De La Ghetto Talks 20 Years of Hit-Making, Childhood and Closet Love for Rock and Punk In Intimate Q&A at the White Claw® Sessions Powered by Billboard

If you were to meet De La Ghetto for the first time, he’d introduce himself by saying: “I’m De La Ghetto. I’m a rockstar!” The Puerto Rican star punctuated his words with a laugh, but he hit the nail on the head. 

While De La Ghetto, aka De la Geezy or simply Geezy, is known as a reggaetón icon with 18 years of hits under his belt, his range of action goes way beyond a dembow beat. Witness his most recent hits, which include dance anthem “Amaneció” alongside Quevedo and De la Rose, and a soulful cover of “Sweet Child of Mine.” Yes, you heard that right. 

Turns out De La Ghetto is a “Closet rockstar,” as he confessed during an intimate Q&A with Billboard’s Leila Cobo as part of the White Claw® Sessions Powered by Billboard, speaking before an audience of some 200 guests at the Surfcomber in Miami Beach. 

“When I first started reggaeton, I couldn’t say, ‘Yo I like Guns ‘N Roses, Metallica, Linkin Park. Nobody in the hood likes rock. That’s what I was told. When I was a kid I loved hearing all genres. Hip hop, classic rock, ballads. But from seven to 14, my passion was rock.”

That passion became reggaetón by accident, when he chanced on a reggaetón party in the neighborhood of La Perla in Puerto Rico. He grabbed a mic, started free styling, and next thing he knew, “Someone came up and said, ‘Zion is opening a label, and he needs artists.” 

Many hits and many years later, however, De La Ghetto does pretty much whatever he wants musically. While singles like “Sensación del bloque” and “Caile” (alongside Bad Bunny, Bryant Myers, Zion and Revol) have become reggaetón standards, new fare like “AMI Paris” and “TBFCK” explore genres like dance and EDM, or what he calls a “more Americanized reggaetón.” 

“With the way reggaetón is constantly changing, the future of reggaetón could be in rock ‘n roll. Now everybody is in the reggaetón salsa wave or dancehall. So, maybe in two, three years there could be more like a rock wave or a punk wave mixed with reggaetón,” he adds. 

In fact, he says, in his bucket list of possible collaborators is TImbaland –“I would love for him to produce a record for me. Push me to the next level,” he says—but also alt rocker Robi Rosa. 

Anything is possible, he adds. “My advice to young people? Just keep pushing, just keep pushing. Don’t be scared to be different, be unique. Now, with social media, you’re your own boss. What’s the worst that can happen? If they doin’t like your song, put out another one!” 

Watch the full interview — including stories behind collabs with Quevedo and Daddy Yankee, plus, De La Ghetto’s favorite and least favorite words and slang— above.