Francisco and Sergio Gómez, the two brothers who comprise Akwid, take a huge leap forward with their debut album for Univision, Proyecto Akwid. The album follows a couple independent efforts that charted the blueprint for the duo’s urban regional sound (i.e., the synthesis of Mexican regional, particularly banda, with hip-hop), and while those albums were fine, albeit rudimentary, Proyecto Akwid is full-fledged, boasting vibrant productions, liquid-smooth raps, and catchy songwriting. And too, it boasts a killer hit single, “No Hay Maner,” which notably samples the well-known hook from Juan Gabriel’s “Te Lo Pido por Favor.” As such, Proyecto Akwid is somewhat groundbreaking. Sure, there’s nothing especially revolutionary about the urban regional sound trademarked here by Akwid, but it hadn’t really been done this well to date, which makes these brothers the first of their kind to break this style into the Latin music mainstream. – Jason Birchmeier
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