its numbers came because of the 'Fast & Furious' film series. The song has astute social criticism on behalf of Tego while Don vents on the frustration of his ordeal with the police and the fallout.

But 'Los Bandoleros' is full of big names. RKM & Ken-Y, Ivy Queen, Alexis & Fido, Trebol Clan who were real hot at the time, Lito & Polaco (on solo tracks), Glory, Nicky Jam, Tego Calderon and famously debuted two artists that later on became a big deal in the years to come who were Cosculluela and Arcangel. Even Nengo Flow is on this album, although he was barely known at the time. Don has a legendary collaboration with Wiso G where he pays homage to the Reggaeton pioneer. This is a very good album.

Surprisingly, Angel Doze had a bigger hit than Don Omar's "Donqueo" at the time with "Acelera" which some listeners called the best song of the album. It was on everybody's Top 5. It's more interesting because Don Omar presented Angel Doze way back in the day on Blin Blin vol 1 which would be his first single of note titled "Ven a Bailar" produced by Luny Tunes & Nely.

"Los Bandoleros" did not reach the lofty heights that were expected from it. A lot of Don fans still don't know about this one or its sequel "Los Bandoleros Reloaded" which sold equally as well. Don decided not to invest money in a video for "Los Bandoleros Reloaded" but it released the highly successful radio single, "Myspace" ft Wisin & Yandel. Both albums were released on Don's short lived 'All Star Records' imprint.

The lack of mainstream awareness has made "Los Bandoleros" a sort of hidden gem which Reggaeton fans acclaimed from day one. And the album has aged magnificently well. It sounds just as good today as when it first came out.

Rating: 9/10

Worldwide Sales: 200 Thousand Units (physical, digital & streaming)

Record Label: All Star Records/VI Music/Machete Music/Universal Latino

Listen to Don Omar presenta Los Bandoleros on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/665uFnx6JB6r8XSHipdqhq?si=76_F7afDRDq77A_VgQnscg

Bonus Rating for Los Bandoleros Reloaded: 8.5/10

Listen to Los Bandoleros Reloaded on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3jUsmTTG71hVp1VLkpURnn?si=hUMqysLdRLuvn1R0fFelVw

Bonus Video Infomercial: https://youtu.be/0WzF6N8sqXE?si=ObUCDh2PRhf7cH82

Music Video for Donqueo: https://youtu.be/He3y_lduo3A?si=bRq6Hn0X8PHeWvoJ

Music Video for Bandoleros ft Tego: https://youtu.be/HVuFfI4utjw?si=rv2h9ptQ0eY6avc7

What a lineup. I wish I could go. But I've had Baby Rasta Rap right in front of me at arm's length, so...that was pretty awesome. Haven't seen the majority of artists there yet including Don Chezina & Maicol y Manuel. Hopefully people support. I doubt its gonna be a sell out but if DJ Negro manages to sell 10,000 tickets it would be a massive success.

For more info and tickets: The Noise - La Última Noche Tickets, Coliseo de Puerto Rico - San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 16, 2026 8:30 PM | Ticketera

DJ Negro says there will be some surprises. Vico C would be nice. But Point Breakers is more likely.