September 18, 2010

Reggaetón's self-proclaimed king tries his hand at another strain of urban dance music on "Danza Kuduro," from his forthcoming compilation album "Don Omar Presents: Meet the Orphans." Kuduro's high-speed, eminently danceable rhythms originated in Angola in the '80s, found their way to Portugal and were most recently popularized by ghetto-tech act Buraka Som Sistema. Portuguese artist Lucenzo reworks his own "Vem Dançar Kuduro" for this collaboration with Don Omar, who adds star power and Spanish lyrics that should broaden the song's international audience. The propulsive beat is laced with crowd-pleasing electric accordion runs, over which Don Omar sings and raps about a simple yet evergreen concept: dancing up a storm. The song wisely shifts him toward more tropical-leaning material—a move all too familiar in reggaetón's post-boom era—while letting him continue to explore new sounds and maintain his hold over Latin dancefloors around the world.—Mh

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