The Puerto Rican rapper’s new 23-song album has everything from bachata to New Jack Swing
Myke Towers has positioned himself as one of the top Latin rappers and reggaetoneros. With his fourth album, LVEU: Vive La Tuya…No La Mía, the Puerto Rican artist proves that he’s an all-around Latin pop star. Towers finds a happy medium between the rap and perreo of his previous albums while pushing his music into exciting, unexpected territory. On top of that, he pulls it all off alone without assists from feature acts.
With his 2021 LP Lyke Mike, Towers established himself as a Latin rap phenom. His follow-up, La Vida Es Una, saw him go explore an array of genres, while also making a welcome return to reggaeton. The album also featured his hit “Lala,” which topped Spotify’s Top 50 Global chart earlier this year. Now Towers bridges the two worlds he has dominated as a rapper and singer in LVEU: Vive La Tuya…No La Mía.
The sprawling LP boasts a whopping 23 songs, including the aforementioned “Lala.” Towers does Puerto Rico proud with his arsenal of reggaeton bangers. The most alluring of these is “La Falda,” where he serenades women perreando, or twerking, in their mini skirts. Towers later flexes his wealth and influence in the explosive “Cartera & Tacos.” He also takes reggaeton to new places with elements of Afrobeats in the playful “Otro Round” and the Jersey club influences of the ethereal “Five Guys.”
Towers further unleashes his versatile flow in knockout rap tracks. Backed by R&B-infused trap beats, he shoots his shot with model and feminist activist Emily Ratajkowski in the funky “Emrata.” Towers seamlessly blends trap with electronica and Jersey club in the dazzling “Disco Subterránea.” While spitting rhymes about getting freaky in a car, he puts a chic twist on trap in “En El Carro.” “If the lobby is full, I’ll do it in the parking lot,” he sings in Spanish. The song is a perfect mix of the swagger of Towers’ mixtape days and the smooth operator that he is today.
Then there are the moments where Towers goes in totally new directions. He takes on New Jack Swing, bringing to mind Bell Biv DeVoe’s classic “Poison” with the sleek “Esa Nena.” Towers embraces more music of the Caribbean with bachata and merengue in the dreamy “La Capi” and through the fiery “La Ronda,” which was produced by salsa music maestro Sergio George. LVEU: Vive La Tuya…No La Mía would’ve benefited from trimming down its 23 tracks to only ones where Towers shines the most but it’s still a great album. The title roughly translates in English to “Live Your Life…Not Mine,” and it’s proof that he’s living in the best moment of his career without any limits.