Ricky Martin is the first English album and fifth studio album by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin. Columbia Records released it on May 11, 1999. Following the release of four Spanish-language albums, and the huge success of his fourth studio album, Vuelve (1998), Martin announced the recording of his first English-language album. He worked with producers KC Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child to create the album. Musically, Ricky Martin consists of dance-pop tracks, power ballads, mid-tempo pop songs, and rock numbers. After the album's release, Martin embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour, which was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist.
The album was supported by four singles. The lead single "Livin' la Vida Loca" topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit and one of the best-selling singles of all time. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Follow-up singles "She's All I Ever Had", "Shake Your Bon-Bon", and "Private Emotion" became number one and top 10 hits around the world. Ricky Martin received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented its various genres and styles. Paste ranked the album as one of the "10 Best Solo Albums by Former Boy Band Members" in 2020. It was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards.
The album was a commercial success. It debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, becoming the largest sales week by any album in 1999 and breaking the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history. Additionally, it made Martin the first male Latin act in history to debut at number one on Billboard 200. Ricky Martin also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and Spain, among others. The album has received several certifications, including 7× platinum in the United States, and diamond in Canada. Only within three months, it became the best-selling album ever by a Latin artist. It is generally seen as the album that began the "Latin explosion" and paved the way for a large number of other Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias.
Background and recording
thumb|right|upright=1|[[Diane Warren (pictured) wrote two songs for the album. The album experienced both critical and commercial success, spending 26 weeks atop the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. "La Copa de la Vida" was released as the second single from the album, and became the official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. It topped the charts in more than 30 countries, and Martin performed it at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics. On October 22, 1998, CNN confirmed that Martin had started working on his first English language album, following the huge success of Vuelve. On March 6, 1999, almost two weeks after his Grammy performance, it was announced that the album had been set for release in May. While the album was still untitled at the time, American musician Diane Warren revealed that she contributed two songs to the album, which was produced by KC Porter, Robi Rosa, and Desmond Child. During an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Martin told the newspaper that this album has Asian influences:
On April 24, 1999, Billboard revealed the album's title as eponymous in an article, mentioning that it was initially set for retail on May 25, 1999. However, the huge interest in the disc encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11. Tom Corson, the senior vice president of marketing at Columbia explained: "Quite simply, the market has demanded it. People have been wanting this record for a while, and it's now reached the point where we have to get it out there immediately." Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: "He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance." In an interview with MTV, Martin told the channel about the album's title: "I cannot wear a mask to go on stage. Those are my influences. This is Ricky Martin. That's why the album is called Ricky Martin. As simple is that. We want to keep it simple. Like Einstein said, 'Let's make it simple, but not simpler than what it is.' And this is me."
Music and lyrics
Ricky Martin is a primarily English language album composed of 14 songs, consisting dance-pop tracks, power ballads, mid-tempo pop songs, and "straight-ahead" rock numbers. "Livin' la Vida Loca" () is a rock-etched up-tempo pop song that features Latin percussion rhythms and horn riffs mixed with surf rock-inspired guitar riffs. It has salsa-rock fusion influences, and is about an irresistible, particularly sinister wild woman who lives on the edge, seducing others into her crazy world. The album also contains a Spanish-language version of "Livin' la Vida Loca", which was recorded under the same title. "Shake Your Bon-Bon" is a salsa party track and features a mix of pop, R&B, Middle Eastern riffs, and Latin horns, as well as a fusion of Latin percussion with retro organ. A Spanglish guitar-based down-tempo duet along with Madonna, "Be Careful (Cuidado con mi corazón)" mixes acoustic and electronic elements.
"I Am Made of You" is a "metal-type" ballad and uses electric guitar and drums that create a theme of "nostalgia and rock", while "Love You for a Day" is a "high-energy" Latin funk track featuring Latin elements, such as lengthy descargas, piano tumbaos, Latin percussion, and horns. "You Stay With Me" is a slow ballad with "heart-wrenching" lyrics, and "I Count the Minutes" is a homage to the 1980s. which were released as singles for Martin's previous albums. This version of "María" is remixed by Puerto Rican DJ Pablo Flores, who upped the tempo and the sex appeal of the song, turning the slow-burn flamenco laced track into an up-tempo samba tune in a house bassline. "La Copa de la Vida" is a samba-rooted Latin pop song, and features elements of batucada, salsa, dance, mambo, and Europop. Throughout the song, Martin carries a "soccer-heavy" message with fully positive lyrics.
Singles
Columbia Records released "Livin' la Vida Loca" to radio stations on March 23, 1999, as the lead single from the album. The song topped the charts in more than 20 countries and is considered to be Martin's biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. The track was ranked as the best '90s pop song by Elle, and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard. It was nominated for four categories at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Its Spanish version reached the summit of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in the United States, and was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards.
"She's All I Ever Had" was released as the second single from the album on June 15, 1999. It peaked at numbers two and three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles charts, respectively. The Spanish version, "Bella" topped the charts in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Panama, It also peaked at number two in Honduras, Finland, and New Zealand, as well as the top 15 in Spain, Scotland, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it peaked at number 22 on the Hot 100. It reached number one in the Czech Republic, and was a top 10 hit in Finland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Marketing
Release
Ricky Martin was released worldwide by Columbia Records on May 11, 1999. The European edition of Ricky Martin includes the Spanish version of "Spanish Eyes", titled "La Diosa Del Carnaval" (), as well as a new track "I'm On My Way", while the Spanglish radio edit versions of "La Copa de la Vida" and "María" are not featured. This track list has been also used for the African, Asian, and Latin American editions. The Chinese edition contains both "La Copa de la Vida" and "María" in addition to the standard Asian track list. The Spanish release uses the same track list as the European, but "Por Arriba, Por Abajo" () from Martin's previous album, Vuelve, has been added as a hidden track as well. According to The Wall Street Journal, Martin succeeded Leonardo DiCaprio as "the reigning king of heartthrobs" to become the most popular male celebrity on the American shopping website eBay in 1999, following the album's release. Many Martin products and items were on sale at the time, such as his posters, autographs, Pepsi cans, wall clocks, plastic dolls, autographed Ricky Martin CDs, and "Livin' la Vida Loca" sheet musics.
Live performances
thumb|right|upright=1|Martin performing "Spanish Eyes" on the worldwide [[Livin' la Vida Loca Tour.]]
To further promote Ricky Martin, he embarked on the worldwide Livin' la Vida Loca Tour. and concluded on October 25, 2000, at the Colonial Stadium in Melbourne, with concerts throughout North America, Oceania, In the United States, the Livin' la Vida Loca Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2000 by a Latin artist, earning over $36.3 million with 44 dates and drawing 617,488 fans. According to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $51.3 million in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with 60 shows and drawing an audience of 875,151. International dates were not reported to Boxscore and would push the tour's grosses higher. In addition to his tour, Martin performed singles from Ricky Martin on many television programs and award shows. He performed "Livin' la Vida Loca" at the 1999 World Music Awards, the 1999 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Saturday Night Live, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Bingolotto TV Show. At the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, he performed "She's All I Ever Had" and "Livin' la Vida Loca", accompanied by a group of impressive women dressed in glitter. To promote the album's material in the United Kingdom, Martin delivered performances of "Livin' la Vida Loca" and "Shake Your Bon-Bon" on the BBC's Top of the Pops on August 6, 1999, and November 19, 1999, respectively.
Critical reception
Ricky Martin has been met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. In a retrospective review for AllMusic, senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four out of five stars and said that despite moments of filler and outdated production, its songs are balanced well between various genres and styles on "a big, bold album with something to please everyone, from his longtime Latin fans to housewives with a weakness for dramatic ballads". He noted that all tracks have been constructed carefully on their own, and complimented Martin's "fine voice and undeniable charisma" that bring all tracks "alive", calling him "a true star". The Indianapolis Star reviewer Diana Penner gave it three out of four stars, describing Martin's pop tunes as "melodic and eminently listenable". She also highlighted "Livin' la Vida Loca", confessing that she does not know any "more happy-snappy catchy melody" than that. Another author of The Indianapolis Star praised Martin for mixing styles well from pop to funk, and noted the album tracks' Latin rhythms that make "Martin automatically separate himself from the rest of "popular male artists".
The Times staff assured Martin would be a "household name" before the end of the summer, and described the project as "cheesy, breezy, mass-appeal pop". The staff also called the duet with Madonna "superb" and celebrated Martin's "sincerely" singing with Meja. In 2020, Daniella Boik from Paste acknowledged the album as Martin's most influential album since starting his solo career. In 2020, Paste ranked it at number eight on the list of "Best Solo Albums by Former Boy Band Members". but lost to Brand New Day by Sting.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Awards and nominations for Ricky Martin
! scope="col" | Organization
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Award
! scope="col" | Result
! class="unsortable" |
|-
|Pop Corn Music Awards
|rowspan="2"|1999
|Best Foreign Album
|
|align="center" |
|-
|Premios Globo
|Best Pop/Ballad Album
|
|align="center" |
|-
|ACE Awards
| rowspan="8" |2000
|Male Album of the Year
|
|align="center" |
|-
|rowspan="2" |Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
|Favorite CD
|
|align="center" |
|-
|Favorite Male Artist, Pop
|
|align="center" |
|-
|Gardel Awards
|Best Male Album
|
|align="center" |
|-
|Grammy Awards
|Best Pop Album
|
|align="center" |
|-
|Juno Awards
|Best Selling Album (Foreign or Domestic)
|
|align="center" |
|-
|Premio Lo Nuestro
||Pop Album of the Year
|
|align="center" |
|-
|}
Commercial performance
Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan for the chart dated May 29, 1999. It became the largest sales week by any album in 1999, surpassing I Am... by Nas, which had sold 471,000 copies in its first week. It also broke the record as the largest first-week sales for any pop or Latin artist in history, as well as any Columbia Records artist during the SoundScan era. Additionally, he became the first artist to simultaneously top the Billboard 200, Hot Latin Tracks, Hot Dance Music/Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, Top 40 Tracks, and the Billboard Hot 100.
Ricky Martin sold a total of six million copies in the United States in 1999 and was the third best-selling album of the year in the country, only behind Millennium, and ...Baby One More Time by Britney Spears. In January 2000, Ricky Martin was certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over seven million copies in the US and breaking the record as the best-selling album by a Latin artist in the country. As of January 2011, the album has sold over 6,958,000 copies in the country, according to Nielsen SoundScan, with an additional 987,000 sold at BMG Music Clubs, making it Martin's best-selling album in the US. Nielsen SoundScan does not count copies sold through clubs like the BMG Music Service, which were significantly popular in the 1990s.
The album debuted at number one in Australia, on the chart issue dated May 23, 1999. According to different sources, the album has sold over 15 million copies or even 17 million copies worldwide.
Legacy and influence
Martin is regarded by the media as the "Original Latin Crossover King". Angie Romero from Billboard wrote: "If you look up 'crossover' in the dictionary, there should be a photo of Ricky shaking his bon bon and/or 'Livin' la Vida Loca'." Following his performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys, and the success of "Livin' la Vida Loca" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts. Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin "provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations". St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Kevin C. Johnson described Martin as Latin music's "pretty-faced poster boy" who is "taking the music to places Jon Secada, Selena and Santana never could". He also mentioned that even "Gloria Estefan at her peak, failed to muster up the kind of hype and hoopla surrounding Martin". Geoff Mayfield from Billboard stated: "Martin's triumph isn't just a big win for Latin music or the Sony camp but a big day for the entire music industry." Also, Rolling Stones Rob Sheffield described 1999 as "the year music exploded", mentioning Spears, Aguilera, Martin, NSYNC, and the Backstreet Boys as "a new breed of stars" who got born. Additionally, Jason Lipshutz from Billboard labeled 1999 "[the] Best Musical Year of the '90s".