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Barrio Fino (2004)

Where the lyrics of Barrio Fino take you, and where it was really made.

Barrio Fino became the first reggaeton album to debut and peak at number one on the US Top Latin Albums chart, a chart that had never been topped by a reggaeton record before it.

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Album story

Overview

• Barrio Fino: third studio album by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee
• Released 13 July 2004 in the United States by VI Music and El Cartel Records, and internationally by Machete Music and Polydor Records
• Daddy Yankee wrote all 21 tracks, with co-writing credits on seven, and is credited as executive producer
• Five of the 21 songs were released as singles
• Themes range from dance, sex, romance and introspection to protest against political corruption and violence against women
• Reported to have sold over 8 million copies worldwide

Background

• Released two years after El Cangri.com (2002), which is cited as the record that made him well known outside Puerto Rico
• Los Homerun-es, a compilation released before this album, was his first record to chart in the top 10 on US Top Latin Albums
• His four previous albums had each sold more than 100,000 copies in Puerto Rico
• The album was first planned as El Cangri.com 2: Barrio Fino with an August 2003 release, but those plans were scrapped

Recording

• Recorded in Puerto Rico between 2003 and 2004
• Recorded at El Cartel Studios in Villa Kennedy, San Juan, and Mas Flow Studios in Carolina, Puerto Rico
• Mixed at Mas Flow Studios and The Lab Studios; mastered at Digital Recording Services
• Luny Tunes produced nine of the 21 tracks, including the singles Gasolina, Like You and Lo Que Pasó, Pasó

Cover

• Cover art shows Daddy Yankee in a black-and-white aesthetic
• Hired Elastic People video director and designer Carlos Perez, who wanted to present him as one of the founders of the movement
• Daddy Yankee suggested a monumental black-and-white cover inspired by historical photographs of Muhammad Ali

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez, born February 3, 1976 in San Juan, Puerto Rico; known as Daddy Yankee.
• Called the "King of Reggaeton" and "Godfather of Reggaeton".
• Originally aimed to be a professional baseball player; after being shot in the leg during a studio session, pursued music.
• Debut solo studio album No Mercy released April 2, 1995.
• Barrio Fino (2004) became the top-selling Latin album of the 2000s; "Gasolina" credited with bringing reggaeton to a global audience.
• "Despacito" with Luis Fonsi (2017) topped the Billboard Hot 100, the first Spanish-language song to do so since "Macarena" in 1996.
• Became the most-listened artist worldwide on Spotify in June 2017, the first Latin artist to do so.
• Sold over 30 million records worldwide; announced retirement in 2022 after the Legendaddy album, later returning with Lamento en Baile (2025).

Business and Other Work

• Co-owns El Cartel Records; created the Fundación Corazón Guerrero charity for young incarcerated people.
• Acted and produced in Talento de Barrio (2008).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic gave the album 5 out of 5, calling it a milestone reggaetón release for its time
• Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard gave it 3.5 out of 5, calling it the blingiest and most modern disc in current reggaeton
• Adam Webb of the BBC said Daddy Yankee's sheer energy is where he reigns supreme over most of his hip hop peers
• Ramiro Burr called Gasolina the engine driving this collection
• Kitty Empire of The Guardian wrote that the rest of the album doesn't let up
• The Record gave it 3 out of 5 in a mixed review, saying the record is not as catchy or accessible as one might expect

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone ranked the album 44th best record of 2005
• Rolling Stone's 2020 update of its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time placed it at number 473
• Billboard included it in its 50 Greatest Latin Albums of the Past 50 Years list in 2015

Records

• US Top Latin Albums: number one, the first reggaeton album to debut and peak atop the chart
• US Tropical Albums: number one
• Billboard 200 debut: number 67, with almost 18,000 copies sold in the first week
• Europe: number 26 in Portugal and Spain, 28 in Switzerland, 46 in Italy, 51 in Austria, 67 in France
• United States: RIAA platinum on 17 May 2005 for one million shipped copies
• Mexico: AMPROFON platinum on 3 March 2006 for 100,000 units
• Argentina: CAPIF platinum on 22 March 2005 for over 40,000 units
• Best-selling Latin album in the United States in 2005 and in the 2000s decade
• Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The first plan was an album titled El Cangri.com 2: Barrio Fino with an August 2003 release, but the plans were scrapped.
• Don Omar was removed from the album after he did not go to record his part of the song Money Makers.
• The album was Daddy Yankee's first international commercial success, and it also garnered a Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album.
• Gasolina became the first reggaeton song to receive a nomination for a Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
• Daddy Yankee's first solo record, No Mercy, came out in 1995, before this album by nearly a decade.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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