As one of rap's first bilingual hits, Escape from Havana’s suave centrepiece, "Mentirosa", is irresistible—down to its Santana riffs and its battle-of-the-sexes lyrics. The rest of the Cuban-American rapper's debut is equally ingenious with its samples, with "River Cubana" playing off some James Brown grunts and "Hip Hop Creature" borrowing the synth whooshes from Rush's "Tom Sawyer". Though he sounds tough and forceful most of the time, tracks like "If You Were Mine" and "B-Boy in Love" show that Mellow Man Ace can match even the likes of LL Cool J in the love-rap department.