Don Omar's King of Kings tour arrives at Dodge Arena

Posted by: CorrienteLatina  Posted: 11-03-2006 Print Article Email to a friend RSS Twitter Facebook

Mention the word reggaeton and fans like Sara Rivera get the sudden urge to shake a tail feather on the dance floor.

Mention reggaeton superstar Don Omar and it'll give her something to talk about.

"Listening to it makes me just want to dance," said the 17-year-old McAllen resident. "It's just fun music."

Perhaps it's the pulsating beats that combine hip-hop with flavors of the Caribbean and Latin America that gets people going. Or the rhythmic, often contagious hooks that have swept the nation, creating a devoted following in dance clubs everywhere, especially in the Rio Grande Valley.

Local fans get the royal treatment tonight when Omar descends his throne at Dodge Arena in Hidalgo to support his King of Kings tour.

The reggaeton pioneer's 15-city U.S. trek kicked off Oct. 13 in Atlanta. The tour wraps with two dates in Omar's native Puerto Rico in December. For this stretch, Omar recruited a hefty lineup of rising stars, Rakim & Ken-Y and Aventura, to open the night.

Reviews thus far tout the multi-million dollar tour, named after Omar's latest album, as an elaborate stage presentation with pyrotechnics and elements of Broadway added to the mix.

Thriving ticket sales are taking the tour onto foreign soil, with dates already booked for Egypt, Germany, Switzerland and South Korea.

Omar and company already have taken Mexico by storm, performing to sold-out crowds in Cancun, Veracruz, Monterrey and Mexico City.

"He's super hot right now," said Jay-Z, KBFM Wild 104.1 afternoon disc jockey. "He influences a lot of artists and attracts a lot of the ladies."

Omar, born William Omar Landron in Villa Palmeras, Puerto Rico, is one of only a handful of artists, including Tego Calderon, Ivy Queen and Daddy Yankee, who helped spark the reggaeton frenzy.

His 2005 anthem "Reggaeton Latino," off of his debut album The Last Don, carved a niche for the genre, becoming one of the style's first genuine crossover hits, according to allmusic.com.

That same album, which sold more than 350,000 copies, also produced such hits as "Dale Don Dale," "Dile" and "Entre Tu y Yo."

His accolades include Latin Pop Album of the Year and New Artist & Latin Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year, by the Billboard Latin Music Awards in 2003. The platinum-selling live version of The Last Don also was nominated for Urban Music Album at the 2005 Latin Grammy Music Awards.

Locally, the songs are on heavy rotation on Wild 104.1 and XHAVO-FM Digital 101.5, a Spanish-language station.

After three years out of the studio, Omar released his follow-up album, King of Kings.

King of Kings was nominated for a 2006 Latin Grammy for Best Urban Music Album and also has soared up the charts, becoming the highest ranking reggaeton album in the top 10 US charts, with its debut at No. 1 on the Latin sales charts and the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Latin Rhythm Radio Chart with his single "Angelito," according to reggaeton news source. The album also has spent 11 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Charts.

"His new album is awesome," said Rivera, who considers "Angelito" her favorite tune by far. "I never really listened to music in Spanish but reggaeton has really exploded and I love it."

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Miriam Ramirez covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4468. For this and more local stories visit www.themonitor.com

Don Omar
Also featuring: Rakim & Ken-Y, Aventura
When: 8 p.m. today
Where: Dodge Arena
Cost: $20 to $95
Info.: 866-RIO-TIXX

BY: Miriam Ramirez
Source: Monitor Staff Writer