#473 Rolling Stone list. Released in 2004, it was the Puerto Rican artist’s first big international success, eventually landing on all kinds of top album lists and gaining widespread critical success. According to Wikipedia, it “explores themes ranging from dance, sex, romance, introspection, and protest against political corruption and violence against women,” which I am glad to know considering I don’t speak the language.

This album also prompted me to look up the difference between Reggaeton and Reggae (perhaps proving my ignorance, but hey, nobody’s perfect) and now I now Reggaeton is Reggae’s dancehall cousin. I have no clue how that definition escaped me for this long, but that seems to be a theme of this project.

This album is undoubtedly important, as it had a huge role in bringing the Reggaeton genre and Latin music more broadly to the world, but I can only appreciate its full message as a secondhand observer, since I can’t understand the full context and themes covered in the lyrics. I enjoyed my listen (with the exception of “Gasolina” which, although an excellent mega-poppy song, still makes me taste tequila deep in my esophagus thanks to college).

New Jams

“Dale Caliente”

Originally part of Objectivity In Rating Music, part 2.