El Cartel: The Big Boss

Production

Daddy Yankee said that he wanted people to see his style as an MC and return to his hip-hop roots. He collaborated with producers Scott Storch and will.i.am to combine, as he put it, "the force and our creative minds to create a new sound." He also collaborated with Akon on a track called, "Bring It On", as track he considered as a follow-up to his lead single. Another song from the album that is characterized as a "catchy club banger" entitled, "Impacto" was produced by Scott Storch and features The Black Eyed Peas member, Fergie. He also recorded a song with Pussycat Dolls' lead vocalist, Nicole Scherzinger, which he described as a "crazy dancehall, Caribbean song."

Commercial reception

The album debuted at number nine on the U.S. Billboard 200 and at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, selling 82,000 copies in its first week, making it the highest reggaeton album to sell in its first week. On March 26, 2009, the album received a Latin album triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping 600,000 copies.

Critical reception

Allmusic gave the album a positive review and said the album consists of "potential hits". Rhapsody said, "he once again proves himself the reigning king of reggaeton" and proclaimed that "he's also doing more with hip-hop in the mainland idiom than a lot of artists."

Andrew Casillas of Stylus Magazine compared the album to Daddy Yankee's previous efforts and said, "while the front-loaded standard reggaetón tracks aren’t short on hit potential, they’re lacking in the sort of charisma that has made Daddy Yankee famous." He then added that "the closing third of the album is quite encouraging."

Promotion

During the promotion of the album, Daddy Yankee performed at Madison Square Garden. The album was supported by The Big Boss Tour, which started its U.S. leg at the Chicago Allstate Arena on August 31 through October 17, 2007 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Singles

"Impacto" was released as the lead single from the album on April 12, 2007. Simultaneously, the remix version, featuring Fergie was released as a second single. The videos of the two version were released in the Universal Studios. "Mensaje De Estado" was released as the first promotional recording off the album; a short music video then followed. The third official single, "Ella Me Levanto" was also released. On October 2007 was released the official video. The video was recorded in the Dominican Republic.