Daddy Yankee Announces Retirement After New Album Release

Daddy Yankee has announced his retirement from music. The king of reggaeton says that he is stepping away after the release of his next album, Legendaddy. He will also embark on a final farewell tour.

Considered to be one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre of hip-hop, Yankee reached international acclaim in 2004 with his hit “Gasolina.” Throughout his career, he has released six projects that reached No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart. Also, he coined the term reggaeton a decade before the release of his debut album.

Legendaddy will be Daddy Yankee’s first studio album since 2012’s Prestige. However, he has remained on the charts through his work on Luis Fonsi’s 2017 hit “Despacito.”

The La Ultima Vuelta World Tour will start in Portland, Oregon on August 10 and run through December. Tickets will go on sale March 30.

“Today, I’m announcing my retirement from music by giving you my best production and my best concert tour,” the singer said in a statement issued on Sunday. “I will say goodbye celebrating these 32 years of experience with this new collector’s item, the album Legendaddy. I’m going to give you all the styles that have defined me, in one single album.”

Daddy Yankee performs onstage at the 2019 iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina at AmericanAirlines Arena on November 2, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Jason Koerner/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

Daddy Yankee’s legacy

Daddy Yankee got his start in the ’90s, appearing in the Puerto Rican underground rap scene. After attempting to emulate traditional Puerto Rican rappers such as DJ Nelson and Tempo, he developed his own original style which laid the groundwork for reggaeton.

Then, after achieving exposure through collabs with artists such as Nas, Yankee’s first taste of international success came in 2004 with the release of his album Barrio Fino. The lead single, Gasolina became a hit and brought reggaeton to the mainstream. Since then, he has won multiple awards, including 8 Billboard Music awards, the most by any Latin artist.

You can check out Daddy Yankee’s retirement video below: