Mangu - Mangu (CD)

All Music Guide

Mangu's long-delayed eponymous debut album may not have been worth a four-year wait, yet it's still an impressive record. Mixing hip-hop, salsa, Miami bass, reggae, jazz, Latin pop and Caribbean music, he has an infectious multicultural style, rapping in both English and Spanish. He also has the good sense to draft a number of cameos, including guest appearances from Beenie Man, Betty Wright, Johnny Pacheco, Carlton Coffie and Mother Superia, which helps give the album a richer sense of tradition. Mangu's primary talent is for working a good groove, and if few songs have the lyrical or melodic weight of "La Playa" or his cover of the Latin standard "Calle Luna, Calle Sol," the album breezes by on sunny, danceable rhythms that are quite ingratiating.

- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide