Daddy Yankee just dandy as reggaeton ambassador

When Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee appeared on stage Friday at Staples Center dressed in white and seated on a tall, gaudy throne with women sprawled at his feet, he wasn’t being subtle about who he thinks he is: the crown prince of reggaeton, Latin music’s hot new hip-hop hybrid.

But in case you didn’t get it, he repeatedly worked the boast into his commanding 90-minute concert, part of an ambitious -- and perhaps premature -- attempt to showcase the genre for the first time in major arenas through his “Who’s Your Daddy” tour.

Bragging is routine in this growing rap offshoot, which blends elements of hip-hop, salsa and Jamaican dancehall. But like watching Babe Ruth point to where he’ll place a home run, there was something thrilling about seeing Yankee prove that he can live up to his own billing.

With 8,500 people in attendance, Yankee’s concert didn’t come close to filling Staples, nor New York’s Madison Square Garden earlier in the tour. Still, his dynamic performance established him as a first-rate act in any genre.

Yankee met the ultimate test of star power -- it’s hard to take your eyes off him.

Unlike some performers who use pyrotechnics and flashy dancers to mask their weaknesses, Yankee used both to underscore his cool but powerful stage presence.

Those qualities were not lost on some Hollywood studio execs who came to visit him backstage. They may also have noticed the instant fan reaction when clips from Yankee’s upcoming film, “Talento de Barrio,” appeared on video screens during a wardrobe change (from tropical white suit to urban-camouflage flak jacket). Like a fluctuating popularity meter, the crowd shrieked at every fleeting close-up.

Many die-hard salsa fans abhor reggaeton as an ugly stepchild of Caribbean culture, but even skeptics might have a hard time resisting Yankee’s copious charisma and infectious self-confidence.

The style has a bad rap as monotonous and one-dimensional in its obsession with sex and partying. Detractors denounce Yankee’s catchy dance hit “Gasolina” as a prime example of the music’s annoying repetitiveness and superficiality.

But judging Yankee by one song would be a mistake. In fact, his show was so strong and sustained that when his hit came at the end, it felt anticlimactic. His concert, like his album “Barrio Fino,” proves that he’s an artist of substance who’s worth following.

Opening acts Nina Sky and Tony Touch canceled at the last minute, and replacements, mostly local Latino rappers, were called to fill in. But sharing the stage with Daddy Yankee (slang for big man) can be risky. For his aspiring peers in the growing urban Latino field, it only serves to highlight what most of them are missing -- originality and showmanship.