New Interview with Daddy Yankee

DJ Booth: What’s goin’ on y’all? It’s your boy “Z,” doin’ it real big, and joining me inside the DJ Booth is a reggaeton superstar who will be making his acting debut this summer in the major motion picture, Talento de Barrio. Please welcome Daddy Yankee – how you doin’?

Daddy Yankee: What’s up, Z? Everything’s good, poppin’ over here, chillin’ in my studio in Puerto Rico.

DJ Booth: How’s the weather in Puerto Rico? I’m in Chicago – it’s freezing! I hope it’s warmer where you are.

Daddy Yankee: It’s warm, man; I can’t complain. I’m in front of the beach, havin’ a good time, relaxin’ in the studio.

DJ Booth: You can’t complain as long as the weather’s nice. That’s one of my rules.

Daddy Yankee: [laughter]

DJ Booth: So, the new movie you have coming out this summer, is this movie based loosely on your own life? Let’s talk about it.

Daddy Yankee: It’s not based on my real life. I just wanted people to have a real story about all the situations and all the struggles that we go through in life over here in the barrios. People is gonna feel related – people that live in the hood, people that are interested in real stories in life, they gonna love this movie. Plus, I’m workin’ on the new Daddy Yankee album, which is the soundtrack. I’m workin’ on fifteen new tracks for all my fans out there. We’re gonna have good music, we’re gonna have Spanish hip hop.

DJ Booth: It sounds like, despite your work in the acting field, you’re still heavily involved in music, which is great. I’ve spoken with a lot of artists who have taken on film roles, and they’ve all said, “We love to act, but music is our real passion.” Do you feel the same way, or could you see yourself giving up on music and going with acting full-time?


Daddy Yankee: I’m agree with them. I like acting, but music is my passion – I live for this. Obviously you can’t limit yourself. If you can act, and you can make a movie, just go there. If you can do another beneficial thing for your career besides music, go ahead and make it, ‘cause you can’t limit yourself. But music is my passion, no doubt about that.

DJ Booth: I saw that you’re going to be playing a character named Edgar, but let’s say, for the sake of this interview, you had to coach an actor who was playing Daddy Yankee in a major motion picture – what would you tell him, to prepare him for that role?

Daddy Yankee: Oh, my God. Workin’ on that major a film is hard, you know what I’m sayin’? ‘Cause in my movie, I was on the actor side, it was, bein’ more Ramon Ayala, bein’ in the barrio – that wasn’t a tough role. But this one that I’m working on right now, which is completely different than Daddy Yankee, [it’s] a hard one. So you gotta really prepare yourself for those kind of movies. I’m tellin’ him really to take the breadth of me – let’s make it happen.

DJ Booth: Okay. If you had to give yourself a grad – A, B, C, D, F – based on your work on this film, what would you give yourself? And don’t be too hard.

Daddy Yankee: An ‘A,’ because it’s a normal thing that we were doin’ in the barrio, you know what I’m sayin’? But right now, I have a ‘C’ on the new one that I’m workin’ [on]. So that’s the reason I have the acting coach, because it’s a new step for me, that role. So I ain’t gonna, lie, I’m just bein’ real. That’s the reason that you’ve got to prepare yourself for another different role that you wanna take in a movie. Acting is not an easy thing. It’s completely different from music, so you’ve gotta work hard in acting.

DJ Booth: I agree. I took two acting classes in high school, and that was the extent of my acting career, so it goes to show you. Daddy Yankee, musicians have won Academy Awards before, but for the Best Soundtrack category. Not many have won in the Acting Honors category. Do you feel that if you keep on working at this craft, you eventually could hone your talent, and get to that kind of place?

Daddy Yankee: Yeah, I’m sure. I’m a confident person, and I believe in what I’m doin’, one hundred percent. I know that any person can really put their one hundred percent energy and dedication and discipline into a goal, [then] you’re gonna make it happen. I’m very sure that if I put all my strength behind all the things I want to do, I’m gonna get there. I know that I’m capable to sit down next to Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks. If I want to do it, I know that I can do it.

DJ Booth: That’s the spirit! I recently got the chance to listen to the new single, Somos de Calle, otherwise known as, I’m From the Street, off the soundtrack to the new film. Knowing you took your own life experiences to help you craft this music, was the creative end of this work difficult, or did it come easily?

Daddy Yankee: Easily, man, ‘cause when you’re inspired by the environment that you grew up in, it’s real easy to make music. And the whole thing about this project, that’s my real environment. That’s the reason that the acting in this film was so easy, and makin’ the album has been real easy. ‘Cause the title of the song, Somos de Calle, I’m From the Street, I’m talkin’ about the street knowledge. And this track, if you’re able to have a Latino friend that can translate the words for you, you’re gonna see that it’s deep poetry right there.

DJ Booth: Definitely. Well, your heart is certainly rooted within the Puerto Rican culture. You teamed up with a university and the Juvenile Institutions Administration in Puerto Rico, and you started up a scholarship fund for teens who have committed a crime. What was the motivating factor behind this decision?

Daddy Yankee: All the friends that I’ve lost in my hood, in my barrio, you know what I’m sayin’? I just want to be able to give back to the teenagers in jail, ‘cause there’s a lot of diamonds in jail that haven’t been polished, and I believe in them, their power and their dedication to really change their life. And through my foundation I just want to give them that opportunity to really change their life. If I’m able to, and my foundation is able to change just one life, it’s worth it. I think education frees your mind; it really makes you a better man. So that’s the reason my foundation is working hand-in-hand with education in Puerto Rico.

DJ Booth: Well, you certainly ended up all right, but let’s say a scholarship like this had been available to you when you were a teen – would you have taken advantage of it, how you’re expecting these teens to?

Daddy Yankee: Of course, of course. Thank God, I’ve never been in jail before, but if I would’ve been in jail, and I had that opportunity in my hands, I would [take] that scholarship, ‘cause they’re gonna give me a new chance in life. So it’s the real deal – I just wanna help people that really need help, and that’s what I’m doing right now.

DJ Booth: Daddy Yankee, most artists who attach their name to charities or scholarships, they don’t actually pony up any money. I read you’ve donated one hundred thousand dollars of your own money. So, at the end of the day, how will that money be well-spent? What has to happen for this to be a success?

Daddy Yankee: To have a success is when I can give a diploma to one of them in the university. If I could give one of them the diploma, it’s like, “Okay, I spent this money, but it was worth it. This kid really changed his life.” So it’s like that. That’s the reward that you’ll receive in this project. That’s the real reward.

DJ Booth: Obviously, you go to school so that you can get a good job, and the good job can bring in money for you and your family. Did you go to school, or were you just lucky enough to use your musical talents?

Daddy Yankee: Everything that I’ve learned has been thanks to life. I can’t lie to you. I became an entrepreneur because all of the natural instincts I have for business, and all the things I learned in the streets. I’m just incorporating all these instincts and all this knowledge that I learned in life to [apply] them in the business. So, for me, it helps. But I think that educating yourself and going to college is an important thing in life.

DJ Booth: If you had the opportunity to go back to school, would you take advantage of it?

Daddy Yankee: Oh, of course. One hundred percent. ‘Cause I ain’t gonna be rappin’ for my entire life. Once I turn thirty-five, thirty-six, and I have the time to really go to college, I’m gonna go. Once you keep learning in your life, you become powerful. So if I have the time, when I turn forty, I’ll go to college.

DJ Booth: Do you see yourself doin’ the whole checking into the dorms thing, or are you going to use that money to stay at a nice chic hotel on campus?

Daddy Yankee: [laughter] The way I think of life, personally, and the question that you said, it’s like, the more you learn in life, the bigger you get, and nobody can take all the things your learned in education from you. That’s bigger than money, bigger than anything. You have your mentality right there, in the place that it really needs to get, it’s all right for everybody – you know, you’re the man.

DJ Booth: Isn’t that the truth. If acting and community service and music wasn’t enough, you also purchased a Puerto Rican basketball team. Was this to help diversify your portfolio, or does Daddy Yankee truly have a love for this game?

Daddy Yankee: No, I have a love for basketball, man. Right now, my kid is playing basketball, and that was the main reason that I bought the basketball team, ‘cause I fell in love with the game thanks to my young kid, who’s playin’ real good. He got game.

DJ Booth: If you and your son played one-on-one, who’s the winner?

Daddy Yankee: Right now, Daddy’s the winner. But I know, in a couple of years, he’s gonna have the potential to really dunk on Daddy’s face.

DJ Booth: [laughter] Obviously, you’re the king of multi-tasking in my book. You added actor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur onto your growing list of job duties, which obviously include platinum-selling recording artist. Taking all of this into consideration, what has been the most challenging project or job?

Daddy Yankee: The foundation, honestly, ‘cause you’re dealing with real life. When it comes to music and when it comes to business, I’m dealing with entertainment, but once you turn the lights off, real life continues. And it really has been a dream come true, workin’ with this foundation, ‘cause right now we’re workin’ with an orphanage in Dominican Republic, and we’re workin’ with another couple of schools in Bolivia, Guatemala, and Columbia as well, towards fixing the schools’ infrastructure. I think that has been the most challenging project that I ever had, ‘cause I’m dealing with kids, I’m dealing with people that really have a dream in their mind, I’m workin’ with people that really need help. And when you’re workin’ with real life, that’s a challenge.

DJ Booth: I’m proud of everything that you’re doin’, and obviously wish you nothing but the most success on the new film, Talento de Barrio, the soundtrack, your new album, and all these endeavors. Give everybody a website or a MySpace page so they can find out more about what you got goin’ on.

Daddy Yankee: Exactly. Go to daddyyankee.com for more information, or myspace.com/daddyyankee. And thanks for the support, everybody out there.

Djbooth.net