Ramón Luis Ayala Rodriguez (February 3, 1977), known artistically as Daddy Yankee, is a Latin Grammy Award winning Puerto Rican reggaeton recording artist. Ayala was born in Río Piedras, the largest district of San Juan, where he became interested in music at a young age. In his youth he was interested in baseball, and aspired to become a Major League Baseball player. He was unable to continue this sport when he received an injury to one of his legs, leaving him unable to walk correctly. He then became involved in the underground rap movement that was in its early stages in Puerto Rico, later to be called Reggaeton.
After receiving lessons from several artists within the genre, he developed an independent career, first recording in a production titled Playero 37. After this he began to produce independent albums. His first solo album was No Mercy. He subsequently formed a duo with Nicky Jam, and then continued his solo career with the releases of El Cartel and El Cartel II. This led him be one of many pioneers of the reggaeton genre earning him the nickname Papi Vaquero.
In 2002 El Cangri.com became Ayala's first album with international success, receiving coverage in the markets of New York and Miami. Barrio Fino was released in 2004, and the album received numerous awards, including a Premio Lo Nuestro and a Latin Billboard, as well as receiving nominations for the Latin Grammy and MTV Video Music Awards. Barrio Fino performed well in the sales charts of the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Japan. On June 5, 2007, El Cartel Records released El Cartel: The Big Boss, which was ranked as the top-selling album in Latin music genres in 2007. He promoted the album with an international tour which began in the United States and continued through Latin America, breaking attendance records in Ecuador and Bolivia.
His performances have appeared on more than 70 albums, including compilations such as Mas Flow 2 and Blin Blin vol.1. Outside of his work as a musician, Ayala has also worked as an actor and producer. Throughout his career, he has been generally reluctant to discuss his personal life, but has publicly expressed the importance of his wife and children to him.
In 2008, Ayala participated in a campaign to promote voting in the 2008 general elections in Puerto Rico. This initiative included a concert titled "Vota o quédate callao".On August 25, 2008, Ayala endorsed John McCain's candidacy for President of the United States, stating that McCain "has been a fighter for the Hispanic community".As part of this campaign, Ayala moderated a debate titled “Vota o quédate callao: los candidatos responden a los jóvenes”, which was aired on October 9, 2008.
Ayala has been involved in the administration of three organizations, the first being El Cartel Records which he co-owns with Andres Hernandez. He also created the Fundación Corazón Guerrero, a charitable organization in Puerto Rico which works with young incarcerated people. On April 26, 2008, he was presented with a "Latino of the Year Award" by the student organization Presencia Latina of Harvard College, receiving it for his work with Puerto Rican youth and creating Corazón Guerrero.On February 6, 2008, Ayala announced in a Baloncesto Superior Nacional press conference that he had bought part of the Criollos de Caguas' ownership.
Ayala married Mireddys Gonzalez when he was seventeen years old. The couple have three children: Yamilette, Jeremy and Jesairis. Throughout his career Ayala has kept most of his personal life private, rarely speaking about it in interviews.He has said that he avoids doing so because such details are the only aspect of his life that are not public and that they are like a "little treasure".He made an exception in 2006 when he spoke about his relationship with his wife and children in an interview with María Celeste Arrarás in Al Rojo Vivo.He stated that his marriage is strong because he and his wife are "friends above anything", adding that he has tried to ignore other temptations because "weakness is the reason for the downfall of several artists."He also described his "very close" communication with his children, in which he tries to offer advice against drugs and negative influences.His first daughter was born when he was seventeen years old,which he has described as confusing at first, adding that raising a daughter at that age was a hard experience.
