''En Mi Imperio'' (English: ''In My Empire'') is the debut album by Puerto Rican

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, ...

singer-songwriter

Ivy Queen Martha Ivelisse Pesante Rodríguez (born March 4, 1972), known professionally as Ivy Queen, is a Puerto Rican singer, rapper, songwriter, and actress. She is considered one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre, commonly referred to as the Qu ...

released on House of Music Records and distributed by Sony International Records on September 2, 1997. The album gained her the 1997 "People's Favorite Rap Singer" and "Artista '97" awards by ''Artista Magazine''. As of February 2004, the album has sold over 80,000 copies in the United States and over 100,000 copies in Puerto Rico It, however, has not been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album was released digitally for the first time on April 6, 2016.

Background

When she was eighteen, Queen moved from

Añasco, Puerto Rico Añasco (, ), named after one of its settlers, Don Luis de Añasco, is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located on the west coast of the island bordering the Mona Passage to the west, north of Mayagüez, and Las Marias; south of Rincón, ...

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

, where she met rapper and producer DJ Negro. In 1995, she joined an all-male Puerto Rican group called The Noise, at the invitation of DJ Negro. The group became part of the emerging reggaeton scene. DJ Negro began producing a series of CDs centered on The Noise. Queen made her first appearance on the fifth installment of the CD series on a track called "Somos Raperos Pero No Delincuentes". She became tired of the violent and sexual themes often used in reggaeton, and wished to write about a wider variety of subjects. DJ Negro convinced Queen to go solo, and in 1996 she began recording material for her debut studio album.

Recording and production

Recording sessions for the album began in early 1996. The album was recorded at The Noise Studios and Centro De Bella Artes (Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center), both in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Production for ''En Mi Imperio'' was handled by

Sergio George Sergio George (born May 23, 1961) is an American pianist, arranger, and record producer, known for working with many famous performers of salsa music, although he has worked in other genres of the music industry as well. He has worked with some ...

and

DJ Nelson Nelson Díaz Martinez (born on April 7, 1972 in San Juan, Puerto Rico), known professionally as DJ Nelson is a Puerto Rican DJ and record producer who played a significant role in the development and popularization of reggaeton. He first made a na ...

, the latter who also mixed, edited, and mastered the album. DJ Negro served as the executive producer for the album. Limite 21 performed orchestra for the album. It features collaborations with

Gran Omar Omar Jose Navarro, known professionally as Gran Omar, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, and record producer. He has received production and writing on credits on various albums between 1996 and 2006 by Ivy Queen his former wife. These albums inc ...

on "Mi Vida Eres Tú", "Qué Locura", "Representan", Camaleón on "Novatos" and Notty Boy, Memo and Vale, also on "Representan". The remaining six tracks and interlude track are performed by Queen and all of the tracks were composed by her. The album's artwork was done by LionGrafik. On the album's title, ''En Mi Imperio'', (''In My Empire''), Queen makes a claim to cultural citizenship in the male dominated genre of reggaeton, according to Puerto Rican scholar Lorna Salaman. A music video for "Pongan Atencion" was filmed in

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

and was directed by Ozzie Forbes in 1997. It departs from Queen's usual appearances in music videos filmed within the island of Puerto Rico.Ayala, Hector. "Habla la reina del rap". (March 4, 1998). ''Dialogo''. Retrieved June 28, 2014

Musical composition

" Como Mujer", ("''As a Woman''"), the album's lead single, was composed in minor key tonality and takes influences from Afro-Latin sources. Musically, the song features synthetic instrumentation and Puerto Rican roots while lyrically, the song features social or political themes. On " Pongan Atención", Queen lyrically demands that she be heard on a local and national level. She sings, "Pongan atencion, pais, nacion, asociacion, que ya llego la queen", ("Pay attention, country, nation, association, the queen has arrived").

Reception

An editor for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

awarded the album three out of five stars. The album gained her the 1997 "People's Favorite Rap Singer" and "Artista '97" awards by ''Artista Magazine''. As of February 2004, the album has sold over 80,000 copies in the United States, and over 100,000 copies in Puerto Rico. It, however, has not been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album's two singles, "Como Mujer" and "Pongan Atencion" were certified Gold and Platinum due to excellent sales, according to the ''

Lakeland Ledger ''The Ledger'' is a daily newspaper serving Lakeland, Florida, and the Polk County area. The paper was founded on August 22, 1924, as the ''Lakeland Evening Ledger''. In 1927, it bought its main competitor, the morning ''Lakeland Star-Telegram ...

''. In 2004, Queen revealed that she did not receive any profits from the album's sales due to her inexperience in the music business.''The Best of Ivy Queen'' (DVD).

. Miami, Florida: ''Perfect Image Records'', a division of

Universal Music Latino Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in producing and distributing Latin music in Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico. UMLE includes famous Latin music labels such as Un ...

. 2005.

Track listing

All songs produced by

, except where noted.

Credits

Credits are taken from ''En Mi Imperio''

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

.''En Mi Imperio'' (booklet).

. Miami, Florida: ''House of Music'', a division of

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

. 1997. *Notty Boy – featured artist *Camaleón – featured artist *DJ Edwin – mixing, mastering, editing *Sergio George – music production *Limite 21 – orchestra *LionGrafik – artwork *Omar Navarro – composer *DJ Negro – executive production *DJ Nelson – music production, mixing, mastering, editing *Memo – featured artist *Gran Omar – featured artist *Martha Pesante – composer, lyrics *Ivy Queen – primary artist, vocals *Vale – featured artist

References

{{Authority control Ivy Queen albums 1997 debut albums 2016 albums Spanish-language albums Albums produced by Sergio George