You can thank Kacho López Mari for your favorite reggaetón music videos

Director Kacho López Mari’s critically and culturally acclaimed portfolio includes implicit 40 euphony videos and abbreviated films that, if played astatine a YouTube ticker party, could permission you and your primos feeling arsenic if you conscionable flip-booked done modern Latin euphony history.

Some of the euphony videos person captured the trophies of genres, similar Tego Calderón’s “Abayarde” and Daddy Yankee’s “Gasolina,” some essentials connected immoderate reggaetón playlist. Other visuals were works of activism — similar Bad Bunny’s “El Apagón — Aquí Vive Gente,” the 22-minute euphony video and investigative abbreviated that shed airy connected the economical situation that Puerto Ricans continued to look aft Hurricane Maria.

A euphony video has the powerfulness to seizure today’s culture, tomorrow’s stars, and yesterday’s immediacy. And acknowledgment to López Mari’s legendary lens, we’re capable to behold galore iconic Latin euphony moments. Here are 15 of his must-see videos.

These interviews person been edited and condensed for clarity.

Tego Calderón, “Abayarde / Gracias” (2003)

Filmed successful Manatí, Puerto Rico

Before producing and directing euphony videos, López Mari produced “underground” parties successful Puerto Rico — and commercials astatine Paradiso Films.

That changed erstwhile López Mari’s superior, Sigfredo “Freddy” Bellaflores, heard his young son, Sigfredo Jr. — who would spell connected to nutrient videos for Bad Bunny — listening to Tego Calderón’s euphony successful the shower. The adjacent day, Freddy came into the bureau and threw the Calderón CD astatine López Mari.

“ ‘If you tin scope that guy, we’ll bash a video for him for free,’ ” López Mari recalled Freddy telling him. “ And I’m like, OK, I’ll get that guy.”

A fewer days later, López Mari utilized his party-producing connections to acceptable up a gathering with Calderón’s team, which told López Mari helium could prime the opus disconnected Calderón’s debut album, since Paradiso Films was financing the video; the squad past asked him to meld different song, “Gracias,” into the visual.

“ That’s wherefore the video is simply a six-minute piece,” said López Mari. “Back successful the day, the reggaetón videos would beryllium 2 oregon 3 songs successful each video.”

The young manager scouted the location, created the storyline to link the 2 songs and presented the attraction to Calderón. Soon afterward, López Mari changeable his archetypal euphony video.

“It was a large phenomenon,” helium said. “When that came out, Tego was similar a rocket going up to the moon.”

Ricky Martin, “Tal Vez” (2003)

Filmed successful Buenos Aires

López Mari co-directed this video with Carlos Pérez, his puerility person who would aboriginal nonstop the video for Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito.” Both 20-somethings astatine the time, López Mari and Pérez, recruited a “dream team” to execute it — including Andrzej Sekula, cinematographer for “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs,” arsenic good arsenic Brigitte Broch, Oscar-winning accumulation decorator and creation manager for “Amores Perros” and “Romeo + Juliet.” The exertion was Jeff Selis, the astir nominated exertion successful the past of the MTV Video Music Awards.

Ricky Martin needed ample prima powerfulness for what would beryllium his archetypal Spanish merchandise since “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” Martin liked López Mari’s attraction truthful overmuch that helium would committee the aforesaid unit to marque the video for 2003’s “Jaleo.”

Daddy Yankee, “Gasolina” (2005)

Filmed successful Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Released pre-YouTube, the archetypal video for “Gasolina,” the pb azygous disconnected Daddy Yankee’s 2004 medium “Barrio Fino,” maximized MTV’s four-minute allotment by mixing successful 2 further songs into the aforesaid visual: “No Me Dejes Solo” (which featured Wisin y Yandel) and “King Daddy.”

Yet erstwhile the opus blew up, Daddy Yankee needed a longer video — and fast. However creatively edited, the ocular really loops the minute-and-a-half of worldly primitively shot, making it a arguable portion for the co-directors.

In a telephone interview, Pérez said that helium values the song’s taste and humanities impact, but the video “never felt reflective of our work.” López Mari agreed it wasn’t his finest piece, but it did present the satellite to reggaetón and helped found an aesthetic for the genre.

Calle 13, “Adentro” (2014)

Filmed successful Arizona and Puerto Rico (Barriada Morales successful Caguas and Cantera Roca Dura successful Manatí)

From Calle 13’s last album, the video for “Adentro” earned López Mari a Latin Grammy information for champion abbreviated signifier euphony video. In it, frontman René Pérez Joglar, oregon Residente, raps regretfully astir buying a Maserati arsenic shot fable Willie Mays hands him a bat, which helium past uses to smash the car. It’s aboriginal pushed disconnected a cliff.

“For me, it’s a enactment of art,” said López Mari. “It’s fundamentally a portion to destruct a half-million-dollar car — that [Residente] bought arsenic an anti-capitalist statement.”

Calle 13, “Multi_Viral” featuring Julian Assange, Kamilya Jubran, Tom Morello (2014)

Filmed successful the West Bank

Art is simply a limb for López Mari and Calle 13, who sympathized with the Palestinian struggle. López Mari told maine helium considered the “Multi_Viral” video, which was filmed successful the West Bank successful 2013, was “one of the astir important projects” he’s ever worked on.

The video follows Palestinian children arsenic they physique a guitar from parts of a gun. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who’s featured connected the song, joined them onset successful the West Bank. López Mari’s brother, Santiago “Chago” Benet Mari, who served arsenic lawman photographer, told maine however filmmaking has taken him and his household places helium would person apt ne'er different visited.

“Film is simply a cosmopolitan language,” said Benet Mari.

Calle 13, “Ojos Color Sol” featuring Silvio Rodríguez (2014)

Filmed successful Buenos Aires

“Ojos Color Sol” was filmed the aforesaid time arsenic the memorable 2014 World Cup semifinal lucifer successful which Germany thrashed Brazil, 7-1, truthful attraction levels onset were “fragile” among die-hard shot fans that day, López Mari recalled.

Still, López Mari’s video would spell connected to triumph him his archetypal Latin Grammy for champion abbreviated signifier euphony video, alongside Tristana Robles, López Mari’s beingness partner, arsenic good arsenic the shaper and co-founder of Filmes Zapatero. The opus featured Cuban philharmonic fable Silvio Rodríguez, and the video starred Golden Globe Award-winning Mexican histrion Gael García Bernal and Spanish histrion María Valverde, who stock a almighty kiss.

Juanes, “Loco de Amor (La Historia)” (2014)

Filmed successful Puerto Rico (San Juan, Río Piedras, Bayamón)

The 16th yearly Latin Grammy Awards were historic. After “Ojos de Sol” won champion abbreviated signifier euphony video, “Loco de Amor (La Historia)” won champion agelong signifier euphony video — a 16-minute task visualizing 4 of Colombian superstar Juanes’ songs. This made López Mari the victor of some categories successful the aforesaid nighttime — a feat ne'er accomplished earlier oregon repeated since.

“I similar the aesthetics of [López Mari]’s enactment and his mode of working,” Juanes told the San Diego Union-Tribune successful 2014.

Calle 13, “La Vida (Respira el Momento)” (2015)

Filmed successful Salinas, Puerto Rico

“La Vida (Respira el Momento)” was the last video López Mari released with Calle 13 earlier they disbanded. It featured López Mari’s girl and nephew, Residente’s nephew, arsenic good arsenic pro boxer Miguel Cotto and MLB subordinate Ángel Pagán. But there’s an adjacent buzzier idiosyncratic who makes an quality successful this video — filmmaker, histrion and writer Jacobo Morales, the manager down the 1989 movie “Lo Que le Pasó a Santiago,” the lone Puerto Rican movie to gain an Oscar information to date.

Morales sits down successful the mediate of a roadworthy to look done a fistful of photos, reflecting connected his life’s astir precious moments — inadvertently foreshadowing his aboriginal relation successful videos from Bad Bunny’s 2025 album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” specified arsenic “Baile Inolvidable,” which were besides directed by López Mari.

Juanes, “Mis Planes Son Amarte” (2017)

Filmed successful Mexico (Veracruz, Mexico City and its outskirts) and Medellín, Colombia

“Mis Planes Son Amarte” straight translates to “My Plans Are to Love You.” A play connected words successful Spanish, it could besides beryllium heard arsenic “My Plans Are to Mars.” Using that treble meaning, Juanes and López Mari innovated what’s considered to beryllium Latin music’s archetypal large ocular medium (every opus has a video): a one-hour movie of 12 songs that follows Juanes’ quality arsenic an archaeologist and astronaut, exploring the dimensions of beingness and love.

Chayanne, “Di Qué Sientes Tú” (2018)

Filmed successful Mexico City

In 2018, López Mari added the histrion and popular balladeer Chayanne to his roster of Puerto Rican icons he’s collaborated with. For the making of Chayanne’s euphony video for “Di Que Sientes Tú” (Say What You Feel), López Mari took the unit to Mexico City.

“It came astatine a clip erstwhile I was falling successful emotion with books again,” said López Mari. “I was surrounded by lit [by Gabriel García Márquez], [Jorge Luis] Borges, Luis Rafael Sánchez — and that literate vigor made its mode into the set. It each came unneurotic successful a mode that was beauteous and poetic.”

Bad Bunny, “Callaíta” (2019)

Filmed successful Puerto Rico (Arecibo, Hato Rey vicinity of San Juan, Guaynabo)

In the archetypal of galore collaborations betwixt Bad Bunny and López Mari, they created a “dream-like atmosphere” of summertime successful Puerto Rico. In a 2023 video interrogation with Vanity Fair, Bad Bunny said it successfully conveyed the feeling of a “hug.” Bad Bunny besides said helium knew the actress, Natalia L. Garcia, was the close pistillate for the task arsenic soon arsenic helium saw her.

López Mari discovered Garcia connected Instagram. “I [loved] her look,” helium said. “She reminded maine of Uma Thurman successful ‘Pulp Fiction’ due to the fact that of the haircut.”

López Mari’s member Benet Mari, served arsenic the manager of photography — and happened to person the resources to get a carousel connected the beach. “Everything was perfect,” said López Mari, calling it a “beautifully executed video” that deed each the notes and goals of marrying representation and song.

Don Omar, Residente, “Flow HP” (2021)

Filmed successful San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Los Angeles

In the video for their first-time collaboration, “Flow HP,” Don Omar and Residente, some Puerto Rican manufacture veterans, amplify their pridefulness for the motherland by rapping successful beforehand of the island’s flag, resulting successful an unforgettably almighty visual. López Mari and Residente really directed the video together.

Bad Bunny, “El Apagón — Aquí Vive Gente” (2022)

Filmed successful Puerto Rico (San Juan, Güajataca, Rincón)

“[Taylor Swift] fills it [her videos] with Easter eggs,” said López Mari. “So, what does Benito do? He fills it with Puerto Rican history.”

In astir six months, López Mari and his squad worked to nutrient what began arsenic a Bad Bunny video and expanded into a hard-hitting documentary. In collaboration with Puerto Rican investigative writer Bianca Graulau, the abbreviated movie shed airy connected the recurring blackouts successful Puerto Rico aft 2017’s Hurricane Maria and however the government’s lackluster betterment efforts exacerbated the greater infrastructural situation — each of which they powerfully see to beryllium byproducts of U.S. colonialism.

(Fun fact: This video besides featured clips from López Mari’s directorial debut with Calderón.)

Juanes, “Canción Desaparecida” featuring Mabiland (official video) (2023)

Filmed successful Medellín, Colombia, and agrarian outskirts

In this video, Juanes and singer-MC Mabiland telephone to caput much than 121,000 radical forcibly disappeared betwixt 1985 and 2016 successful their autochthonal Colombia. After agelong shying distant from governmental and societal contented that colored his archetypal album, Juanes knew helium wanted to marque an impactful video with López Mari, who felt connected to the communicative due to the fact that of his ain governmental inheritance.

Bad Bunny, “Baile Inolvidable” (2025)

FILMING LOCATION: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Normally, López Mari listens to a opus several times earlier helium writes a attraction for the absorption of a euphony video. Yet for “Baile Inolvidable,” helium lone got to perceive to it once. He happened to beryllium successful the country erstwhile Bad Bunny presented the medium “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” to Apple Music executives and his unit for the archetypal time.

López Mari says helium met with Bad Bunny weeks later, successful the Río Piedras euphony workplace wherever the creator had recorded the song. There, López Mari presented his storyboard drawings and determination ideas for the video and listened to the opus “like 20 times,” helium said.

López Mari changeable the creation people information astatine the Arthur Murray Dance Studios, a celebrated schoolhouse for classical salsa successful San Juan. The unrecorded show information of the video was filmed astatine the University of Puerto Rico’s auditorium, wherever Robles and López Mari had precocious originative directed a Concert for Energy Independence for Casa Pueblo.

“As each creator evolves, the aforesaid happens to america directors,” said López Mari. “We support learning... [And] hopefully, much videos volition beryllium made that are much relevant, [that] lend much to the taste exchange, [and] that aren’t conscionable a clump of flashy visuals and bells and whistles.”