It’s an urgent reggaeton situation

The new sound of Latin music has arrived and it’s not going away soon. Judging by Friday’s opening of the two-day Reggaeton Invasion festival at the Gibson Amphitheatre, the genre that began as an underground phenomenon before taking over the Latin pop world in the last year is not that bad after all.

Yes, this fusion of Spanish reggae and hip-hop is undeniably coarse, monotonous, overbearing and often sleazy. But it’s also full of vitality, urgency and raging hormones -- a combination that has rarely failed to generate interesting music.

The emergence and massive acceptance of reggaeton is perfectly understandable. Hip-hop is the dominant sound in pop music today and it was only a matter of time before Latinos would make it their own by adapting it to their sensibility.

Friday’s sold-out show -- a seamlessly organized parade of the genre’s biggest stars -- proved that reggaeton’s Latin character goes beyond the mere fusion of Panama’s native version of reggae with rap.

There are snippets of salsa, cumbia and merengue, even banda sinaloense and calypso in this music, as well as endless quotes of material from the past.

Reggaeton may embrace some of the dark attitude and braggadocio of gangsta rap, but its lyrics usually deliver a surprisingly positive message promoting pride, fidelity, love -- and tons of suggestive dancing.

Lifted directly from the tough, Jamaica-born style known as raggamuffin, the bouncy reggaeton beat was a constant presence during a show that ran nearly four hours. Fortunately, most of the artists involved added their own stamp to the proceedings.

There was the delectably laid-back flow of Glory, a female rapper whose deep voice evokes the bitter texture of dark Puerto Rican rum. The vocal bravado of Don Omar at times echoed the swing of an old-school salsa singer. The loopy shenanigans of producing duo Luny Tunes delivered the evening’s funkiest moments.

Headliner Daddy Yankee has delivered the movement’s bona fide blockbuster: the slickly produced “Barrio Fino� album. His hit “Gasolina,� saved for the end of the show, has a sticky chorus that showcases reggaeton at its most playful and accessible.

It was Ivy Queen, however, who turned in the evening’s most commanding performance. Her thick delivery and throaty vocalizing offer a direct link with the pioneering Jamaican DJs who would rhyme, or toast, on top of their recorded songs, thus establishing the foundations of rap.

A tireless performer, she quoted Carlos Vives’ “Fruta Fresca,� paid tribute to both Tejano icon Selena and Mexican rocker Alejandra Guzman, assuring her place as one reggaeton’s most eclectic and charismatic stars.

If there’s one criticism that can be directed at reggaeton right now it’s the artists’ shortage of inventive rhymes.

Rhyming gasolina with adrenalina doesn’t quite cut it, and the movement would gain credibility if its verbal prowess became a little bit deeper.