Remember This Banger: Don Omar and Hakim's Arab-Latino jam Tigi Tigi

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Set us as preferred Don Omar remains one of the undisputed kings of reggaeton, helping to bring the genre to a wider audience and strengthen its dominance in popular culture.Yet many may not remember the indelible mark he left on Arab pop music.The 2007 dance floor sensation “Tigi Tigi” — which means “come here” in Egyptian Arabic — saw the reggaeton MC reach across the ocean to Egyptian hitmaker Hakim, marking a turning point for Arab-Latin fusions in music.Even in the aftermath of Shakira’s 1998 solo hit, “Ojos Así,” a tribute to her paternal Lebanese heritage, there was still a dearth of Arab-Latino cultural exchanges in pop.“Tigi Tigi” paved the way for further collaborations between Arab and Latin artists, including Gente de Zona and Mohammed Assaf in 2017’s “Baddek Enaya,” or Karol G and Lartiste’s 2019 track “Peligrosa.” By 2007, both Don Omar and Hakim had cemented themselves as pioneers and icons in their respective genres.

Don Omar solidified his position at the forefront of the global reggaeton movement, while Hakim had established himself as a superstar in the Middle East and North Africa in the ’90s and 2000s.He helped popularize Egyptian jeel music: a genre that incorporates elements of reggae and pop, while maintaining a distinctly Egyptian sound.Don Omar first flew to Cairo in 2006 to meet Hakim and begin recording “Tigi Tigi.” The track was produced with Egyptian composers Tamer Sakr and Wahid El-Meligy, as well as the multiplatinum Puerto Rican producer Eliel Lind Osorio, who is credited on hit songs “Dile” and “Hasta Abajo.”The reggaeton artist recounted his visit to Cairo in an Instagram post last October.

He shared behind-the-scenes footage of the recording session and said that he “didn’t expect to travel so far and hear ‘Dale Don Dale’ as a ringto...