Gay reggaeton artist

Nearly two weeks after the murder of Puerto Rican trap artist Kevin Fret, details surrounding the 24-year-old’s tragic death remain vague and unsettling.

The song went viral on TikTok during Pride Month with gay men embracing a reggaeton anthem they could twerk to in videos of their own.

“The idea for the ‘Quítate La Ropa’ video came to me in a gym,” he says with a laugh. Throughout his debut album Hawaira, which is named after his Venezuelan hometown, his objects of affections are clearly identified with male pronouns.

The murder underscores rising violence in Puerto Rico amidst the island’s ongoing economic crisis – a concern for locals that even led Bad Bunny and Residente to pay Governor Ricardo Rosselló a late-night visit to demand better education funding as a means to reduce violent crime.

As Latin trap’s first openly gay standard bearer, Fret once again ignited debate over the space queer and trans people hold within the urbano movement.

La Cruz has since manifested that gay fantasy into a blossoming music career with co-signs from giants in the genre like Karol G, Young Miko and Danny Ocean. With my music, I want to give visibility and normalize a lot of things on a social level that are looked down upon. Her commitment to creating safe spaces started with artsy reggaeton rave Perrealismo, and most recently manifested with her new party TRNSX, which enlisted DJ Gatorade for a night of dance floor bedlam organized by and for Mexico’s trans community.

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MANCANDY

In 2016, Mexican fashion designer Andrés Jiménez turned heads when he decided to take on the name of his established streetwear label, MANCANDY, as the moniker for his new reggaeton persona.

However, pressure to emulate the bravado and toxic masculinity of some of urbano’s biggest names remains an alluring path to gaining wider acceptance where such expectations are the norm.

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Bearing that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of queer and trans artists paving their own uncompromising paths within reggaeton and dembow.

He then participated in the reality singing competition ‘Operación Triunfo’, and became known throughout Spain.

Talking to Billboard, he touched on the topic of Pride Month and being open about his sexuality.

“I feel [Pride Month] is necessary to see how far we’ve come and where we can go next. Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and others are routinely praised for defying gender norms by embracing off-the-wall fashion and colored hair and nails – a low bar to clear on the scale of gender transgression.

“She told me, ‘No! The fear only stops you. It’s the people consuming my music who are making things happen [for me] and I’m having a great time with them.”

La Cruz is a gay reggaeton artist who started out as an independent musician, and now he has become “an empowering gay voice in reggaeton music,” per Billboard.

The Venezuelan rising star went viral within the online LGBTQ+ community for his “Quítate La Ropa” music video, featuring shirtless men dancing and twerking in a locker room.

Singles like “El Otro” and “Over You” lean directly into Ray’s mainstream ambitions, singing of loss and heartbreak over glossy pop production, while the sexy playfulness of “Así Así” practically dares industry naysayers to underestimate his raw potential. She supports my message and my concept and told me, ‘Keep it up.’ I feel like I made a spiritual connection with her.”

La Cruz’s recent singles such as “Easy Boy,” his reggaeton ode to casual sex, are being distributed by Sony Music Entertainment España.

At these perreo free-for-alls, gender is little more than a rapidly dissipating illusion. The fear only stops you. Knowing that she listens to me and likes what I do, that’s incredible.

Every artist on this list is an expert at fanning the flames of dance floor ecstasy, but their work is also making perreo a more inclusive experience for all to enjoy.