Wisin y Yandel

If Wisin y Yandel's "Rakata" wasn't replaying itself endlessly in your head at the end of 2005, it's probably because you weren't listening to the right radio station. For any lover of the genre, that spitfire track off Luny Tunes' Mas Flow compilation helped permanently prop open the door that Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina" had kicked open in 2004. Reggaeton had become a mainstay on Latin pop radio and in some way Wisin and Yandel's story mimicked the genre's rise. Born and raised in Cayey, Puerto Rico, Llandel Veguilla and Juan Luis Morera took up rapping early; by 1998 they'd released their debut No Fear with a string of compilations and releases to follow. After a greatest hits release, the duo called it quits. But fate intervened -- or their solo careers didn't take off as planned -- and they reunited for 2004's La Mission IV en el ano 2004. Their timing was good -- Universal was launching its reggaeton imprint and the duo was quickly folded under Machete Music's wings.