Queen also uses her style to make a statement to society and is criticized. She makes a shift through music, especially when she performs romance, her style may throw people off. Although her style is critized, something that Ivy Queen is very dominant for is her long acrylic nails. Ivy’s nails are a way of controversy and protest and how it relates to the meaning of Puerto Ricanness.

Although Ivy owns her space, her nails rise up the topics of womanhood and blackness, while owning her space she still respects others and does her music to everyone, no matter whom you are but creates racial controversy of how she is identified. “Individuals whom I spoke with described Ivy Queen with euphemisms that situated her on the “blacker” end of Puerto Rico of racial spectrum”.[1]

A term used against her was the word “Cafre” which is related to urban blackness because of her participation in reggaeton. She is accused for inappropriate behavior due to her music and how she identifies with her “blackness”. Due to the fact that Ivy Queen has a “diva” personality to her she breaks boundaries to what the structure of Puerto Rico racial demographics and her music is compared to Tego Calderon because of the African diaspora that shows the true meaning of the music. [2]

Ivy’s personality speaks on her stance of male masculinity through her voice and owning her space in what is still considered a male dominated space. Her physical appearance she disconnects the norms of being white, feminism, and respect as an individual.

Nevertheless Ivy Queen goes against what her culture believes it wrong. Queen breaks comfort zones in the Reggaeton world, which is amazing. Ivy Queen expresses “Look I don’t care if people like it don’t like my look. I like to look like hip-hop because I’m a reggaeton singer. One of the dumbest criticisms I’ve heard about me is that I should cut my nails. I’m not Miss Universe. I’m the queen of an urban movement, and my nails represent what I like about myself … I can’t cut them to make people. The people who love me love me as I am, and my nails don’t demonstrate".[3] Here we see Queen connecting with her blackness, culture, and characteristics as a rapper.

  1. ^ R. Rivera-Rideau, Petra (2015). Remixing Reggaetón: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico. https://www.dukeupress.edu/remixing-reggaeton. pp. 105–107. ((cite book)): External link in |location= (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ R. Rivera-Rideau, Petra (2015). Remixing Reggaetón: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico. https://www.dukeupress.edu/remixing-reggaeton. pp. 109–110. ((cite book)): External link in |location= (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ R. Rivera-Rideau, Petra. Remixing Reggaetón: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico. https://www.dukeupress.edu/remixing-reggaeton. p. 115. ((cite book)): External link in |location= (help)