Rating:
Genre:
Rap
Release Date: 09/12/2006
About a year and a half after the unpredictable and underproductive rapper
N.O.R.E. promised the album
One Fan a Day with
the Neptunes,
Mariah Carey, and
Beanie Sigel as his guests stars, the
reggaeton-flavored
N.O.R.E. y la Familia...Ya Tú Sabe appeared in its place. With a high-profile album in the can and the lucrative
reggaeton train bringing everybody who rides it plenty of bling in 2006, there's every reason to suspect
La Familia is an embarrassment waiting to happen, but it's hardly that at all. While
N.O.R.E. might not be the first to mix
hip-hop and
reggaeton, only mixtapes, mashtapes, and bootleg white labels have blended the two genres with such abandon, weaving a
hip-hop stance into a hyped-up
bachata number or dropping smooth Latino crooning over an old-school boom-bap beat. The latter is what
"Soy un Gangsta" does perfectly, but most of the album draws upon
reggaeton beats, many thanks to
SPK, who previously brought the spice to some
Tony Touch tracks.
"Mas Maiz" is one of the producer's best efforts, with an extravagant set of guest stars that goes from
Fat Joe to the darling
Nina Sky. Elsewhere, slick
dancehall team
T.O.K. makes an appearance,
Ja Rule hangs for a track, and
reggaeton vets
Don Omar,
Ivy Queen, and
Daddy Yankee step up to the plate. The album's bulging guest list does make this more of a
N.O.R.E.-hosted party than a
N.O.R.E. album, something that might disappoint fans coming off his very focused, very
hip-hop album
God's Favorite. But as track after track swirls and hypnotizes with infectious
raps and hooks, the fact that this isn't a grimy hustler or a
N.O.R.E.-centric album matters less and less. The inclusion of
"Oye Mi Canto" -- an in-your-face
reggaeton stunner that was originally released to promote
One Fan a Day -- as a bonus track is just the icing on the cake, and if you can't get over the sharp left turn the rapper's discography takes, it's your loss and
reggaeton's gain.
La Familia is a spicy thug party that breaks plenty of rules and never feels contrived or anything but inspired. After listening to it, an album with a
Mariah Carey duet as its centerpiece doesn't seem that exciting at all.
~David Jeffries, All Music Guide
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