El General

Edgardo Armando Franco (born 27 September 1969), better known as El General, is a Panamanian former rapper considered by some to be one of the fathers of reggae en Español.

During the early 1990s, he was one of the artists who initiated the Spanish-language dancehall variety of reggae music. Early examples of this were the international and somewhat mainstream songs, "Te Ves Buena" and "Tu Pum Pum". “Tu Pum Pum" emerged after a friend of El General invited him to collaborate with a Jamaican producer that was searching for a “different sound in Panama." He has a unique, easy to listen to style of dance music and has produced many well-known songs all over Latin America.

El General retired from music in 2004 and became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Early history El General began singing and composing songs at the age of 12 in his home in Río Abajo, Panama. El General is of Jamaican descent.

Jamaicans, Bajans, Trinidadians and other West Indians moved to Panama to fill the need of labor for the construction of the Panama Canal. As laborers on the Canal they were met with harsh conditions like low wages and terrible living conditions. Black Panamanians of Caribbean descent (antillanos) were also mistreated and segregated based on their Caribbean ancestry and were unable to assimilate to national Panamanian culture.

While El General was growing up Spanish Reggae as a genre began to rise in Panama. In the 1980s, Spanish Reggae in Panama was the use of riddims that were popular in Jamaica and the rapping/singing of direct translations on the same beat.

Describing himself as a “restless child,” El General would use different objects such as buckets, flutes, and anything in front of him to serve as an instrument. Panama, as a result, became a “multicultural melting pot” in which folks from Jamaica and Barbados were entering Panamanian spaces. Many reggaeton songs use dembow as their underlying basis for rhythm.

In addition to reggae anti-policing history, themes regarding the commercialization of reggaeton, sexism, homophobia, and colorism emerged. El General's success also serves as a way of understanding how important is the connection between Black communities in Panama, the Caribbean (Jaimaica, Barbados, etc.), and the Caribbean-American communities in New York.

Retirement In 2004, El General went on a farewell tour, announcing his retirement to focus on producing. However, after a few years, he seemed to have disappeared completely. A video that surfaced in 2008 features Franco explaining his return to the Jehovah's Witness faith and his leave from the music scene. Franco describes his time making music as a dark era. Franco is part of a wave of Latin artists (like Héctor el Father and Farruko) who have left Reggaeton for religious reasons. Gata, a cultural critic and Reggaeton artist, links the trend of these artists to notions of patriarchy and machismo and feeling guilty over sexual explicit lyrics.

Discography Tu pum pum (1990) Te Ves Buena (1990) Muévelo Con el General (1991) "Son Bow" (1990) "No Más Guerra" (1991) El Poder del General (1992) Es Mundial (1994) Clubb 555 (1995) Rapa Pan Pan (1997) Move It Up (1998) Grandes Éxitos (1998) Colección Original (1998) Serie 2000 (2000) Back to the Original (2001) IS BACK (2001) General De Fiesta (2002) El General: The Hits (2003) To' Rap-Eao (2003) La Ficha Clave (2004)