Barrio Fino (2004)

Barrio Fino (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbarjo ˈfino]; English: "Fine 'Hood") is the third studio album by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, released on July 13, 2004, in the United States by VI Music and El Cartel Records and internationally by Machete Music and Polydor Records. Released two years after his previous studio album, El Cangri.com (2002), the album was recorded in Puerto Rico between 2003 and 2004. It explores themes ranging from dance, sex, romance, introspection, and protest against political corruption and violence against women. Barrio Fino was instrumental in popularizing reggaeton in the mainstream market, enhancing Daddy Yankee's career, as well as cementing his status as one of the most successful Latin artists of the 2000s. The album is reported to have sold over 8 million copies in the world.

Daddy Yankee wrote all the tracks, with co-writing credits on seven, and is credited as executive producer. Five of the 21 songs were released as singles. The first single, "Gasolina", charted within the top 10 in Denmark, Italy, Norway, Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Austria, while "Lo Que Pasó, Pasó" peaked at number two on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. Barrio Fino reached number one on the US Tropical Albums and the Top Latin Albums charts. It became the first reggaeton recording to debut and peak atop the latter chart. It ranked within the top 30 in the United States, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain.

The album was Daddy Yankee's first international commercial success, and garnered a Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album, while "Gasolina" became the first reggaeton song to receive a nomination for a Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Barrio Fino produced two Billboard Hot 100 entries, but despite the album's success, none of its four Billboard Hot Latin Songs entries reached number one. Barrio Fino was ranked number 44 in the "Top 50 Records of 2005" list by Rolling Stone and was included in Billboard's "50 Greatest Latin Albums of the Past 50 Years" in 2015. The album received a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, denoting shipments of over one million copies in the United States, where it became the top-selling Latin album of 2005 and the 2000s decade and is the seventh best-selling Latin album of all time in the country. In 2020, Rolling Stone updated their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list placing Barrio Fino at number 473.

Daddy Yankee appeared at the Billboard Latin Music Awards performing the "Gasolina" with a guest appearance from Sean Combs in 2005; it was recognized by Billboard as one of the best performances of the night.

Background

In 1991, Ramón Ayala (known professionally as Daddy Yankee) began his musical career on a collaborative project with Puerto Rican disc jockey and producer DJ Playero. Daddy Yankee was later featured on Playero's 37 and 38 studio albums, before releasing his first solo record titled No Mercy in 1995. At the age of 17, while taking a break from a recording session, Ayala was shot in the leg after being caught inadvertently in the middle of a shootout, ending his aspirations of becoming a professional baseball player. Following his injuries, Daddy Yankee continued working on underground reggaeton records, and released his first album as a producer, El Cartel de Yankee (1997). After the release of his 2001 independent album El Cartel II: Los Cangris, Daddy Yankee released his second studio album El Cangri.com (2002), which is cited as the record that made him well known outside his natal Puerto Rico. Prior to Barrio Fino, Daddy Yankee released a compilation album titled Los Homerun-es, which became his first record to chart within the top 10 on the US Top Latin Albums, reaching number seven. Later that year, he was featured on Dominican duo Luny Tunes' debut studio album, Mas Flow, on the track "Cógela Que Van Sin Jockey", whose outro included Daddy Yankee promoting Barrio Fino. At first, the album was supposed to be titled El Cangri.com 2: Barrio Fino with an August 2003 release; however, those plans were scrapped. By 2004, Yankee caught on and established a steady career on his home island. His previous four albums had each sold more than 100,000 copies in Puerto Rico.