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As major stars of Puerto Rico's reggaeton scene, Wisin & Yandel dominated the pop world of Latin America in the early 2000s, before crossing over into the mainstream US charts and collaborating with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin and R Kelly. Both hailing from the mountain town of Cayey, the pair knew each other at school but by their late teens Wisin was studying acting and writing songs on his own and Yandel was working in a barbers shop and occasionally performing traditional Latin songs. As artists in Puerto Rico and Panama they began making their own Spanish-language versions of reggae-dancehall tracks in the 1990s. With Wisin laying down raps and Yandel singing harmonies, they made their first appearance on DJ Dicky's 'No Fear 3' mixtape in 1998 and were break-out stars as the scene soaked up hip-hop influences and electro beats and began to grow into a distinct new form of urban, Latin street music. By toning down some of the edgy, highly sexualised trademarks of the style, they shaped their sound with more innocent themes of romance, dancing and heartache and shot for a wider commercial audience with early albums like 'De Nuevos a Viejos' in 2001 and 'Mi Vida.Mi Life' in 2003. With Daddy Yankee taking the genre to new heights with his global hit 'Gasolina', Wisin and Yandel cemented their massive popularity in 2005 when their fifth album 'Pa'l Mundo' topped the Latin Billboard Charts for 64 weeks and sold over three million copies worldwide. They went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Latin Urban Album in 2007 for 'Los Extraterrestres' and major stars such as Jennifer Lopez, Chris Brown, T-Pain and 50 Cent featured on later albums 'La Revolucion' and 'Los Vaqueros: El Regreso', both of which made the US top ten. They took a break to pursue solo projects after 2012's 'Lideres' but reunited for a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden to celebrate the Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York.
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