My World

Audio Mixers: Hyde "El Verdadero Quimico"; Josh "The Secret Code".
Recording information: Secret Code Studios; THC Studios, Puerto Rico.
Photographer: Kike San Martin.
Dyland & Lenny are a pop vocal duo very much in the mold of Wisin y Yandel, Zion & Lennox, or Rakim y Ken-Y, but without the aggression or edge of any of those other pairs. Their music hits all the expected buttons -- warmed-over reggaeton beats, retro synth melodies straight out of '80s night at a Miami nightclub, lyrics about sex and dancing -- without adding much of anything that's genuinely new or unique. The melodies are just hooky enough to be enjoyable, the raps just horny and amped-up enough to stand out from the crooning; the only truly surprising track is "Lucía," which rockets off into a zone of electronic weirdness toward its end, almost abandoning pop entirely. "Nadie Te Amará Como Yo" grafts acoustic guitars onto a reggae beat, to pleasing effect, and "Quiere Pa' Que Te Quieran" is pretty world-pop. But for the most part, My World is an album that will sound really good pumping from nightclub speakers or in a car with the top down, without ever inspiring a listener to ask, "Who's that?" ~ Phil Freeman