dembow

A rhythm or "beat" that defines virtually ALL reggaetón music. It is known for its 4-on-the-floor beat and bold intermediate snares that makes reggaetón music instantly recognizable. The word dembow actually originated from a track called "Dem Bow," sung by Shabba Ranks and produced by Bobby Digital. The song featured the Poco Man Jam Riddim (which was based on a song by the same name produced by Steely and Clevie), which has the distinct beat that all reggaetón music is made of. Funnily enough, even though the rhythm itself was the same, the riddim itself rarely actually turns up in reggaetón music. Instead, another riddim called the Pounder Riddim, which was produced by Panamanian musician Dennis "The Menace" Thompson. It had the same rhythmic sound as the Poco Man Jam Riddim but used different drum sounds and was intended for use with Nando Boom's "Ellos Benia." It was THIS riddim that has been sampled, recycled, chopped up, and reused over and over in almost all of reggaetón music to date. It could be argued that no other sample has been resampled more and has had such a lasting afterlife than the Pounder Riddim over 30 years later. Even if the riddim isn't directly resampled, reggaetón producers will almost always recreate the sound using similar drums and arrangements.