The acclaimed Spotify Studios and Futuro Studios production LOUD: The History of Reggaeton has been re-uploaded to the streaming platforms and on their website after it disappeared for two years, just as a high-profile reggaeton copyright case unfolds in Los Angeles.
The LOUD podcast, hosted by reggaeton pioneer Ivy Queen, was first uploaded in August 2021 and was brought up in the sweeping copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Cleveland Constantine Browne, Anika Johnson (as personal representative of the Estate of Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson), and Steely & Clevie Productions Ltd.
The lawsuit names Universal Music, Warner Music, Sony Music, Drake, Justin Bieber, Daddy Yankee, and dozens of reggaeton and pop artists linked to over 1,800 songs. At the heart of the case is the claim that these works infringe on Steely & Clevie’s 1989 Fish Market riddim, via the Dem Bow riddim popularized by Shabba Ranks.
According to documents obtained by WMV, the plaintiffs intend to use episodes of Loud as courtroom evidence. In one submission, Ivy Queen introduces the infamous beat:
“We are going to hear about that beat that came to define the scene you know what I’m talking about – Dem Bow – that beat honey that beat will dominate almost every song of reggaeton that you hear today.”
The filings also cite her oral history of how the riddim spread:
“Sleepy Wonder and Bobo General did a song on the beat called Pounder … his record had an instrumental version of the new beat on the B side that instrumental is the one that end up getting sampled over and over again and becoming the Dem Bow beat we all know and love – deejays in Puerto Rico started literally flying to New York going to the Jamaican record store and buying up every copy of Sleepy Wonder’s record that they could find.”
Lawyers are asking the court to hear both podcast clips and tracks such as Nicky Jam’s “Magnum”, Bad Bunny’s “La Dificil”, Daddy Yankee & Yandel’s “Calentón”, Karol G & Camilo’s “Contigo Voy A Muerte”, and Maluma’s “Sin Contrato”—arguing this will help judges understand how the alleged infringement runs through reggaeton’s DNA.
Ivy Queen a Billboard’s Icon Award winner, has long claimed her place as one of the genre’s founders. In Loud’s opening episode, she reflected:
“From that day on, I was one of the people who known for creating a genre. People who came form nothing and struggled and made something new, something for the whole world to dance.”
In episode 3 of LOUD at the 16:40 mark, Ivy stated that, “today there is Dominican Dem Bow…(but) over time the beat from Shabba Ranks’ Dem Bow became the basis for thousand and thousands of reggaeton songs to the point where it become the sound of the genre.” She added, “Dem Bow is the center of it all but the story of that sample is not as straight forward as you think.”
Further down in the episode she revised history saying, “the actual sample that was used many many times in reggaeton isn’t the one that people think it is, it doesn’t come form the Shabba Ranks song, but from a copy of it. The real song wasn’t produced in Jamaica, but in a studio in the suburbs of Long Island in New York called HCNF, all the big Jamaican artist record there back in the day.”
Other stars featured in the series also weigh in on the music’s contested origins.
“People have the wrong impression that reggaeton was born in Puerto Rico, but it was born in Panama,” says El Chombo, producer of Dame Tu Cosita with City Ranks.
Last Friday (September 26) El Chombo’s legal team, Pryor Cashman LLP, filed a motion in the Central District of California seeking to strike three expert declarations submitted by the plaintiffs in the “Dem Bow” copyright case to stake a claim over songs he created using the Dem Bow beat as its core
In LOUD, Super producer Tainy, known for his work with Bad Bunny, Ozuna and Anuel AA, also acknowledged the Jamaican roots:
“Reggaeton comes from dancehall,” he admitted, while noting subtle differences in groove.
LOUD, reuploaded to Spotify on September 15 without any obvious changes keeps the same narrative of the genres rise from Panama’s dancehall-inspired experiments to its global dominance. Across 10 episodes, the series unpacks the stories of young Afro-diasporic communities, underground clubs, censorship wars, and the artists who transformed a marginalized sound into one of the world’s most powerful pop movements.
Listen to LOUD below:
