Already well established in the reggaeton underground, with roughly a decade of street-level experience under his belt,
Daddy Yankee
broke into the Latin mainstream big time with
Barrio Fino
. The first reggaeton album to reach number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart,
covers all the bases over the course of 21 tracks, from all-star collaborations (
"No Me Dejes Solo,"
with
Wisin & Yandel
;
"Tu Principe,"
Zion & Lennox
"Sabor a Melao,"
Andy Montanez
) to English-language crossover (
"Like You"
) to empowering political rap (
"Corazones"
).
works chiefly with two production teams --
Luny Tunes
and the trio of
Monserrate
,
Fido
, and
DJ Urba
-- though there are also contributions from
Eliel
DJ Nelson
Echo & Diesel
Nely
. The
collaborations pay the most dividends, with
"Gasolina"
and
"Lo Que Paso, Paso"
standing tall as album highlights. Other highlights include
"Dale Caliente,"
"Que Vas a Hacer?"
Actually, the first half of
is remarkably solid. Only toward the final quarter of the album sequence do the songs begin to grow tiresome. This is partly because
is so long -- had a half-dozen songs been trimmed from the running length, it would be a non-stop highlight reel.
deserves a lot of credit for the success of
, for his charisma, energy level, and command of the proceedings are well evident and often infectious. But also credit the producers -- especially
, who turned this album into a showcase of their hitmaking prowess -- and
Glory
, who sings several of the best hooks and serves as
Daddy
's sultry female counterpoint. Everyone plays his or her role on
, which, along with
Don Omar
's
The Last Don
(2003), is a milestone reggaeton release for its time. ~ Jason Birchmeier