Influenced By Anime: Reggaeton and Latin Music Artists Who Reference Anime in Their Music - Anime Ai 🤖

Anime in pop music has experienced a surge in top-chart hits over the past year. In the mainland US, Megan Thee Stallion is our resident anime-supporting rap artist. Creating earworm songs such as “Otaku Hot Girl”, referencing JUJUTSU KAISEN and Naruto; “Boa”, referencing One Piece; and collaborating with Yuki Chiba on “Mamushi”, which utilizes verses in Japanese. 

But is that it? No, and to answer that, we need to look beyond English popular music.

While English songs that reference anime may get more mass appeal in the mainland U.S., if you are a native Spanish speaker or someone who enjoys reggaeton music from Puerto Rico and beyond, you already know anime’s influence on some of the hottest artists, like Bad Bunny.

As someone who was first introduced to reggaeton as a child, the genre has been a go-to in my playlists. It was especially comforting while I lived in Tokyo. After my time in Japan, I could hear the references to anime and Japan in reggaeton more loud and clear. 

Since then, even more reggaeton artists have released music inspired by anime. But the history of cross-cultural influences and music between Japan and Latin America runs deep, just listen to Juan Luis Guerra’s hit “Bachata en Fukuoka”. Unlike the U.S., Latin America had fewer restrictions on censorship of original Japanese animation, leading to licensing deals to air anime in Latin American countries before the U.S.. Shows like Dragon Ball Z became a huge cultural phenomenon. 

Anime’s growing influence can be experienced in reggaeton lyrics, cover art, music videos and with the use of sound effects. We’ll explore some of the best and recent examples through this curated playlist. So, while this list is not exhaustive, it will cover some of the most popular reggaeton artists and heavily influenced albums.

Note: I am not fluent in Spanish or Japanese, but I will be offering some linguistic insights translated into English for deeper context. 

A Look At Bad Bunny’s References to Japan in Yonaguni and More

Let’s look at one of reggaeton’s hottest artists, Bad Bunny. 

Bad Bunny’s popularity allows the influence of Japan to be heard and seen by the masses, utilizing lyrics in Japanese, anime visuals, and using various locations in Japan as a backdrop to his music videos.

His song “Yonaguni” is the most popular example of this. Yonaguni, a small island in Southern Japan, and the location where he wants to make up with a lover. In the lyrics, we hear references to Naruto‘s Itachi Uchiha. 

The music video starts with Bad Bunny eating at a Ramen Shop. In the song itself, sound effects like the street crossing “bird chirping” (a sound used to signal blind pedestrians in Japan to cross the street) are distinctly heard in the song.

Other anime references in the video include Bad Bunny getting a Pokémon Go tattoo, and at the end of the video is a scene of Bad Bunny drawn in an anime style among cherry blossoms. The last verse is also sung in Japanese. Which can be translated to “I want to make love today, but only with you. Where are you?” (Note: this is a clean version of the translation.)

Other popular references in Bad Bunny’s songs include “Bichiya”’s music video set in a Yokohama drag racing course, and in his latest album, DTmF, the song “La Mudanza” includes the lyrics referencing legendary Pokémon: “Lugia, Ho-Oh, cabrón, yo soy legendario” (I’m legendary.)

Tainy’s Anime-Influenced Album

Tainy is renowned for his experimental style. Truly a mastermind in the reggaeton scene, he has collaborated with some of the genre’s biggest names like Daddy Yankee, Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro, Myke Towers, Wisin y Yandel, Arcangel, Jhayco, Young Miko, Feid, y más (and more!) All of whom can be heard in his first solo studio album, DATA. 

DATA encompasses the anime and reggaeton crossover so beautifully, creating a merge and energy that hasn’t been matched. The album’s inspiration is Ghost in the Shell. Dedicated to the theme of blurring the lines between humans and machines, Tainy creates a story about uploading human emotions and memories to the android, Sena. The phrase “uploading data” can be heard in the album’s first song, “obstáculo”. Fans of the series will be happy to see that the album’s artwork was created by Hiromasa Ogura, art director of Ghost in the Shell.

Tainy also regularly uses visuals in his live performances from series such as Neon Genesis Evangelion.

More Reggaeton Artists Influenced by Japan

Outside of these two outstanding examples, anime has inspired a long list of Latin and reggaeton artists.

Rosalía’s album Motomami is a mix of reggaeton and is dripping with references to Japanese pop culture, including the first single “Motomami”. Her album incorporates songs with Japanese titles like “Hentai” and “Sakura”, which discuss the fleeting nature of being a pop star, a season that blooms and ultimately comes to an end. Rosalía is clearly a fan of Japan, as her “Candy” music video is shot in a karaoke studio in Shibuya, and her 2023 single “Tuya” is also shot in locations like Shibuya’s Scramble Crossing and an onsen in Japan. Her music video for “Saoko” may also be influenced by her own Motomami upbringing, and Akira, notably due to the red motorbike seen throughout the video.

Rauw Alejandro, known for his many reggaeton hits, uses Japan as a backdrop for his some of his music videos such as in “Que Rico Ch**ngamos” and has also used Japanese phrases in his songs, notably in the song “Hayami Hana” dedicated to his aforementioned ex-fiancée Rosalía, calling her his “rare flower”. I suggest you listen to it when you’re alone.

The fast-rising artist, Young Miko, is unashamedly vocal about her draws of inspiration from anime in her music videos and lyrics. Her album att includes songs like “Tamagotchi”, referencing the handheld pocket pets. Young Miko was also a part of the McDonald’s “WcDonald’s” campaign from 2024, which showcases animation designs from Studio Pierrot.

Now let’s look at Duki, who often uses Dragon Ball-inspired lyrics and visuals in his cover art. His 2019 album Super Sangre Joven’s (Super Young Blood) artwork shows an anime-stylized character copying Goku’s Kaio-ken Kamehameha move. Lyrics referencing Kaio-ken and Super Saiyan are also heard in his song “Hardaway”. Similarly, artist Eladio Carrión’s song “El Hokage” likens himself to the eighth Hokage from Naruto.

Plus, have you noticed other artists using Japan in their cover art, lyrics, and music videos? The video for Ozuna’s “Siguelo Bailando” shows his teddy bear mascot and himself dancing around Tokyo. Or “Tokyo” by Jhayco has anime girl eyes as the cover art. Other popular artists have city names as song titles like De La Ghetto & Myke Towers’ “Tokyo” and J. Balvin’s “Ginza”.

Other instances of references to anime include the usage of Japanese vocalizations and anime-esque “kawaii” sounds, notably the Miku Vocaloid segments of “Un Otaku Me Rompió el Cora” (“An Otaku Broke My Heart”) by Army Of Skanks & Perreo Millennial. You can hear even more Japan soundscape references in Army of Skanks’ party album Perreo Hentai EP. If you want more perreo songs full of anime references, look no further than “Baby Otaku” by Pablito Pesadilla and “Perreo Otaku” by Val tres.

Japan’s influence in Dembow

Japanese references aren’t limited to reggaeton. It’s also heard in the Dominican Republic’s Dewbow genre. 

Dembow artists such as El Alfa recently released “Pa Japón” which is visually and lyrically full of references to Japanese-inspired visuals such as kimono and sushi. Plus, his Spanish lyrics, when stylized as “Pa Japón”, mean “to Japan” (the same can’t be said when stylized as “PajaPon”), “vamos a Japon” meaning “let’s go to Japan.” He also sneaks in Japanese phrases such as “Kanpai, ookini, ookini,” meaning “cheers, thank you, thank you” (ookini is the Kansai dialect of arigatou).

Another Dembow artist I love, Jairna De Marco, creates a kawaii-style album cover of a potato for her “Pelame La Papa” (“Peel the Potato”) song. The katakana characters for “Papa” (meaning Daddy in Japanese) and kanji reading, “Jagaimo”, meaning potato, allows the song title to be read as “Daddy Potato” in English.

Anime in Reggaeton is Here to Stay

Clearly, anime and Japanese-inspired songs have been in the reggaeton genre for a while, thanks to many of the artists’ exposure to anime on TV and through other cross-cultural exports growing up. While anime references are becoming more popular in English pop songs, Latin music artists have been proudly incorporating the medium wherever they can.  

I definitely missed some artists, so feel free to share your favorite reggaeton artist who sings about anime and Japan with us!

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