Quinee Butler Reggaetonline.net - November 02, 2006 - Orlando Javier Valle, also known as Chencho from the well known duo Plan B, was born and raised in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. He has been a professional Reggaeton artist since 1999, but was involved in local talent shows since he can remember. Their first big hit was “Mi Chica MVP” from the album "MVP", and the duo has been among Reggaeton’s hit makers ever since. They had their solo album debut in 2002's Los Que La Montan, and have been featured in many productions. This year is no different - the duo has a new song, Tocarte, which is included on the album “Mas Flow: Los Benjamins”, as well as a Frikitona remix included on Boy Wonder’s upcoming production, Chosen Few: El Documental II.
Plan B has been around long enough for Chencho to see that things have changed over the years. “Even though Plan B continues with its signature style of singing about sex with a little twist to it, Reggaeton was not the same as it is now. When it first started we did not have producers like we have now. We would get beats from Jamaica and write a song to it. Now we have great producers in Reggaeton that make the beats themselves. If you listen to Reggaeton from the early and mid nineties, you will definitely hear Reggae rhythms and understand some of the history of Reggaeton.”
Plan B is a group that has definitely pushed against the grain when it comes to the sexual undertones of their songs, without crossing far over the line. While one cannot quite compare the groups’ songs with anything produced by a group like 2 Live Crew (American group known for its raunchy lyrics and explicit videos), except maybe a catchy beat; one can compare Chencho’s lyrics to those of George Michael’s ‘I Want Your Sex.’ Chencho explained to Reggaetonline.net that you can’t really compare Plan B’s style with any of the Hip-Hop artists out there. “I just like to focus on Reggaeton and sing Reggaeton, and that allows us to continue to be unique. Yes, sex is my main theme, but I don’t just sing about sex all the time.” Chencho said as he laughed. “What you have to realize is my focus is on making music for the clubs. People in the clubs want to “perrear” and I want to give them a club banger they can dance to (perrear is the upbeat signature dance for Reggaeton.) The children that listen to my music do not fully comprehend what I am singing about. They are innocent and simply like the songs for the beat and the catchy hook. However, teenagers pay more attention to the lyrical content and at the same time want a song they can perrear to. For the children that love to listen to my music, I often find myself searching the dictionary for words that mean the same, and at the same time won’t offend anyone.”
It will be a few more years for critics to be convinced that the genre of Reggaeton will continue to grow and prosper. As far as Reggaeton fans are concerned, the only reason for skepticism is the repetitive beat. “That is a big problem,” Chencho replied as he agreed with the comment, “that is what happened to Merengue. The genre of Merengue had a lot of good artists and peaked in the 90’s, but the music sounded the same. That’s the reason I said earlier I wouldn’t change, and will continue to sing with my style. I will never sing like Rakim & Ken-Y or any other Reggaeton artists. I refuse to sing the same as them because when we all sound a like, that's when we endanger the genre. I will continue to sing about sex because people like me like that.” With artists with the same attitude as Chencho, Reggaeton will never fall through the cracks.
