El General

Edgardo Armando Franco (born 27 September 1969), better known as El General, is a Panamanian former rapper considered by some to be one of the fathers of reggae en Español.

During the early 1990s, he was one of the artists who initiated the Spanish-language dancehall variety of reggae music. Early examples of this were the international and somewhat mainstream songs, "Te Ves Buena" and "Tu Pum Pum". “Tu Pum Pum" emerged after a friend of El General invited him to collaborate with a Jamaican producer that was searching for a “different sound in Panama." Both songs, performed in Spanish deejaying style, were very successful in North America. After getting his foot in the door of the commercial market, many other Spanish-language dancehall reggae artists became famous in the mainstream as well. He has a unique, easy to listen to style of dance music and has produced many well-known songs all over Latin America.

El General retired from music in 2004 and became one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Early history

El General began singing and composing songs at the age of 12 in his home in Río Abajo, Panama. El General is of Jamaican descent.

Jamaicans, Bajans, Trinidadians and other West Indians moved to Panama to fill the need of labor for the construction of the Panama Canal. As laborers on the Canal they were met with harsh conditions like low wages and terrible living conditions. Black Panamanians of Caribbean descent (antillanos) were also mistreated and segregated based on their Caribbean ancestry and were unable to assimilate to national Panamanian culture.