ISLAND BOYZ

Album ∙ Latin ∙ 2025

Myke Towers

By now, Myke Towers’ fans know that his artistry defies easy categorization. Even still, on 2024’s LA PANTERA NEGRA and its successor LYKE MIIKE, the Puerto Rican star summarily illustrated the two most prevalent sides of his catalog. The global pop of the former and the rugged hip-hop of the latter spotlit just how far he’d come from his Latin trap roots. For others lucky enough to be in his enviable position, that might be enough of a musical foundation to spend the rest of a career honing and tweaking.

And yet the frequent departures that make up ISLAND BOYZ show Towers valuing fulfillment over mere contentment, providing another series of lenses through which to view him. That first word of his latest album’s title offers the most glaring hint as to its contents, a tropical assortment of inherently summery songs that significantly diversify his established hitmaking sensibilities. The distinctive dancehall reggae iterations of “ME HACES FALTA” and “SUNBLOCK,” as well as the airy Afrobeats escapades of “EXPECTATIVAS” and “PIÑA COLADA / LAS PALMAS,” capture the romantic drama of days spent with sun and sand as well as the sensual promises of nighttime. Others, like “TENGO CELOS,” the duet “SEÑORA” with Manuel Turizo, and the Quevedo-assisted “SOLEAO” share a sonic kinship of sorts with some of his most mainstream charting singles, albeit without relying on the safety of reggaetón’s guardrails.

“BUCHANANS 18” and “POR UN QLO ASÍ” situate Towers in more recognizable musical circumstances, as does “NO QUIERE FLORES” with música mexicana star Gabito Ballesteros. However, even when he does veer towards the familiar, he often does so in order to defy expectations. “DE GYM,” for instance, could easily have taken a more straightforward thumping path instead of the twistier one it turns towards. The same applies to “SE REVELÓ,” which accents its frenzied merengue with reggaetón bursts.

Perhaps more impressive is the way he lures other Latin acts into these different formats, be it with DFZM on “LA DESPEDIDA” or iZaak on “SURFERITA.” Nigerian singer Omah Lay does his part in the cultural exchange of “NO HAY BREAK,” produced by no less than the like-minded Jamaican genre-hopper Rvssian.