Barrio Fino en Directo is the second live album by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, released on December 13, 2005, by El Cartel Records and distributed by Interescope Records.[1][2] The album is a live collection of songs from Daddy Yankee's previous album Barrio Fino recorded during his tour Barrio Fino World Tour at several locations including the United States, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It was the first Daddy Yankee album to had a Parental Advisory sticker and first and only album to include a skit. It also includes a DVD featuring interviews, concerts and the making of the music videos.[3] A re-release of the album, Tormenta Tropical, Vol. 1, was released on July 4, 2006. It includes all of the new recorded songs, and two of the live tracks from the album. The album differs from Barrio Fino en Directo because it does not include a DVD.
Barrio Fino en Directo was a commercial success. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and remained the top-selling album on the chart for 14 consecutive weeks. It was the Top Selling Latin Album of 2006 in the United States, following Barrio Fino in 2005 and was certified Gold by RIAA.[5] Eventually, it was the 13th best selling Latin Album of the past 25 years in the United States. It reached the top 10 of Mexican and Peruvian album charts and charted in Japan. Also, it was certified platinum in Mexico and gold in Japan and Colombia. To promote the new tracks of the album, Yankee expanded his Barrio Fino World Tour on a third and last leg.
In 2004, following the success of "Gasolina" and his third studio album Barrio Fino, Yankee embarked at the Barrio Fino World Tour to promote the album. In December 2004, Yankee performed at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, becoming the first urban act to do so. As of July 2005, Barrio Fino had sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.[6] On July 27, 2005 it was revealed to the press the dates of Yankee US leg of the tour under the name Who's Your Daddy Tour including a presentation co-headlined with Carlos Vives at Madison Square Garden in New York City.[7][8] Also, at the same press conference, he explained his intentions to release a DVD recorded during his concert in Puerto Rico the past year titled Barrio Fino en Directo.[9] Other sources stated that the live album and the DVD were going to include footage of the tour along with new recorded songs, and was set to be released late that year along with the movie Talento de Barrio, and with his clothing line and shoe line with the partnership of Reebok.
On August 30, 2005, Yankee signed a distribution contract with Interescope Records. On the press note, he stated his intentions to release his new album El Cartel in November of the same year and Barrio Fino Directo in early 2006.[10] On October 16, 2005, Daddy Yankee performed as the last act at the closure day of the Festival Presidente in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in front of 50,000 fans. It was the first urban act to perform at the festival.[11] The album was set to be released in September 2005, however it was pushed back for unknown reasons. The first single, "Rompe", was released on September 30, 2005. In late November 2005, MTV announced that the release date was December 13, 2005, and the album was going to include five new tracks produced by Urba y Monserrate and Luny Tunes.
Barrio Fino en Directo received mixed to positive reviews. Jason Birchmeier from Allmusic gave it a score of 3.5 out of 5, and stated "The new studio recordings are all promising, raising the level of anticipation for Daddy's next studio album to a ridiculous level".[13]
In the United States, the first week predictions were between 50k-60k.[14]Barrio Fino en Directo debuted at number 24 in the Billboard 200 in the last week of 2005 with over 100,000 copies sold.[15] It spent 13 weeks at the top of the US Billboard Top Latin Albums and was the best-selling Latin album in the US in 2006 with 484,000 copies sold.[16] The album was also certified Gold by the RIAA with an excess of 500,000 copies sold. It is the 13th best-selling Latin album in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan, Billboard with 809,000 copies sold.[17]
^"Archived copy". www.phantom.com.pe:80. Archived from the original on 2 July 2006. Retrieved 27 April 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
