Hector "El Father" Bambino Los Rompe Discotekas CD

On his 2006 Def Jam debut, Hector "El Father" Bambino, formerly of the reggaeton duo Hector & Tito, offers up a hard-hitting Latino rap compilation that makes room for appearances by Fat Joe and Memphis Bleek. Although the Puerto Rico-based Bambino doesn't appear on all of the disc's tracks, he's clearly calling the shots here, deferring only to "El Presidente" (aka Jay-Z), who turns up for a guest shot on the frenetic "Here We Go Yo."
There were a lot of reggaeton releases in 2006, yet few were as curious and promising as Los Rompe Discotekas, a CD mixtape presented by Hector Bambino "El Father" and Roc la Familia. The latter is indeed a Latino branch of Roc-a-Fella, the longtime powerhouse label headed by Jay-Z that splintered when he became president of Def Jam. This seemed to be a power move of many major urban labels in 2006 -- get a piece of the reggaeton market, quickly -- with, for example, Diddy branching off Bad Boy into the exploding Latino sector as well (or at least announcing that he planned to do so). It's easy to view such moves cynically, as business-only practices that care just about the resulting return on investment, not the actual music and the cultural aspects being appropriated. Well, one listen to Los Rompe Discotekas dashes such cynicism in this instance. Even if it is the product of The Island Def Jam Music Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the industry, Los Rompe Discotekas is an outstanding reggaeton release, one of the best of the year. It'd be interesting to learn how much involvement Jay-Z had in this project beyond his lazily phoned-in hook for the lead single, "Here We Go Yo" (where he's billed as El Presidente). He's not credited as executive producer (that would be Juan Perez), so it's plausible he and his people wisely kept their hands out of this project, letting the reggaeton guys have full creative control. Hector has the lead role as host, but he's featured in less than a half-dozen of the 15 tracks. So Los Rompe Discotekas is essentially a mixtape, with various artists getting shots to shine, among them such major players as Wisin & Yandel, Alexis & Fido, and Don Omar. The production is split almost entirely between Mekka and the Luny Tunes collective. English-language features by Fat Joe, Memphis Bleek, and Freeway are quite effective. There aren't any true standout tracks; each is first-rate by 2006 standards, and the highlights tend to be those featuring the more prominent names. Lastly, it's worth mentioning that this album -- unlike the similar Luny Tunes albums -- runs only 53 minutes, which for a change is refreshing, as this music is mighty intense, with its fast tempo and relentlessly hard-hitting beats. ~ Jason BirchmeierSpin (p.79) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[F]eaturing some of the most exhilarating artists in reggaeton, as well as some hip-hop standbys."