Don Herman Davis, better known as Daddy Banton, is one of the Tico hip-hop recording artists scheduled to visit the United States in August for a series of live performances. Joining Banton will be DJ P, Masta and Toledo, all from the “Top a Top” hip-hop crew, a music collective that is responsible for most of the rap and dancehall hits in Costa Rica.

The Top a Top crew will perform in the states of Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina. The tour will include some big names in the reggaeton arena, like Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Plan B, Prince Royce, and others. Banton and Toledo warmed up the crowd for Don Omar and Plan B when they appeared at the 2012 Palmares Festival back in January.

Banton and Toledo are known for their caustic and witty lyrics that often deal with sociopolitical commentary. In 2010, Banton released “Oficial de Transito“, a rap number aimed at transit police officers who, on top of being ineffectual, engage in bribery schemes. The song and its funny video became very popular thanks to heavy airplay on VM Latino, Costa Rica’s own music video channel. The fact that the Transit Law and its numerous irregularities were playing out in Sala Cuarta (Constitutional Hall) at the time bolstered the hit’s popularity.

The success of Oficial de Transito was apparently not ignored by the transit police. In 2010, Banton was riding in a van headed to a live performance when the vehicle was stopped and its driver given two tickets. Later that day, the same van was stopped at a roadblock in La Cieneguita of Limon, whereupon it was relieved of its license plates by transit cops.

Banton would later release Chorizeros (Bribers), a follow-up video that was even more critical of the transit police. Banton’s acerbic and funny lyrics are not limited to transit cops. In “Todo esta caro“, he presents his grandfather’s opinion of inflation in Costa Rica, and how his social security pension cannot cover his need for groceries at today’s prices. And in 2011, just before the wireless monopoly of ICE was broken, Banton released a song about the poor cell phone service offered by the government-sponsored communications giant.

Source: Exa FM 102.7