New York (AP) — Four years ago, Daddy Yankee told the world he was retiring.
It was a short-lived ride into the sunset for the reggaeton icon, who announced his groundbreaking, global arrival in 2004 on the 33-times platinum hit “Gasolina” with “Who’s this? Da-ddy Yan-kee!”
One-off singles written and released after revealing he had embraced Christianity followed, as did his last album, 2025’s devotional “Lamento en baile.” Faith, it appeared, had become a central motivating force for the musical pioneer.
On Friday, he will release a new record, “La Postal,” (or “The Postcard” in English). It’s another deviation, as a 15-track concept album where each track is a spiritual love letter to, well, love: romantic love, familial love, self-love, love of country and so on.
“La Postal” is not an overtly Christian album, like “Lamento en baile,” but it avoids the salaciousness of some of his earlier work. The first taste arrived in the form of “BOTZ (Besame Otra Vez),” a mainstream-friendly, hard-hitting romantic reggaeton song from the man who knows it best. “Bésame otra ve’, quiero saber / Si tú sientes lo mismo que yo siento,” he sings on the chorus. (In English: “Kiss me again, I want to know / If you feel the same as I feel.”) It sets the tone in more ways than one, as the explicit innuendo of early albums has given way to references to kissing in seven of the 15 tracks.
The album fully animates on “Rosa Live,” written for his mother. The salsa number, recorded live with a full band, has all the immediacy and intimacy of a living room dance break. It, too, could be viewed as a love letter to Puerto Rican heritage music.
Admiration for his home island is everywhere, from the sound of coquís on “Ultimo Beso,” where the frogs’ song is woven into the production of the intro, to his collaborations with other Boricua artists such as the rapper Myke Towers on “Se Va” and rising singer-songwriter De La Rose on “ENAWO.”
“Contigo me siento en Puerto Rico,” he sings on the latter. “Tu sonrisa se ha vuelto mi casa.” (In English: With you I feel in Puerto Rico / Your smile has become my home.”)
There are collaborations with Latin talents of all backgrounds, like Argentina’s super-producer Bizarrap on “¿Pa’ Qué Llorar?” and Cardi B for the sexy slow burn “Cosita.” Working with these different generations of artists cements Yankee’s position as a kind of torchbearer of Latin music’s continued global resonance. On this album, like in life, he is their elder: the giant who offered his shoulders to stand on.
But what happens when the popularity of newer performers eclipses that of those who opened the door? For Yankee, the answer may lie in “Pokito,” his collaboration with Indian American superstar Diljit Dosanjh. It’s both a lead single and a complete outlier on the record, Punjabi music that meets dembow — the four-on-the-floor, three-beat percussive pattern at the foundation of much urbano — a little over a minute into the song.
Daddy Yankee is famous for bringing regional music to the international stage. On “Pokito,” he seems to be gesturing to the future, the one he always imagined: where a variance of cultures meet to dance.
“La Postal” by Daddy Yankee
Three and a half stars out of five.
On repeat: “Cosita,” “Se Va,” “Pokito,” “Rosa Live”
For fans of: Borderless, boundaryless bangers
