''El Negreeto'' is the fourth studio album by Senegalese-American singer-songwriter

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

, released on October 4, 2019, by his record label Akonik Label Group, under exclusive license to

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...

. It is his first studio album in 11 years since ''

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

'' (2008). The album serves as his first Spanish-language album and features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from

Farruko Carlos Efrén Reyes Rosado (born May 2, 1991), known professionally as Farruko, is a Puerto Rican singer. He rose to fame collaborating with Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Don Omar, and J Álvarez. He came to prominence in 2010 with his first solo alb ...

Becky G Rebbeca Marie Gomez (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Becky G, is an American singer and actress. Born and raised in Inglewood, California, she first gained recognition in 2011 for her cover version, cover versions of popular song ...

, Anitta, and Pitbull, while the production was led by Akon himself, alongside a variety of producers such as Camilo Echeverry, Jimmy Joker, IAmChino,

Mau y Ricky Mau & Ricky is a Venezuelans, Venezuelan Latin pop and reggaeton Musical ensemble, duo formed by singer-songwriter brothers Mauricio Alberto "Mau" Reglero Rodríguez (born August 17, 1993) and Ricardo Andrés "Ricky" Reglero Rodríguez (born N ...

, Jon Leone and Maffio. Upon release, ''El Negreeto'' entered the US ''Billboard'' Latin Album Sales chart, becoming Akon's first album to not reach the ''Billboard'' 200. The album is one of the three part series of albums by Akon; its follow-up, ''Akonda'' was released on October 25, and his sixth album, '' Konnect'' followed thereafter in December.

Background

Akon announced in 2019 that he had founded an independent record label Akonik Label Group, comprising four separate sublabels: Akonda (

Afrobeats Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...

), Akonik (

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

), Ke Lo Ke (

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

), and Jamakon (

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

) and that he was to release four albums later in the year. He announced plans of releasing a Latin album ''El Negreeto'', an

album '' Akonda'', and a

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and R&B album ''Konnect''. He also announced his intention to finish this off by releasing a collaborative album ''The Konnection'', which will include guest artists such as

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

, Pitbull and

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Griffin gai ...

, among others. However ''Konnect'' was never released, and ''The Konnection'' ended up being scrapped. ''El Negreeto'' was scheduled for release on August 31, 2019, but was delayed to October 4, 2019. The album's track listing was revealed by ''Billboard'' on October 2, 2019.

Singles

The album's first and only promotional single, "Get Money", featuring guest vocals from Puerto Rican rapper

Anuel AA Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago (born November 26, 1992), known professionally as Anuel AA, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. Often called "The God of Latin trap" by himself and major Latin artists. His music often contains samples and interpola ...

, was released on May 24, 2019. An accompanying music video was released on that same date, and has garnered 11.5 million views as of May 2020. The album's lead single, "

Cómo No "Cómo No" () is a song by Senegalese American singer Akon, featuring Mexican-American singer Becky G. It was released by Akonik Label Group on September 6, 2019. It is the lead single from Akon's fourth studio album and Latin debut album '' El ...

", featuring guest vocals from Mexican-American singer

, was released on September 6, 2019, with an accompanying music video being broadcast in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

. The music video has since garnered over 45 million views as of May 2020. They performed the song live for the first time at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards. The album's second single, "Te Quiero Amar" featuring Cuban-American rapper Pitbull, was released on April 2, 2020. An accompanying music video was released that same date, and has garnered over 10.5 million views as of May 2020. A radio version of the single with different vocals from Akon was sent to radios on that same date as well. The album's third single, "Sólo Tú" featuring Puerto Rican singer

, was released on June 17, 2020, with an accompanying music video with over 8.8 million views as of August 2020. The music video switches Akon's and Farruko's verses from the original audio.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Negreeto, El 2019 albums Akon albums 2010s Spanish-language albums Latin music albums by American artists BMG Rights Management albums