EXPLORING REGGAETON: Part 7: In the Streets, Wisin and Yandel Give People What they Want

Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does a burgeoning marketplace, hungry for new music (and lots of it). That's the basic story behind Wisin and Yandel's success. Opportunity opens its door quickly to anyone agile and bold enough to step through at just the right time. Wisin and Yandel were those bold artists who weren't reggaeton, but who saw opportunity for what it was, and who were richly rewarded for their foresight and action.

Reggaeton went from a non-existent blip on the radar in 2003 to totally dominating the latin pop and tropical music styles by 2005. Reggaeton is everywhere in latin music --- there is no escape (at least until "the next big thing" runs us over).


The Background Story on Wisin y Yandel...
Reggaeton fans call Wisin and Yandel "The Dynamic Duo", though Wisin's mom actually named him "Juan Luis Morera Luna", and Yandel's mom named her little bundle of joy "Llandel Veguilla Malave".

The two teamed up in 1999 to record their first album at the ripe old ages of 20 and 18. At the time, they weren't hanging ten on the growing reggaeton wave --- they were doing straight-laced hip-hop with spanish lyrics --- a simple recipe for success that would garner the duo three gold albums within their first three years.

In 2004, the two did some solo stuff --- at least until reggaeton caught their ears. They each did some colloborative efforts with reggaeton artists, and evidently, they each got independently hooked to the new style. By early 2005, the duo were back together and back in the studio recording Pa'l Mundo, which was released late in the year, and was their first real reggaeton album.

Smart move and smart timing.

Wisin y Yandel hit the reggaeton market just when there existed a lull, with no major releases coming out from any of the genre's biggest names. (Do you hear Opportunity knocking? How about "insistently pounding"?) The hungry market snapped up Pa'l Mundo like a T-bone tossed to a pack of starving dobermans. The album immediately shot up onto the sales and airplay charts --- and stayed there.

This week's Billboard (dated 7/15/06) shows Pa'l Mundo still sitting in the number 5 slot on the Top Latin Album list, down from its peak at number 1, but after 34 weeks, still a very substantial accomplishment, and more than enough to garner the duo their first real RIAA platinum certificate.

That's today...what's in store for tomorrow?

Wisin and Yandel are currently rumored to be back in the studio working on another album, slated for an early 2007 release. Although there are many big reggaeton releases slated for late 2006, things bode well for Wisin and Yandel, who continue to give the people what they want.


Pa'l Mundo: Hot and Not...
With 19 tracks to chose from on Pa'l Mundo, there's a lot of potential for greatness here, and there's quite a few real standouts. There's also a few "almosts" that don't quite manage to execute on their promise.

Among these is the slick and sensuous Llame Pa'Verte, a song of understated grace that unfortunately, loses its momentum halfway through, finishing with the fizzle of widi-widi and stupid crow calls of "Luny Tunes". What a disappointing way to ruin what could have been a true power tune!

Paleta is a very cool song, and one that I think is under-exploited. The music video channels and pop stations seem to like Rakata a whole lot more than Paleta, but personally, I think Paleta is just as good a tune.

I especially like the almost leering sexuality of Paleta's double entendres that permeate this song. And that slinky sound and smooth feel....oh, man! This is a song that should really find its way onto one of those Hot Latinas porn videos (not that I actually have any first-hand experience with such things, you understand, I'm just hypothetically speaking here). The chorus of young latinas chanting, "Paleta...Dame paleta" ("Lollipop...Give me the lollipop.") is gloriously suggestive, rude, crude, and lewd...now if only they could add "nude" to that titillating trio...

Needless to say, Rakata is another song I like. This is one that the pop radio stations have picked up on, and it's an awesome tune with a powerful beat and a big sound that pulls in some tropical bachata sound with a dash of salsa to it, but that's still strongly hip-hop at its core. Big percussions and the relentlessly driving beat make it a surefire dance hit too.

Mayor Que Yo Parte 2 shows off more complexity than you find in most reggaeton songs, with an oddly attractive retro feeling opening and a pounding, house-shaking bass drum beat that forces the chicas up off their barstools and on to the dance floor. It's also unusual in that, rather than chanted or recited rhymes, there are actually passages that stand out for the vocal quality. I know, I know, such a thing isn't usually valued in either the hip-hop or reggaeton worlds, but here you have glimpses of real singing talent.

Radio DJs around these parts seem to be picking up on Noche de Sexo, which strikes me as kind of a guy's idea of a "romantic ballad", in which its okay to have some braggadaccio about being a nasty boy and just using romance as a tool to get to the real main event, i.e., sex. It's also kind of fun to play this back-to-back for some compare-and-contrast action with the tune Solo Una Noche, which has some similar themes running through it, but with the perspective of a strictly impersonal one night stand.

Pop fans will probably be best starting off with a listen to Lento, which seems to borrow a lot of elements from the Kumbia Kings brand of hip-hop/tejano, complete with techno keyboard effects layered on a strong, percussion-heavy bass line.

Overall, it's a very listenable album with a lot of very strong dance numbers. Wisin and Yandel's experience in the hip-hop world stood them in good steed for reggaeton.


The Bonus CD Factor...
When sales of Pa'l Mundo looked like they were flagging a bit, the artists and studio re-released it in "Deluxe Edition" form by adding a bonus audio CD and a DVD, sprucing up the packaging, and re-releasing the whole deal for about the same price as the original single-disc release. Sales did indeed jump back upwards, and while I wouldn't buy the bonus CD by itself, as an included freebie, it's very nice and helps contribute to the overall "bang for the buck" that I appreciate in this beefed up Deluxe Edition.

What you get on the bonus CD is two straight up studio tracks of previously unreleased Wisin and Yandel. And you get 6 tracks of collaborations --- some cover tunes, some guests coming in for remixes of Wisin and Yandel tunes.

The most significant "bonuses" here are the tracks Sacala and Pam Pam. These weren't included on the original release of Pa'l Mundo, and they give fans a bit of new tune taste in an otherwise dry "between release" lag period.

I think Sacala is my favorite between these two. It's got a kind of gritty feel to it, but its also got a deep, melancholy horn intro and a lot of complexity layered throughout the song, with passages of background choruses (surprisingly, deep toned male choruses --- seems like most reggaeton tunes use male vocals up front with higher pitched female choruses in the background --- kinda refreshing to hear things mixed up a bit here).


The DVD Factor...
The DVD that you get with the Deluxe Edition of Pa'l Mundo is fairly decent with an emphasis on well produced, MTV-ready music videos. The best of 'em is Rakata, which is slick, energetic, and does a great job capturing the tropical mood of the song, right down to a heavy emphasis on green imagery, which gives it a vaguely safari-esque visual impression.

I liked Mirala Bien too. It's slick and sexy with a retro grunge feel of 1960s street motorheads --- guys who are just as enamored with their fin-bedecked vintage 50s roadsters as they are in lust with the scantily clad luscious latinas who shake it with lascivious leers and tempting tongue and butt wagging.

Of the 4 music videos here, the weakest by far is Llame Pa'Verte, which substitutes obnoxious narcissism for sex appeal and that too prominently focuses on overly ugly oafs at the expense of their tantalizingly lovely latina, who unfortunately, is relegated to the role of seat cover in a car, and who is never exploited to her full potential. The video looks cheaply produced too, with the entire budget blown on renting a car that nobody in the video could conceivably ever own. (Am I the only person watching music videos who wishes that somebody in the music video world would wake up and realize that a ringing cell phone just is not exciting.)

The Making of Mirala Bien is clunky and dull, with a lack of narrative and a washed out look that makes it hard to watch. The Interview video was just plain boring.

Overall, an average hum-drum video disc. Okay for free, but that's all it's really worth.


Bottom Line...
Pa'l Mundo was an excellent album when it was first released 9 months ago. With the repackaging of a couple months ago and the inclusion of the bonus disc and DVD at about the same price as the original release, Pa'l Mundo continues to ensure its relevance in its Deluxe Edition guise. It's also a simply outstanding entertainment value, packed with almost an hour of music on the original studio CD, plus another half hour of remixes and collaborations on the bonus CD and a half dozen music and info videos on the DVD to round out a very full package of great reggaeton.

I give a solid thumbs-up recommendation for Pa'l Mundo. It's a more workmanlike kind of reggaeton that appeals more to the hard core than to the pop fringes. It's a more complex album than some of the more popular discs, with a grittier sound and a stronger hip-hop foundation --- but there are a lot of ears in the world that will probably prefer their reggaeton that way.

Give Wisin and Yandel a listen!


Makin' Tracks...
1 album, 3 discs: 1 of 'em an all-new studio CD, one of 'em filled with various bonus tracks, and one of 'em a DVD featuring music and info videos. The fact that you get all this for about the same price as a simple 1-disc album makes the Deluxe Edition of Pa'l Mundo a great entertainment value. Here's what's what...

Disc 1 (CD): (56:55 total running time)
1. Dale Intro
2. Manigueta
3. Llame Pa'Verte
4. Paleta
5. Solo Una Noche
6. Mayor Que Yo Parte 2
7. La Barria
8. Calle Callejero
9. Sin El
10. Rakata
11. Sensacion
12. Tabla
13. Noche de Sexo
14. Mirala Bien
15. La Compaņia
16. Lento
17. Titere
18. Yo Quiero
19. Fuera de Base

Disc 2 (Bonus CD):
1. Pam Pam
2. Te Noto Tensa
3. Toma
4. La Quebranta Hueso
5. Mayor Que Yo Parte 2 Remix
6. Burn it Up
7. Sacala
8. Llora Mi Corazon

Disc 3 (DVD):
1. Llame Pa' Verte
2. Mirala Bien
3. Mirale Bien - The Making Of
4. Rakata
5. Burn It Up
6. Interview


EXPLORING REGGAETON: The Series...
This has been Part 7 of a 10-part series exploring the roots, heart, soul, and future of the reggaeton style. Stay tuned as we delve deeper into the works and influences of the artists who are forging the new flavor of urban latino music, and seeing it spread to unexpected corners of foreign genres. Here's where we've been and where we're going on this musical journey...

Part 1: Rise of a New Urban Power
Part 2: Movers, Shakers, Players, and Names to Know in Reggaeton
Part 3: Conceiving a New Style, El General and the Panamanian Nexus
Part 4: Defining the Boundaries, Tego Calderon and the Puerto Rican Claim
Part 5: A Star Is Born, Daddy Yankee Fought the Pop Machine --- Yankee Wins
Part 6: Machisimo versus the Feminine Ideal, Ivy Queen in a Male-Dominated Genre
Part 7: Heard in the Streets, Wisin and Yandel Give the People What they Want
Part 8: Scrappy Young Punks, Alexis and Fido and the Good Fight
Part 9: A Prophet Pointing the Path, Don Omar Today and Tomorrow
Part 10: Little Kids, Big Kids, and Explicit Content: an Ongoing Controversy






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