The reggaeton father denied his music for being the work of "Satan"

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"The 'baby girl' drinks' lin 'and drinks' wiky', '/ smokes' marijuana' and also gets' picky ' /. Senda bellacona,' geek, '' geek ',' geek ', / is half wild, she is addicted to my 'dicky.' .. "

How did we get here?

Any 'coiled up' parent who has pried into the music their pre and post-teen children listen to to come across lyrics like the one above ('Lean', by Towy, Sammy & Falsetto, Beltito & Osquel, and Super Yei, for more signs) you will have asked the same question. And more: Where did this 'reggaeton' of the devil come from? What has happened since the 'You upload the bilirubin' and the 'Snail soup'?

The answer comes from a Panamanian who today lives devoted to Jehovah, but who at the end of the last century built, practically himself, the style that would eventually dominate Latin music. And, over time, the world.

Daddy Yankee, J Balvin or Bad Bunny owe a lot to El General , starting with the name of the genre. And is that Edgardo Franco (Panama City, 1969) was the first who managed to popularize Jamaican music ('reggae' and, above all, 'dancehall' and 'raggamuffin') in Spanish. Then that caught on in Puerto Rico as 'reggaeton', from where it spread to the United States, Colombia, Cuba ...

Born in a large (and religious) family in the Panamanian capital, Edgardo had his first contact with music as a child, as a soft drink vendor at concerts. In one of Celia Cruz, he slipped into his dressing room and asked the sauce boat to touch him to give him his blessing, because he dreamed of being a famous singer . But the singer preferred to give him two tips. The first, respect: you do not have to enter a dressing room without permission. And the second, that he look for an original rhythm.

At 18 he moved to New York to study business management, but soon returned to his country to record what would be his first hit, 'Tu pum pum'. His stage name came from his almost military command of the art of improvisation or 'freestyle' of verses on public buses. Hence, he chose a suitable clothing, with coats, braids and medallion medals. In fact, in one of the first versions of You Look Good, Another Ball, pays tribute to "the great Noriega", the drug-trafficking dictator who was deposed from power in Panama by a US operation in 1989.

The 'look' 'milico', added to his long stature (almost two meters) and his eel wiggles in the crotch area gave him a stage presence. Then there were his lyrics: picantonas called to scrub and rub erogenous zones of the human body . "Move it, move it (How tasty)," said the refrain of his greatest success. "Three pounds of hip is not hip," he proclaimed in another. "Men kill themselves because you look good." Rich and tight he liked women, he said the title of another ball. The global success came in 1994, when he was recruited by C + C Music Factory for a song, Robi Rob's Boriqua Anthem, with his most remembered verses: "What does that girl want? Ripe banana, green banana?".

Although he managed to reach the top ten of the Billboard on numerous occasions, El General's smile (gold tooth included) was elsewhere, far from the spotlight. Years later, I would remember his arrival in music very differently: "I started listening to those bad companies I had before. And they pulled me like a hook and brought me to that recording studio." The lyrics of the songs "were something that caused conflict with my conscience," he confessed. "So they offered me an alcoholic drink to calm me down. And then I felt a little bit more at ease, I started singing, they liked what they heard ... And then that played on all the radios. That was a part trophy of Satan for having abandoned Jehovah. "

In 2004, the General abandoned his career, arguing a disagreement with the Panamanian government after withdrawing his diplomatic passport. At first he announced that his plans were still in show business, with the production of a film-protest against the loss of respect for the elderly , 'Granpa', with the collaboration of Rubén Blades and Dorismar. But, shortly after, it disappeared.

When he was heard from again, hardly anyone recognized him. It was in 2016, in a promotional video of Jehovah's Witnesses. In it, Edgardo Franco told his story of redemption through the Most High. "It looks pretty good. But when you are really on top of the mountain of Satan's world there is nothing cute there, " she confessed through tears. "He was an actor: when the camera was turned on, my face, my smile, turned on. But when I got to the hotel it was a big drop. There was no applause, but a silence that tormented my conscience.

You had to find other escapes, "and one of them was the machines in the casinos. But a casino does not only come with the machines: it also comes with prostitution, alcoholic beverages ... My conscience asked me: 'What are you doing here? ? " She also remembered when she was in the limousines. "Then I would see the brothers preaching and that always touched my heart. He would say to me: 'Jehovah has instructed you to do that and look at what you are doing.'"

"He had betrayed Jehovah," Edgardo chastised himself. And a goal was set: "To return to Jehovah because I have to fulfill my vow that I made to Him when I was young, to dedicate my life to him."

"I prayed to Jehovah, I opened my heart." He said to him, "Jehovah, I need to return to you, to your loving arms. Satan has torn me from your arms. Please help me." It was then that other members of the congregation reinstated him. "They showed me with the Bible how far I had gone from the path of the true God , " he thanked them.

Today, Edgardo exercises the apostolate in his land, sacred scriptures in hand, ready to remove from the jaws of Beelzebub the young people who indulge in the bullfighting he helped to establish . It is easy to imagine him in front of them - who drink 'lin' and put 'picky' - with their straw hat, their copies of The Watchtower and their stories. "I have found happiness," he says, as proof of life.

Jehovah, the best prize

According to the ANSA agency, El General achieved 17 platinum records, 32 gold records, 12 Lo Nuestro Awards (in the image above, collecting one in 2004, shortly before his retirement) and six Billboard awards, among other recognitions. Vile and mundane metal according to the reborn Edgardo: "I have asked Jehovah for much forgiveness for everything I have done. Also to all the brothers, to all the people I offended. And all those trophies that I won, they are all there, complete, taking powder. "

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• LOC
• music
• culture
• Latin music
• Reggaeton

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