Words by Wayne Marshall—

Not to be confused with the dancehall singjay (and Tami Chynn spouse) of the same name, Wayne Marshall is a renowned ethnomusicologist who has taught at Brandeis and Harvard, where he is a faculty associate at Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and the brains behind oft-cited music thinkpiece blog WayneAndWax. Reggaeton and its roots are a particular area of expertise—he’s the editor of the 2009 anthology Reggaeton, along with Raquel Rivera and Deborah Pacini Hernandez—so we asked him to break down a selection from the early days of what was then known as “underground” music in Puerto Rico. His choice? Bebe, Ivy Queen, Baby Rasta & Gringo and Point Breakers’ contribution to 1996′s seminal The Noise 6 mixtape/compilation. Read on and, after you’re done, be sure to read Wayne’s recent essay on Boston’s Caribbean pirate radio underground over at Cluster Mag.