Talento
de barrio premieres on July
23 at the HBO Latin Film
Festival in New York.
Reggaeton singer Daddy Yankee
seems overjoyed these days,
not only because his song
“Pose” has reached No. 1
on the charts, but also
because he’ll be making
his film acting debut in
HBO Latin Film Festival’s
Talento de barrio.
"We’re
working really hard on the
film. It was two years of
a lot of work, and I truly
didn’t realize the kinds
of sacrifices people have
to make in the film industry.
The theme is ‘we’re from
the streets’ and we’ve gotten
a lot of support,” said
the 31-year-old Puerto Rican
singer.
The
film–Daddy Yankee’s first–will
appear on the big screen
July 23 in New York, about
two weeks after the release
of his new album, which
is slated for July 15.
"This
new album goes hand in hand
with the film. The concept
is urban street music, but
we took the flavor of the
neighborhood and evolved
it, we came up with new
ideas and themes,"
said the singer of "Rompe,"
adding that the film tells
the story of a group of
young people who struggle
to cope in the midst of
adverse situations while
living on the streets.
Ramon
(Raymond) Ayala (born February
3, 1977), known artistically
as Daddy Yankee, is a Latin
Grammy Award-winning Puerto
Rican reggaeton recording
artist. Ayala was born in
Rio Piedras the largest
district of San Juan, where
he became interested in
music at a young age. In
his youth he was interested
in baseball, and aspired
to become a Major League
Baseball player. He was
unable to continue this
sport when he received an
injury to one of his legs,
leaving him unable to walk
correctly. He then became
involved in the underground
rap movement that was in
its early stages in Puerto
Rico, later to be called
Reggaeton. After receiving
lessons from several artists
within the genre, he developed
an independent career, first
recording in a production
titled Playero 37. After
this he began to produce
independent albums. His
first solo album was No
Mercy. He subsequently formed
a duo with Nicky Jam, and
then continued his solo
career with the releases
of El Cartel and El Cartel
II. This led him be one
of many pioneers of the
reggaeton genre.
In
2002 El Cangri.com became
Ayala's first album with
international success, receiving
coverage in the markets
of New York and Miami. Barrio
Fino was released in 2004,
and the album received numerous
awards, including a Premio
Lo Nuestro and a Latin Billboard,
as well as receiving nominations
for the Latin Grammy and
MTV Video Music Awards.
Barrio Fino performed well
in the sales charts of the
United States, Latin America,
Europe, and Japan. On June
5, 2007, El Cartel Records
released El Cartel: The
Big Boss, which was ranked
as the top-selling album
in Latin music genres in
2007. He promoted the album
with an international tour
which began in the United
States and continued through
Latin America, breaking
attendance records in Ecuador
and Bolivia. His performances
have appeared on more than
70 albums, including compilations
such as Mas Flow 2 and Blin
Blin Vol. 1.
Talento De Barrio
Plot
Raymond Ayala (better known
as Daddy Yankee) stars as
Edgar Dinero, an angry young
man from the slums of Puerto
Rico who gets tangled between
the thug life of his neighborhood
and the beat of his barrio.
On that path Edgar encounters
disruption among his crew
men, while falling in love
with an uptown girl from
whom "Dinero"
must conceal his strong
ties with the violent barrio
underworld.
Edgar
may run, but is unable to
hide from the scores of
corrupt cops and the full
blown war for the "Caserio"
among his men. Soon enough
Edgar must face the question.
Would he die as the "Cangri"
of the underworld or would
he be resurrected as the
"Big Boss" of
Reggaeton?
Talento
de barrio premieres on July
23 at the HBO Latin Film
Festival in New York.