OMERTA

Two hitmaking Colombian stars link for a memorably eclectic joint LP. J Balvin knows his way around a joint album. Long proven one of Latin music’s most reliable and renowned collaborators, the Colombian superstar essentially set the bar for the modern team-up project when he dropped 2019’s OASIS alongside Bad Bunny. Some five years later, he taps hitmaker Ryan Castro to partner up for OMERTA. Following the pair’s notable one-off collaborations like “Nivel De Perreo” and “Origami,” the 10-track outing finds them to be an exceptionally balanced duo on fresh cuts like “Viernes” and the dancehall-infused “Una A La Vez.” While the anticipated reggaetón joints are present, with “Dalmation” a particularly potent example, they’re unencumbered by expectations as they cycle through the hip-hop experiments “Melo” and “GWA” (the latter featuring Eladio Carrión) as well as the tropical club constructions “Bengalí” and “Tonto.” Regardless of the instrumentals behind them, the pair share a naturally flowing dynamic on every track, their interplay on “Medetown” and the title track undeniably fluid.