Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 02/14/2006
A few short years after jumping feet first into the recording industry,
reggaeton duo
RKM & Ken-Y found themselves the object of a lot of attention. Having clawed their way up the ranks from a nowhere deal with
Money Machine Records to catching the eye of
reggaeton mogul
Raphy Pina of
Pina Records,
RKM & Ken-Y are an almost overnight success story. Going from virtually no airplay to breaking onto
Billboard's Top 200 within the space of two years is almost unheard of in the recording industry, but
reggaeton's rapidly growing popularity and fan base are ever hungry for new and fresh heroes.
RKM (
Jose Nieves) and
Ken-Y (
Kenny Vasquez) follow a popular model, with one member covering the vocal duties (
Ken-Y), leaving the rapping to the other (
RKM). Their breakthrough hit,
"Down," sets the trend for their debut record,
Masterpiece, with clean lyrics that shy away from common themes of partying and violence in favor of more romantic material. The production, mainly handled by
Ken-Y, is a little less sophisticated and vibrant than the average. The tracks tend to be simple, featuring
Ken-Y's vocals more consistently than his counterpart. The lyricism is similarly "what you see is what you get."
RKM & Ken-Y seem to be on top of the world, thanks to their debut success. However, king of the mountain seems to be a fast-paced and dangerous game in the world of
reggaeton.
~Evan C. Gutierrez, All Music Guide