Universal Music Latino and YaBoyyWill Launch 'Toma Este Reparto!' to Elevate Cuba's Homegrown Genre

Universal Music Latino has partnered with Cuban content creator and streamer YaBoyyWill to launch "Toma Este Reparto!", a new music platform and series aimed at putting Cuba's reparto scene in front of mainstream audiences, the label announced on Aug. 31 (Billboard).

The initiative takes its name from YaBoyyWill's "Toma" brand and a Spanish idiom, and it works on two tracks: giving select independent and established artists the chance to perform at YaBoyyWill's personal studio, and connecting them with Universal Music executives. The broader goal, as the label frames it, is to elevate reparto through mainstream collaborations, awards-show exposure and financial resources.

Reparto is a genre most listeners outside the Spanish-speaking world will not have encountered by name. It emerged in Cuba in the early 2000s, taking its name from the repartos — the barrios and housing projects where it was born. Its sound pulls from reggaeton, hip-hop, timba, rumba and the Cuban clave, the rhythmic pattern that underpins much of the island's music. Artists including Elvis Manuel, Chocolate MC, El Taiger, El Chulo, Harryson, Mawell, Bebeshito, Wampi and Ya Ice Dilan have driven the genre's growth over the past two decades.

The first exclusive recording sessions for "Toma Este Reparto!" will kick off in Miami in September, timed to Hispanic Heritage Month. Cesar Toirac, Universal Music Latino's senior director of digital innovation, is involved on the label side. YaBoyyWill, for his part, recently participated in Kai Cenat's Streamer University, a programme that brought prominent content creators together — a credential that signals his reach extends beyond music into the livestreaming world where younger audiences increasingly discover artists.

The timing lines up with a broader moment for reparto on the industry calendar. Bebeshito, DJ Conds, Wow Popy, and Rey Tony & Helabusador are confirmed for the 2026 Billboard Latin Music Week, which runs Oct. 19–22 at the Faena Forum in Miami Beach. Their presence places reparto artists on the same showcase bill that draws Latin music's biggest labels, promoters and executives each year.

What gives the partnership its particular shape is the combination of a major-label infrastructure — Universal Music Latino is part of Universal Music Group, the world's largest recorded-music company — with a creator who built his audience through streaming and social content rather than through the traditional artist-and-label pipeline. Whether that model translates into chart positions or sustained catalogue value for reparto artists is a question the first sessions in Miami will begin to answer. For now, the doors are open, and the studio is booked.