Next month, Puerto Rico’s largest university system will host its first-ever symposium dedicated to the island’s best-known musical export of the 21st century: the infectious mix of rapping and Carribean rhythms known as reggaeton.

According to ReMezcla and Variety Latino, University of Puerto Rico professors Dorsía Smith and Virgimaris Nadal-Ramos will host a symposium on April 6 and 7 dedicated to the music, culture and politics surrounding reggaeton. Describing the motivation for the symposium, Smith recalled a moment when she heard Daddy Yankee’s breakout hit "Gasolina" in Toronto: "I began asking people if they knew what he was saying and they told me no, but that they liked the rhythm. …That’s when I realized the global impact reggaeton had."

The symposium, supported by the university’s English department of general studies, will also address the explicit language and sexism that is often synonymous with the genre. Conversely, it will also explore the careers of prominent women in the genre like Ivy Queen, pictured above. 

(H/t ReMezcla, Variety Latino)