''El Disco Duro'' (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

for "The Hard Disk") is an unreleased and later cancelled studio album by Puerto Rican rapper

Daddy Yankee Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, composer, and actor. Known as the " King of Reggaetón" by music critics and fans alike, he is the artist who coined ...

. It was originally scheduled to be released during early 2017 under its original title ''King Daddy II: Elemento DY'', a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to his previous album '' King Daddy'', produced by

Los de la Nazza Los de la Nazza are a Puerto Rican urban music duo formed in 2005 by Eliezer "Musicólogo" García and Eduardo "Menes" López. The duo achieved significant popularity in the Latin urban music field during the late 2000s and early 2010s as produ ...

, a production duo that worked with Daddy Yankee from 2007 to 2014. The album was to include "

Sígueme y Te Sigo "Sigueme y Te Sigo" ( en, "Follow Me and I Follow You") is a song by Puerto Rican artist Daddy Yankee. It is the second single from his upcoming studio album '' El Disco Duro'', originally scheduled to be released during early 2017. It was writte ...

", " Dura", "Vaivén" and "

Shaky Shaky "Shaky Shaky" is a single by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee that was intended to appear on his unreleased studio album '' El Disco Duro''. The song was recorded in December 2015 as a freestyle during a recording session in Puerto Rico and later ...

" as singles, which were released between March 2015 and April 2016.

Background

''El Disco Duro'' (originally titled ''King Daddy II: Elemento DY'') was going to be the sequel of his previous mixtape '' King Daddy'', released in October 2013, which became the first digital-only Latin album that managed to rank within the top 10 on the US

Top Latin Albums Top Latin Albums is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the American music market. Like all ''Billboard'' album charts, the chart is based ...

chart. Two months after the release of ''King Daddy'', Daddy Yankee announced that there was going to be a physical version of the album, with exclusive bonus tracks, planned to be released during 2014, but it was not published after all. The Puerto Rican production duo

, which had been working with Daddy Yankee since 2007, left

El Cartel Records El Cartel Records (formerly known as Los Cangris Inc. and El Cartel Productions) is a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican record label, record company. The release of ''Barrio Fino'', Daddy Yankee's first commercially successful album, is notable for being ...

and stopped being his main producers in order to focus on their careers. Chris Jeday and Gaby Music were hired as the album's main producers during late 2014. ''El Disco Duro'' was officially announced during mid-2014 as ''King Daddy II'' with the promotion of the single "Sábado Rebelde" featuring Puerto Rican duo

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

, released on October 31. On September 10, he was urgently moved to a nearby hospital in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, where he was set to perform later that night. Daddy Yankee suffered a rise in blood pressure,

hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose belo ...

and dehydration, which almost caused him to suffer a heart attack before being treated by doctors. His condition improved and he was sent to rest in his native Puerto Rico, but had to cancel other concerts in Colombia. On October 19, he confirmed that his hypoglycemia worsened and turned into a

prediabetes Prediabetes is a component of the metabolic syndrome and is characterized by elevated blood sugar levels that fall below the threshold to diagnose diabetes mellitus. It usually does not cause symptoms but people with prediabetes often have obesit ...

. In January 2017, he was featured on the reggaeton-pop single "

Despacito "Despacito" (; "Slowly") is a song by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring Puerto Rican rapper and singer Daddy Yankee as the lead single from Fonsi's 2019 studio album ''Vida''. Released on January 12, 2017, the song was written by Fonsi, ...

" by Puerto Rican singer

Luis Fonsi Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero (born April 15, 1978), known by his stage name Luis Fonsi (), is a Puerto Rican singer. He is known for multiple songs, one of them being "Despacito" featuring rapper Daddy Yankee. Fonsi received his first ...

. The song was a worldwide success, topping the charts of 45 countries, including a number 1 spot on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the first for a primarily Spanish-language song since "

Macarena "Macarena" is a dance song by Spanish pop duo Los del Río, about a woman of the same name. The song uses a type of clave rhythm. Originally appearing on the 1993 album '' A mí me gusta'', a subsequent remix by Miami-based producers The Bays ...

" by

Los del Río Los del Río (, "Those from the River"), also known as The Del Rios, are a Spanish Latin pop and dance duo which was formed in 1962 by Antonio Romero Monge (17 February 1948) and Rafael Ruiz Perdigones (10 November 1947). They are best known fo ...

in 1996. The success of the song led Daddy Yankee to become the most listened artist worldwide on the streaming service

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

on July 9, 2017, being the first Latin artist to do so. In March 2017, Daddy Yankee announced a global partnership with Zumba Fitness, in which he would record exclusive tracks for the Zumba Instructor Network. On March 15, 2017, Daddy Yankee was recognized as Artist/Songwriter of the Year by the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

during the 25th Annual ASCAP Latin Music Awards. A day later, he received a Puerto Rican Walk of Fame Star in San Juan, becoming the first urban act to do so.

Composition

" is a dance love song written by Daddy Yankee, Chris Jeday and Luis "Wichi" Ortíz Rivera, inspired by

social networks A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...

but not centred on them, and mixes reggaeton with Latin pop, including an electric guitar riff. "Vaivén" is a

moombahton Moombahton (, ) is an electronic dance music genre, derived from house music and reggaeton, that was created by American DJ and producer Dave Nada in Washington, D.C., in 2009. Nada coined the name as a portmanteau of "Moombah" (a track by Sur ...

song written by Daddy Yankee, Luis "Wichi" Ortíz Rivera and the producer Chris Jeday. "

" is a reggaeton song born as a

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

during early December 2015, and was later recorded by the production duo Los Evo Jedis. According to Daddy Yankee, the main vocals were recorded in one take and the song musically mixes sounds from old and new school reggaeton. The

keyboard bass Keyboard bass (shortened to keybass and sometimes referred as a synth-bass) is the use of a smaller, low-pitched keyboard with fewer notes than a regular keyboard or pedal keyboard to substitute for the deep notes of a bass guitar or double bass ...

line was based on the one from the single "Murder She Wrote" by

Chaka Demus & Pliers Chaka Demus & Pliers are a Jamaican reggae duo made up of deejay Chaka Demus (born John Taylor) and singer Pliers (born Everton Bonner), known for their hits " Tease Me" and "Murder She Wrote". As a duo, they enjoyed more commercial success wi ...

, released in 1992. It also includes a repeating sample of a horse's neigh from

Mel and Tim Mel and Tim were an American soul music duo active from 1969 to 1974. They are best known for the hit songs "Backfield in Motion", " Starting All Over Again" and "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies". Career Melvin McArthur Hardin and Hubert Timoth ...

's "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies" (1970), which became popular after

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

's "

Insane in the Brain "Insane in the Brain" is a 1993 song by American hip hop group Cypress Hill, released as the first single from their second album, '' Black Sunday'' (1993). In addition to hitting number one on the US rap chart, the song also was a mainstream hi ...

" (1993). "Otra Cosa" features Dominican singer

Natti Natasha Natalia Alexandra Gutiérrez Batista (born December 10, 1986), better known by her stage name Natti Natasha, is a Dominican singer. She was signed to Don Omar's label Orfanato Music Group. Her debut EP, ''All About Me'', was released on March ...

and is a fusion between reggaeton, dancehall and moombahton music written by Daddy Yankee, Natti Natasha and Puerto Rican producer Haze. The lyrics are about

lovesickness Lovesickness refers to an affliction that can produce negative feelings when deeply in love, during the absence of a loved one or when Unrequited love, love is unrequited. The term "lovesickness" is rarely used in modern medicine and psychology, ...

. The concept of the song was brought to Daddy Yankee by Haze and Natti Natasha in order to be included on the track listing of ''La Super Fórmula'', a

Pina Records Pina Records is a Puerto Rican record label founded by Rafael Antonio Pina Nieves in 1996. It is the most famous and successful record label in the reggaeton music industry due to its long background history and artists. Currently, Pina Records m ...

studio album by various artists. "La Rompe Corazones" features Puerto Rican singer Ozuna and was written by Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, Chris Jeday and Puerto Rican songwriter Jesús "Benny Benni" Benitez Hiraldo. The song tells the story of a lovesick woman who no longer trusts her relationships, taking revenge on other men through her frustration. " Dura" is a Reggaeton song released on January 18, 2018. "Dura" and its music video, directed by Carlos Pérez, filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and based on 1990s style and visuals. The song was written by Daddy Yankee, Juan Rivera, Luis Romero, and Urbani Mota, and was produced by Los Evo Jedis. A remix version featuring

Becky G Rebbeca Marie Gomez (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Becky G, is an American singer and actress. She first gained recognition in 2011 when she began posting videos of herself covering popular songs online. One of her videos caught t ...

Bad Bunny Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (born March 10, 1994), known professionally as Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His musical style is defined as Latin trap and reggaeton. He rose to prominence in 2016 with his song "Diles", wh ...

and

was released on April 27, 2018.

Production

The first known recording session for ''El Disco Duro'' with producers Chris Jeday and Gaby Music was held in December 2014. The last known session was carried out in May 2017 with the recording of the track "Percocet". The recording was resumed during mid-October 2016 with Daddy Yankee and Dominican singer

recording the single "Otra Cosa" for

' upcoming studio album ''La Super Fórmula''. However, Daddy Yankee managed to include the track on ''El Disco Duro'' during December 2016. On February 21, 2017, Daddy Yankee uploaded an image on his official

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account listening to the album. Studios where the album was recorded includes Daddy Yankee's El Cartel Studios in

Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico Santurce (, from the Basque ''Santurtzi'' which means Saint George) is a barrio or district in the municipality of San Juan. Its population in 2020 was 69,469. It is also the biggest and most populated of all the barrios in the capital city wi ...

, Chris Jeday's Music Capos Studios in Puerto Rico,

Criteria Studios Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and ...

Miami, Florida, USA Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at t ...

, and Master House Studios in Doral, Florida, USA. "Sígueme y Te Sigo" was mixed at El Cartel Studios in February 2015. Sound test for "Vaivén" was held by Chris Jeday at Music Capos Studios during early August 2015. The song was later mixed at Criteria Studios and at El Cartel Studios the same month.

Release

Daddy Yankee confirmed on October 26, 2016 during a meeting with Zumba fitness creator

Beto Perez Beto is a surname, and a nickname for the given names Alberto, Albertino, Adalberto, Berthony, Heriberto, Norberto, Roberto, Humberto, or Benito. It occurs mostly in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries and communities. Notable people with the ...

that ''El Disco Duro'' will be released during early 2017, most likely during January or February. On June 21, 2017, Daddy Yankee stated that he postponed the album's release due to finding more successful the release of singles instead of an entire record. In December 2014, ''Billboard'' magazine added digital and streaming information to count sales: 1,000 digital songs sales and 1,500 song streams separately equal one album sale, which may affect the chart placement of the album. Considered on-demand audio services includes

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...

Beats Music Beats Music was a subscription-based online music streaming service owned by the Beats Electronics division of Apple Inc. The service combined algorithm-based personalization with expert music suggestions from a variety of sources. Development ...

and

Xbox Music Groove Music (formerly Xbox Music or Zune Music Pass) is a discontinued audio player software application included with Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. The app is also associated with a now-discontinued music streaming service, Groov ...

Singles

" was released as the first single on March 12, 2015. It peaked at number 6 on the US

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, rad ...

chart on June 13, 2015 and at number 5 on

Tropical Songs The Tropical Airplay chart (formerly known as Tropical/Salsa and Tropical Songs) is a record chart published by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine introduced in 1994. The first number-one song on the chart was "Quién Eres Tú (Luis Enri ...

on April 18, 2015. Internationally, the song peaked at number 12 in Spain, at number 32 in Venezuela, and at number 198 in France. It was certified 2× platinum by the PROMUSICAE, platinum by the IFPI Chile, and gold by the

FIMI The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...

. "Vaivén" was released as the second single on September 17, 2015. Although the song does not have an official music video, it managed to peak at number 7 on the US Hot Latin Songs chart and at number 3 on Tropical Songs, both on January 23, 2016. Internationally, the single reached number 19 in Spain and number 34 in Venezuela. It received a platinum certification by the PROMUSICAE and the IFPI Chile. "

" was released as the third single on April 8, 2016, although it was originally planned as a gift from Yankee to his fans for 2015 Christmas. The song reached the number 1 spot on the US Hot Latin Songs and

charts on November 5 and August 20, 2016, respectively. It became his fourth No. 1 song on the Hot Latin Songs chart and his first one since February 2013. It also peaked at number 88 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, becoming Daddy Yankee's first entry on the Hot 100 since the debut of "

Impacto "Impacto" ( en, "Impact") is the first single by Puerto Rican reggaeton performer Daddy Yankee from his fifth studio album '' El Cartel: The Big Boss''. It was released on April 12, 2007 by El Cartel Records. "Impacto" was nominated for Song of ...

" on May 26, 2007. Internationally, the song peaked at number 1 in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, at number 4 in Colombia, at number 11 in Guatemala, at number 14 in Uruguay, at number 25 in Spain, and at number 42 in Venezuela. It was certified 2× platinum by the PROMUSICAE and the

CAPIF The Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers ( es, Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas, CAPIF) is an Argentine organization member of the IFPI, which represents the music industry in the country. It is a n ...

, platinum by the IFPI Chile, and gold by the FIMI.

Other releases

"Sábado Rebelde" was released as a promotional song on October 31, 2014. It features reggaeton duo

and was written by Daddy Yankee, Plan B, and the producer Haze. It peaked at number 49 on the US Hot Latin Songs chart on February 28, 2015. "Alerta Roja" was released as a promotional song on Daddy Yankee's birthday on February 3, 2016 as a gift to his fans. The song's concept was to include some of the most popular Latin urban artists. Singers

Osmani García Osmani "La Voz" García González Kats (born May 22, 1981 in Guanabacoa) is a Cuban reggaeton ( cubatón) rapper and singer. Biography García participated in the National Festival of Cuba and at 19, he received several awards in various categ ...

and J Álvarez (Cuban and Puerto Rican, respectively) were originally guest artists but their verses were not included in the song. J Álvarez stated not knowing about being out of it and manifested his anger with Daddy Yankee through his social networks. Two weeks later, Álvarez said that he was not aware of the song's concept and also that his anger was caused by a misunderstanding. "Otra Cosa" was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

on December 9, 2016 and features

. The song was released as the first single of

' upcoming studio album, ''La Súper Fórmula'', but Daddy Yankee managed to also include it on ''El Disco Duro''. The single peaked at number 21 on the US Hot Latin Songs chart on February 18, 2017 and at number 17 on Tropical Songs on January 14, 2017. The song also peaked at number 50 in Venezuela. "La Rompe Corazones" was released as a promotional single on January 6, 2017 as a gift from Daddy Yankee to his fans because of Three Kings' Day. The song peaked at number 12 on the US Hot Latin Songs chart on July 22, 2017. Internationally, the single peaked at number 2 in Peru, at number 8 in Spain and Mexico, and at number 11 in Paraguay. It was certified 2× platinum by the PROMUSICAE and gold by the CAPIF. "Hula Hoop" was released as a promotional single on March 3, 2017, originally recorded exclusively for Zumba fitness. The song was based on the "hula hoop" hook from the remix of "Shaky Shaky" by Daddy Yankee, Nicky Jam and Plan B. It peaked at number 30 on the US Hot Latin Songs chart on March 25, 2017. Internationally, it reached number 9 in Chile, number 18 in Venezuela, number 20 in Colombia, and number 75 in Spain.

Accolades

"Sígueme y Te Sigo" received a Latin American Music Award for Favorite Urban Song at the 1st Latin American Music Awards. It was nominated for

Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...

for Best Urban Song and Best Urban Performance at the 16th Latin Grammy Awards. "Vaivén" was nominated for an International Dance Music Award for Best Latin Dance Track at the 31st International Dance Music Awards and for a

Lo Nuestro Award for Urban Song of the Year The Lo Nuestro Award for Urban Song of the Year is an honor presented annually by American television network Univision at the Lo Nuestro Awards. The accolade was established to recognize the most talented performers of Latin music. The nominees ...

at the 29th Lo Nuestro Awards. "Shaky Shaky" received a

Premio Juventud Premios Juventud (Youth Awards) is an awards show for Spanish-speaking celebrities in the areas of film, music, sports, fashion, and pop culture, presented by the television network Univision. Winners are determined by online vote at univision.com ...

for Best Song for Dancing at the 14th Premios Juventud. It was nominated for ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards for Hot Latin Song of the Year and Streaming Song of the Year at the 24th ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards. It also received a Top Latin Song nomination at the 24th ''Billboard'' Music Awards.

Track listing

The following table is in order of release and is not the official track listing. Some songs may not appear on the final album.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Disco Duro Daddy Yankee albums Spanish-language albums Sequel albums Unreleased albums