Reggaeton superstar Daddy Yankee talks business, acting and 'The Bold and the Beautiful'

 

By Jay Cridlin, Times Staff Writer 

Daddy Yankee is the Latin Diddy.

In addition to being arguably the biggest global star in Latin hip-hop -- thanks in large part to the ginormous reggaeton hit Gasolina -- Yankee has dabbled in acting, and he has a record label, production company, endorsement deals, even his own signature men’s and women’s fragrances. All this, and he still finds time to crank out chart-topping albums, like the new Daddy Yankee Mundial.

He's been preparing for a career as a mogul ever since he started making a name for himself in music -- but he's never let that take over his music.

"(My career) is 100 percent art, but I know that when the art is finished, I start the business," Yankee said by phone recently from Miami. "I don’t let nobody, when I’m in the studio performing or creating music, talk to me about business. I know that’s the moment of the art. But when the art is done, then starts the business. I’m working at that in my head all the time."

On Saturday night, Daddy Yankee will headline the 18th annual Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg. Tickets are $20-$25. On Sunday, performers include Shaggy and Alison Hinds.

We caught up with Yankee last week, when you might have seen him guest-starring on The Bold and The Beautiful.

Wait ... huh?

"They called me up, and I said yes," he said of his five-episode guest arc on the CBS soap opera, which ended Monday. "It was a great opportunity to show everybody my new album — they let me perform three songs. Basically, the script was easy for me, because I was doing me. I was being Daddy Yankee. I’m not a character."