Alexis & Fido Más sobre su estilo!

Alexis & Fido hit charts

By mixing contagious dance beats with double-entendre lyrics, the reggaeton duo Alexis & Fido has managed to establish residence on the Billboard charts.

"On this new CD, we tried to have more lyrics based on real experiences," said Joel "Fido" Martinez. "And this time we're making a more concentrated effort to work the U.S. and Latin America."

The Puerto Rican duo's new "Reyes del Perreo" CD actually isn't all that new. Like many red-hot reggaeton stars who are busy with constant touring and promoting, the duo — also known as Los Pitbulls — didn't have the time needed to produce an entirely new studio CD.

Instead, as a stop-gap measure, they've put together a compilation of older material and new tracks. "Reyes del Perreo" includes early hits that date to when Fido and his partner, Raul "Alexis" Ortiz, were teaming up with young rappers and singers in Puerto Rico during reggaeton's underground phase.

Back then, Alexis & Fido worked with DJ Stefano, the Underground 3 and their good friend Yandel (of the duo Wisin y Yandel). Some of those early hits are on the new CD, along with a remix of their smash hit from last year, "El Tiburon," from their late 2005 debut CD "The Pitbulls."

"We wrote five new songs, and these new songs have more of a fusion with hip-hop," Fido said.

Unless you're a hard-core fan, it's hard to keep up with the dozen new duos that are poppin up on the charts. Alexis & Fido established a following with their mix of rapid-fire rap and hard-core reggaeton on "The Pitbulls," which features top-rank guests Trebol Clan, Baby Ranks and Baby Rasta. The duo scored a home run with "El Tiburon," which was featured on Luny Tunes' "Mas Flow 2" CD.

So far, they have proven durable chart-toppers, with five tracks residing on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks, Latin Rhythm Airplay and Latin Tropical Airplay charts. In addition to "El Tiburon," there's "Eso Ehh ...!!" "Agarrale El Pantalon," "Me Quiere Besar" and "La Cama."

As is customary, Alexis & Fido collaborated with almost a dozen rappers and producers on "Reyes del Perreo," including Arcángel & De la Ghetto on "Dulce"; the producers Fusión Music on "Descontrol" and "La "Llamada"; and Wiso G on "Decidir."

The intense "Me Quiere Besar" is a fast-paced reggaeton tune with a rapid-fire fusion of rap and salsa soneo (call-and-response) singing.

"This reggaeton is a little different than the reggaeton we did in Puerto Rico in the beginning," Fido said. "We used more keyboards, with a little more radical touch."

"La Llamada," like "Me Quiere Besar," is heavy on the sexual double-entendres and piles on keyboards, drum machines and vocal effects.

The shift toward more electronics is part of the duo's effort to stay fresh, Fido said.

"When people hear the music, we want to hear a reggaeton with a little change," he said. "It is not the same."

He said the duo noticed how the Dirty South sound has influenced hip-hop. "So we took a little of the Dirty South sound and mixed it with reggaeton and now it sounds like a whole new fusion."

In other reggaton news, superstar Tego Calderon talks about his much anticipated CD "The Underdog," in an interview with Ramiro Burr. Read the interview on Burr's Latin Notes Now Blog.