''Meet the Orphans'' is the fourth studio album by reggaeton artist,

Don Omar William Omar Landrón Rivera (born February 10, 1979), known professionally as Don Omar, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is also known as the " King of Reggaeton" by music critics and fans alike. The ...

, released on November 16, 2010.Don Omar Presents: Meet The Orphans – Don Omar

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

Retrieved 2010-09-24. The album features the artists under the " Orfanato Music Group" label and other

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

artists.The King Is Back! Don Omar "Danza Kuduro" Is #1

Universal Music Latin Entertainment 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 Uni ...

Retrieved 2010-08-23. The album includes the promotional single " Hasta Abajo" and the album's lead single "

Danza Kuduro "Danza Kuduro" (; ) is a Spanish/ Portuguese song by Puerto Rican recording artist Don Omar and Portuguese–French singer Lucenzo, from Don Omar's collaborative album '' Meet the Orphans''. The song is an adaptation of Lucenzo's " Vem Dançar Ku ...

" featuring French-born

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

singer

Lucenzo Luís Filipe Fraga Oliveira (; born 27 May 1983), better known by his stage name Lucenzo (), is a Portuguese-French reggaeton singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer. His parents emigrated to France from Portugal. Lucenzo, when began his s ...

, as well as collaborations from Don Omar's Orfanato Music Group. artists including Kendo Kaponi, Danny Fornaris, Syko, Plan B,

Zion & Lennox Zion & Lennox was a Puerto Rican music duo from Carolina, Puerto Rico. In 2004, Zion & Lennox released their first studio album titled '' Motivando a la Yal'' under White Lion Records. After their first album, Zion & Lennox decided to start thei ...

, and

Yaga & Mackie Yaga & Mackie are a reggaeton duo from Puerto Rico. The duo has appeared on several notable productions and compilations such as Mas Flow, Kilates Rompiendo El Silencio, and ElCangri.com. They are signed to Los Mackieavelikos Inc. In 2007 Yaga ...

. It was nominated for a

Lo Nuestro Award for Urban Album of the Year The Lo Nuestro Award for Urban Album 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 in Latin music. Originally, no ...

. The album and singles won 8 Awards for

Billboard Latin Music Awards The ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards grew out of the ''Billboard'' Music Awards program from ''Billboard'' magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The ''Billboard'' awards are the La ...

and finalists for 16 nominations in 14 categories. and was nominated for

Latin Grammy Awards The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music, Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish language, S ...

in 2011.

Background

The album was initially planned as the re-release album from '' iDon'', titled first ''iDon 2.0'', and later ''Prototype 2.0''. In September 2009, Reggaeton singer

Daddy Yankee Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (; born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee (), is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor who rose to worldwide prominence in 2004 with the song "Gasolina". Dubbed the "Honorific ...

confirmed work on Omar's new album, following by the remix version of " Hasta Abajo". However, none of the collaborations with Yankee including the remix, were included on the album. It was set to be released in fall 2009 but was cancelled. Following the cancellation of the re-release album from ''iDon'', it was announced that Don Omar would turn his attention to recording a new full length collaboration album from scratch which would feature other reggaeton artists.

Release

The album was set to be released on August 24, 2010 through Orfanato Music Group.Continuamos grabando MEET THE ORPHANS EPK @ NY, NUESTRA NUEVA FECHA DE SALIDA SERIA EL 24 DE AGOSTO, somos LOS DUROS
'' Orfanato Music Group

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

'' Retrieved July-06-10 back later was on October 19, 2010, the album was to be released finally on November 2, 2010 but the release date was newly changed to November 16, 2010. The album was released on two editions, a Standard edition with 14 tracks and a Deluxe edition that includes 19 tracks and the music video of "

", both editions were released the same day. On the iTunes Store both editions include the bonus track "Carta al Cielo" and a Digital booklet.

Reception

Critical response

David Jeffries from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5. Here is an extract of his review: "a mix of new and old music – a must for Don Omar fans and worth considering if you're curious, but unfamiliar, with what's happening in the reggaeton genre 2010." Allison Stewart from

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

said that "Omar is on safer ground on ''Don Omar Presents: Meet the Orphans'', a collection of tracks spotlighting the artists and producers of his El Orfanato record label. It's a curiously old-fashioned concept, like an old-school mix tape or a lower-wattage version of P. Diddy's epochal '01 Bad Boy showcase, ''

The Saga Continues The Saga Continues may refer to: * ''The Saga Continues...'' (Roger Troutman album), 1984 * '' The Saga Continues...'', 2001 by P. Diddy and The Bad Boy Family * ''The Saga Continues'' (Wu-Tang Clan album), 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Saga Continues ...

''. Though ''Meet the Orphans'' is studded with tales of social uplift (like the sluggish, serious "Angeles Y Demonios"), it's most agreeable when it sticks to fare like last summer's inescapable "

", a warp-speed, tropical/meringue/pop redo of French Portuguese singer

's hit "

Vem dançar kuduro "Vem Dançar Kuduro" (, ) is a multilingual Portuguese/English/Spanish dance hit single by Lucenzo, a France-based artist of Portuguese origin featuring France-based American artist Big Ali. Lucenzo sings in Portuguese and Big Ali in English and ...

" (with Lucenzo included).

Chart performance and sales

In United States, ''Meet the Orphans'' debuted at #101 with sales of 7,420, on the ''Billboard'' 200. It was the 10th best selling latin album in the USA of the mid 2011 with 40,000 copies sold. The album sold 2 million of singles as of 2011 and 1.5 million of mobile downloads. The album also debuted at #2 on Billboard's

Top Latin Albums Top Latin Albums (formerly Latin 50) is a record chart published by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the United States, American music market. ...

charts, and became his seventh top ten album and his sixth highest album debut on the top ten, it also debuted at #1 on Billboard's

Latin Rhythm Albums Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of ...

charts. and at #8 on Billboard's

Top Rap Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

charts. According to

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 Uni ...

, the album certified platinum after its first 48 hours sales in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. On the

Mexican Albums Chart Top 100 México was a record chart which accounted for sixty percent of the albums sold in Mexico. The chart had the support of major record distributors in Mexico and was issued by the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videograma ...

the album debuted at #81. The following week the album jumped at #69 and peaked at #47.

Promotion

Prior to the release of the album, four promotional singles were released exclusively on

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

's iTunes Store as a "Countdown to ''Meet the Orphans''". The album Meet The Orphans was top with songs

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

. * "Hooka" was released as the first promotional single and it was released on

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on September 21, 2010. It features Plan B.Hooka – Single by Don Omar (feat. Plan B)
'' iTunes.com'' Retrieved 2010-09-24 was top 10 Latin Digital Song Sales for

in 2010. and was top 10 Best Collaborations for

in 2021. * "Good Looking" was released as the second promotional single and it was released on

on September 28, 2010. was top 32 Latin Digital Song Sales for

in 2010. * "El Duro" was released as the third promotional single and it was released on

on October 12, 2010. It features Kendo Kapponi.El Duro – Single by Don Omar (feat. Kendo Kapponi)
'' iTunes.com'' Retrieved 2010-10-14 was top 28 Latin Digital Song Sales for

in 2010. * "Ángeles y Demonios" was released as the fourth promotional single and it was released on

on October 19, 2010. It features Kendo Kapponi and Syko.

Singles

* "

" was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

on August 15, 2010, it features

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

singer

, who is of

origin.Danza Kuduro – Single by Don Omar & Lucenzo
'' iTunes.com'' Retrieved 2010-08-18 The song topped on the ''Billboard''

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, ...

, becoming his second number-one single on the chart. A

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

directed by long-time Don Omar collaborator Carlos Pérez was released on July 30, 2010 through Omar's

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

account.Conoce la "Danza Kuduro" de Don Omar
esmas.com Retrieved 2010-08-18 * "Huérfano De Amor" was released as the second single early 2011, the song features Syko. The music video was premiered on January 4, 2011. It was directed by Alejandro Santiago Ciena. * "

Taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

" was released as the album's third single on April 11, 2011. The video for this single was shot in

St. Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean region of North America. With a population of 58,477 as of June 2023 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of ...

and was directed by Marlon Pena. Additionally, it incorporates a sample from

Kaoma Kaoma was a French-Brazilian band formed around 1989 by French producers Jean Georgakarakos and Olivier Lorsac to promote the song "Lambada (song), Lambada". Loalwa Braz was hired to sing lead vocals, other musicians were Chyco Dru (bass), Jacky ...

's 1989 single "

Lambada Lambada () is a dance from the state of Pará in Brazil. The dance briefly became internationally popular in the 1980s, especially in the Philippines, Latin America and Caribbean, Caribbean countries. It has adopted aspects of dances such as Maxi ...

" fused with

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

beats. * "Estoy Enamorado" included on the ''Deluxe Edition'' from the album, performed only by Danny Fornaris, was released to radio as the fourth single in conjunction to "Huérfano De Amor". The video for the song was released on March 10, 2011. Other releases * " Hasta Abajo" was released as the album's promo single on October 27, 2009.Hasta Abajo single by Don Omar
iTunes.apple.com The song was charted at number nine on the ''Billboard''

, becoming his seventh top ten single on the chart. The music video for the song, also directed by Carlos Pérez, was premiered on November 14, 2010. * "Ella Ella" was released on November 16, 2010, with collaboration

Zion y Lennox Zion & Lennox was a Puerto Rican music duo from Carolina, Puerto Rico. In 2004, Zion & Lennox released their first studio album titled ''Motivando a la Yal'' under White Lion Records. After their first album, Zion & Lennox decided to start their ...

production by Robin, was top 45 Latin Digital Song Sales for

Track listing

Notes * On the iTunes Store both editions include a Digital booklet as bonus content. * In some Deluxe editions, the track list may include in different order, the same tracks.

Personnel

Taken and adapted from

.com. Meet The Orphans – Don Omar > Credits

. Retrieved 2010-11-19 * William Omar Landrón (Don Omar) – composer, executive producer, producer * Juan A. Abreu – composer * Faouze Barkati – composer * Everton Bonner – composer * Lincoln Noel Castañeda – composer * Sly Dunbar – composer * Natalia Gutiérrez – composer * Gonzalo Hermosa – composer * Ulises Hermosa – composer * De Oliveira Philippe Louis (Lucenzo) – composer, producer * Robin Méndez – composer * Joel Baez Nieves – composer * Féliz Ortiz – composer * Raphy Pina – composer * Gabriel Pizarro – composer * Christian Ramos – composer * Milton J. Restituyo – composer * José F. Rivera – composer (Kendo Kapponi) * Armando Rosario – composer * Philip Smart – composer * John Taylor – composer * Fabrice Toigo – composer * Lloyd "Gitsy" Willis – composer * Daniel Fornaris – composer, producer * Danny Fornaris – composer, producer * Eliel Lind – composer, producer * Tom Coyne – mastering * A&X – producer * Jonathan De La Cruz (Lil Wizard)– Producer & Composer * Marcos G – producer * Reggie Delgadillo – producer * Vincent Eget – director * Danny Hastings – director, photography

Charts

Year end charts

Sequel

Don Omar Presents MTO²: New Generation A sequel of ''Meet the Orphans'', called ''MTO 2: New Generation'' is in works. The release date has not been announced yet but the previews of two songs were released through

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on April 17. One is called ''Tus Movimientos'' featuring ''Natti Natasha'', and the other one is called ''Zumba''. In the official website of ''Orphanato Music Group'' it is said that ''"the album will contain 14 songs that will make history in music"''.

References

External links

Don Omar
– official music website at

Orphandon.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Don Omar Presents: Meet The Orphans 2010 albums Don Omar albums 2010s Spanish-language albums Machete Music albums Orfanato Music Group compilation albums Albums produced by Luny Tunes