Reggaetón Royalty

When the "12 Disciples" of reggaetón stepped onstage to perform at the 2005 Latin Grammy Awards, only one of the genre's leaders was wearing a gold miniskirt over their jeans.

In a movement that took off commercially with aggressive lyrics and a doggie-style perreo dance, Ivy Queen established herself as reggaetón's no-nonsense female conscience. (Her anthem "Quiero Bailar" warned her dance partner not to misinterpret those moves.) With her first fully self-produced album, "Sentimiento," out March 27 on Univision, the 35-year-old has something new to prove: that she, and reggaetón, can grow artistically.

"I've heard many times that reggaetón is a rhythm, 'boom boom boom,' and that's it," says Ivy Queen, who was born Martha Ivelisse Pesante. "Because people see us as reggaetón or rap en Español artists, they think one doesn't have feelings and maybe can't write the way I wrote this album."

Though first single "Que Lloren" (Let Them Cry) seeks to avenge female heartbreak to a familiar drum machine beat, other tracks depart from Ivy Queen's peculiar brand of danceable melancholy with forays into salsa and acoustic balladry. In a twist on the usual dynamic, such male guest stars as Baby Rasta respond in kind with their own romantic songs.

Ivy Queen started her career in 1995 with Puerto Rican reggaetón group the Noise, then went solo with 1997's "En Mi Imperio." She followed up the next year with "The Original Rude Girl," on which she collaborated on a track with Wyclef Jean. Her top-selling album to date is 2005's "Flashback," a package of previous hits and new tracks that has sold 104,000 in the United States and Puerto Rico, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

As a female who slogged it out on the road with the likes of Don Omar before major labels took notice of reggaetón's commercial potential, Ivy Queen attributes her stature to the fact that "I always have something to say, something to contribute. I never came with empty rhythm or lyrics. [Men saw that] the girl could write and sing and go to the platform and kill, as we say."