Reggaeton is a form of dance music which became popular with Latin American youth during the late 1990s and spread to North American, European, Japanese, and Filipino audiences during the first few years of the 21st century. Reggaeton (also spelled with the Spanish accent as Reggaetón, and sometimes as Reguetón in Spanish) - blends Jamaican music influences of reggae and dancehall with those of Latin America, such as bomba and plena, as well as that of hip hop. The music is also combined with rapping (generally) in Spanish. Reggaeton has given Hispanic Caribbean youth, specifically those of Puerto Rico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Mexico as well as the Latin American audience and the Latino communities in the United States, a musical genre of their own.

While it takes influences from hip hop and dancehall, it would be wrong to define reggaeton as the 'Hispanic'- or 'Latino'- version of either of these genres; reggaeton has its own specific beat and rhythm, whereas Latino hip hop is simply hip hop recorded by artists of Latino descent. Reggaeton's distinguishing feature is the Dem Bow beat (alternately spelled Dembow), which originated in a song by Shabba Ranks in the mid-1990s ^{[citation needed]}.

Reggaeton lyrics tend to be more derived from hip hop than dancehall. Like hip hop, reggaeton has caused controversy due to its often explicit lyrics and alleged exploitation of women ^[1]. Further controversy surrounds perreo, a dance with explicit sexual overtones which typically accompanies reggaeton music.