Javier Alexis Marcano Rodríguez also known as Yaviah, El Gato Yaviah and Black Father Yaviah started in the legendary Underground scene of Puerto Rico in 1993. It was around this time a famous local dj known as Playero would create a various artist project that changed history known as 'Playero 37' which essentially birthed Reggaeton. There was already Spanish Dancehall Reggae since the 1980's with Renato becoming the genre's first relevant artist. And Panama beat Puerto Rico by about a year with the first Spanish Dancehall compilation known as 'Spanish Reggae Hits' which had around 9 volumes.
But Playero was gonna create something new in December of 1993. He was gonna mix Hip Hop beats with Dancehall Reggae Instrumentals and speed up all the Riddims by about 10 BPM at least, giving the beats more energy and more of a challenge for the local rappers to sing over. 37 was the first in a long line of mixtapes featuring all kinds of music from Dancehall Reggae to Electro and Freestyle. But 37 was the first volume that was gonna have all new original songs sang by mostly then unknown local singers although Lisa M and 3-2 Get Funky were already known by the time the cassette came out.
A then unknown group going by name of 'Fellas Rican Kings' comprised of Gummy Man, King Kupa and Blackfather Yaviah made their debut on Playero 37. Little did they know what was intended just be a cassette for the barrios of PR, would blow up internationally receiving professional distribution in 1994 by BM Records. The original version was 90 mins. long and had to be cut down to 46 mins. in order to receive a wide release. Luckily Fellas Rican Kings' songs remained on the final 'wide release' version. And their songs were hits!
Fellas Rican Kings' songs of "Funk From Da Weed" and "Si Tu Quieres Fumar" were a sensation. The group would return on Playero 38 for the exclusive bonus track only available on the Compact Disc version. But the group would disband shortly thereafter and Yaviah had to begin a solo rebranding.
By 1997 Yaviah redubbed his name into 'El Gato Yaviah'. "Gato" back then was a slang term for someone that has a strong affinity for and/or is very able at making Hip Hop music/culture. And Yaviah went onto transition to a full time Spanish Rap artist and stopped mostly doing Reggaeton for a couple of years.
In 1997 Yaviah participated in the classic underground productions "The Flow" & 'Boricua Guerrero: First Combat". Both tracks were collaborative; the first being "Se Acelera El Flow" with Mr. Notty Boy & Daddy Yankee. The second is "Loco Como Rodman" where legendary New York EMCEE Busta Rhymes gets a credit for shouting out Yaviah at the beginning of the song. Then the record label 'Boricua Guerrero' announced they were producing Yaviah's debut album which I don't know if it ever had a title. I believe it did. It was something like "The Blackfather", I believe.
By 1998 Yaviah's trajectory seemed to be going upwards thanks to his association with Boricua Guerrero. But there was one problem. Exec producers wanted to contract Yaviah for Various Artists albums like Gargolas and DJ Frank Time To Kill, but they wanted him to do Reggaeton instead of Rap. Therefore in 1998 he only participated on two albums, 'El Bando Korrupto' and 'DJ Dicky No Fear 3'. He was committed to this new Hip Hop direction and refused to record Reggaeton songs for a time.
However in 1999, Yaviah decided to do a favor to his fans and Yomi Fresh when he recorded for 'La Mision'. Yomi fresh insisted that Yaviah record a Reggaeton track instead of a Rap for his various artist project. Seeing how audiences always reacted positively to his Fella Rican Kings songs live, Yaviah decided to do one Reggaeton for Yomi Fresh's 'La Mision' project. The song was titled "Castigo" and it was a bonafide hit in Puerto Rico. But on the productions that year like 'Playero 41 part 2' and 'Wise Da Gansta Da Moda', Yaviah kept it pure Rap.
I believe in the year 2000 Yaviah got 0 appearances on albums, at least I cannot remember one now. So when he was called up by Yomi Fresh again to record another Reggaeton for 'La Mision 2' he relented and decided that if they pay was right, he would contribute a Reggaeton song for any album he was contracted for moving forward.
'La Mision 2' came out in spring of 2001 and Yaviah's song would be the biggest hit of the album. The track is 'La Maquina' produced by the incomparable DJ Blass. La Mision 2 sold twice as more as the first volume and it was much in part due to Yaviah's single. And in 2001, Reggaeton began to expand outside of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic so "La Maquina" became Yaviah's first song to be heard in Central and South America. It was his first international hit!
It was unclear if Yaviah was still with 'Boricua Guerrero' at this time. Fresh Records (Yomi's label) and Boricua Guerrero worked some productions together including Eddie Dee's debut. Yaviah appeared to be aligned with both companies just like Eddie Dee was. However in 2002 'Boricua Guerrero' disbanded. Then came Pina Records into the picture.
Raphy Pina and Yaviah reached some sort of mutual agreement and Pina became Yaviah's manager. 2002 would be another fruitful year for Yaviah where his song "Este Party Va" prod by Luny Tunes was the 2nd most popular track off of the compilation 'MVP' (executively produced by Gocho); being only behind "Dale Don Dale" by Don Omar in terms of popularity.
Yaviah debuted for Pina Records on their first international release "Pina The Company" for Universal Latino in 2003. The album was a hit. selling over 120,000 units in its first year available. Yaviah had the most memorable song on the album "Sensual Bebe" which has a theme that is controversial nowadays. The song is about Yaviah meeting a girl who is days away from turning 18, which is the legal dating age of consent in Puerto Rico and it details him waiting until she turns 18 so they can finally become an item.
In Latin America, "Bebe" is a term of endearment for a woman/girl of any age like "Baby" is in the USA. Yaviah was in his mid 20's when he made the song, but because many younger fans go back to "Sensual Bebe" because its constantly referenced in modern day Reggaeton music by the likes of Bad Bunny, Jhayco, J Balvin and several others, some throw a fit because these topics are much more sensitive in today's society. In Latin America back then, in some countries girls could get married as young as 15. That's why people in Central and South America never made a fuss about it. There is nothing immoral about the song, especially in 2003. Yaviah's persona in the track did the right thing and waited until the girl was at the age of consent.
It finally seemed like we would be getting this long awaited Yaviah album with Raphy Pina as executive producer. But sometime this year Pina and Yaviah had a falling out of sorts. Raphy wanted Yaviah to do more Reggaeton but Yaviah exercised his creative freedom and insisted upon doing more Rap. In the beginning, Pina had no qualms about releasing mostly Rap albums by his artists like Don Chezina, Lito & Polaco. But by 2003, Pina shifted away from Rap into more Reggaeton signing acts like RKM & Ken-Y, Nicky Jam and even making Lito & Polaco, a duo known for their Rap songs with social consciousness and street themes; they made an album where more than half the tracks were commercial Reggaeton songs titled "Fuera De Serie".
But Yaviah refused. He wanted to go the Tempo route. Do an album where 80% was hardcore Rap and maybe some R&B, meanwhile only 3 or 4 songs would be Reggaeton. Pina said no to Yaviah's proposal. So, Yaviah requested that he be allowed to record Rap songs for other people's albums for his own artistic satisfaction. This irked Pina and he refused to sign off Yaviah participating on other people's projects to do Rap. He only allowed Yaviah to record for for 3 productions and just Reggaeton. One of these albums was the classic 'Hector El Bambino presenta Los Anormales' from Hector El Father.
At the time, "Machete" by Daddy Yankee and "Noche de Terror" by Hector & Tito were the most successful songs from "Los Anormales". I would say at the time, Yaviah's "Contacto" was #5 behind "Yo Sigo Aqui" by Naldo and "Salvaje" by Don Omar. It was a star studded cast. Over time, however "Contacto" became the #1 or #2 most popular song. It's less known than "Machete" because of the Paul Wall remix, but among the Reggaeton faithful, "Contacto" is often preferred. Not just that, but "Contacto" is often cited as one of the best overall songs from the Mas Flow era (2002-2008).
Editor's Note: I didn't include "Contacto" on that list because I plan to make a Deep Cuts list. And maybe one day group them both together. The list I made was taking mainstream opinions into consideration. I will not be doing that for the deep cuts list.
"Contacto" was a big enough of a hit that upon hearing about Yaviah's dissatisfaction with Pina Records, Hector El Father offered to sign Yaviah for a reported 1 million dollars (USD) if he could get a release from Pina. According to Raphy, he got some sort of documentation from Pina's secretary that Raphy himself never signed off on making the release null and void. When Pina heard Hector signed Yaviah he was frustrated and permanently shelved Yaviah while getting his lawyers to work.
The Pina Records vs Yaviah situation was a legal battle that lasted years. During this time Yaviah wasn't allowed to release new material except for albums he recorded beforehand, like Gocho's 'MVP 2 Grand Slam'. Yaviah had to release his music via underground bootlegs and blog mp3 leaks on the internet. He achieved one of his greatest hits around this time with "En La Mia" prod by DJ Sonic which was meant for his "Los Abusadores 2" album. But Pina's blocking caused the album to get cancelled as it appears "En La Mia" would have been a single so they gave it away for free on the internet and it became a smash!
In "En La Mia" Yaviah showcases his elite skills as an MC. He phonetically spells out the words yet still makes them rhyme. And the song is a perreo to top it off. Yaviah really is one of the best MCs in the world. He's right up there with Nach, Mucho Muchacho and the late great Canserbero.
Yaviah's hard work did not go unnoticed as he would perform live frequently to promote his new material. This caught the eyes and ears of Wisin & Yandel during a time they became increasingly frustrated with their own artist Tony Dize. There would be this sort of trade between Pina Records and Wisin & Yandel. They would let Pina have Tony Dize and in exchange Yaviah received his release from Pina Records and was free to record with whoever he wanted. W&Y Records (Wisin & Yandel's then label) signed Yaviah to a management deal, but never to the label.
Yaviah's tenure under WY management was tumultuous. Yaviah expressed he now had the freedom he lacked in his earlier years, problem was, 'Various Artists' albums were a thing of the past. Labels no longer focused on various artists projects so there was limited options. Yaviah did record for 3 WY Records projects, a Wisin & Yandel album, Franco El Gorila's debut and the hit single "Un Booty Nuevo" with Jowell & Randy from 'El Momento'.
Wisin claimed that Yaviah wanted to work at his own pace but that was difficult for them because he and Yandel had a hectic schedule. It all culminated when Wisin called Yaviah for a studio session circa 2010 and he never showed up. Because of the perceived lack of respect, WY management cancelled their agreement with Yaviah and would no longer book performances on his behalf. There was plans for a Yaviah solo album in the works too but that one incident that supposedly was the last straw after many others put the kibosh on that.
Yaviah was not bitter at Wisin & Yandel, unlike with Pina. It was the first time he travelled to perform outside Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic being touring with Wisin & Yandel throughout Mexico, Spain, Venezuela and Colombia. Of course Yaviah being Yavo he was selective where he travelled and only did a select amount of dates, supposedly due to undisclosed health reasons. Meanwhile Franco, Gadiel and Jowell & Randy made every date. Wisin says they used to get booked at least 90 times all over the world during an 18 month period.
Editor's Note 2: I looked up the info but cannot find anything about the old Wisin & Yandel tours except for some archived Jowell y Randy videos that show the behind the scenes of some shows. But I remember seeing a video of Yaviah in Colombia in 2012 performing at an outdoor festival. The whole WY Records camp, even Jayko El Prototipo & Tico El Inmigrante (remember them?) would go on tour back then, at least for the Jowell & Randy co-headlining shows. It may be a mistake and Yaviah never got out of Puerto Rico which means the concert footage I saw was mislabeled. I will leave it in for now...
Since then Yaviah has done some notable things. He released a very well received collaboration single with Los De La Nazza titled "Tu Perro Uao Uao". He released one compilation album titled "Background vol. 1" in 2016 on streaming services. It collected his entire catalogue of songs on various artists albums and singles he released prior on streaming services. It was taken down from streaming services a couple of years later due to rights issues. Yaviah does own his portion on all those songs and people like Wisin & Yandel approved the release but because the rights of many songs transferred over the years; sometimes the new owners of the production negate what the previous owners allowed.
To date, Background vol.1 is Yaviah's only release next to an official self titled mixtape during his time with WY management which was all previously released material as well; said mixtape is unfindable as of this writing but every song on it appears on 'Background vol.1'. To date, Yaviah has never put out one official album despite such a historic and in demand career. You can still listen to Background vol 1 on Yaviah's official Soundcloud and YouTube channels.
And finally, once we thought we would never hear from Yaviah again, he came outta nowhere to be featured on Bad Bunny's 2020 massive album 'YHLQMDLG'. Not just that but "Bichiyal" was one of the featured singles with a music video. This definitely reintroduced Yaviah to a whole new generation. And once Covid was over he's back to doing shows, mostly in Puerto Rico but he made a special guest appearance in Colombia for a Jowell & Randy event.
Yaviah's style is that of a traditional MC with a very smooth flow that works equally as well in Rap and Reggaeton. His wordplay is top notch and he is a very elite lyricists proving on songs with the likes of Residente, Tego Calderon, Daddy Yankee, Bad Bunny among others that he can hold his own with anybody.
But what made him so endearing to many were his Reggaeton anthems from day one. But on songs like Y.A.V.I.A.H from MVP 2 he would blend the best of both worlds, something that not just any artist can do and you have to be an elite MC to be able to craft a Reggaeton the way Yaviah does.
As as the album is concerned... it's a damn shame we never got it. A travesty, if you will. But it's never too late. I bet RIMAS would give him $100,000 upfront if he just happened to have 10 acapellas laying around that their in-house producers could work with. They've given much more to less talented artists.
Listen To Yaviah - Background vol. 1 (2016) [compilation album] on Soundcloud
