Not all commercial pop-rap is created equal. Some of it is respectable --
Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" and Ton Loc's "Wild Thing" immediately come to mind -- and some of it is very lightweight (
Vanilla Ice, Icy Blu). In the early '90s, hip-hop's hardcore dismissed
Gerardo as the Latino equivalent of
Vanilla Ice -- and the Ecuadorian-born rapper did record his share of teen-oriented drivel. But this self-titled CD (which was originally called
Fame, Sex y Dinero) is surprisingly good. While
Gerardo is far from hardcore rap, it isn't vacuous teen pop either. A definite improvement over his early-'90s albums, this bilingual CD finds
Gerardo (who turned 36 in 2001) providing a fairly interesting and edgy blend of rap, dance-pop, and Latin music. Of course, the term Latin music can mean different things to different people -- Latin music is everything from the nuevo flamenco that is incredibly popular in Spain to Argentinean tango to the ranchero, mariachi, and Tejano that Mexicans enjoy. On this CD, he blends rap and dance-pop with tropical grooves -- he is salsa-minded on "Latin Playas Anthem" and "Tu Galan," but employs a Dominican merengue beat on "My House (Mi Casa)," "Las Manos Arriba," and the infectious single "Sigo Siendo Rico." "Infectious," in fact, is a word that describes most of the tunes on this club-friendly, dance-oriented CD, which won't win over hip-hop's hardcore but is certainly superior to early-'90s releases like
Mo' Ritmo and
Dos.
Gerardo is not only a fun party album, it is arguably the pop-rapper's best and most substantial release. ~ Alex Henderson