Masterpiece Commemorative Edition

Album Review

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. [The 2007 commemorative edition features a wealth of bonus material, including remixes and an additional DVD.] ~ Evan C. Gutierrez, Rovi