The Underdog/El Subestimado
Studio album by Tego Calderón
Released	August 29, 2006
Genre	Hip hop reggae Reggaeton
Length	71:22
Label	Jiggiri Records Atlantic Records
Professional reviews
Music For America (favorable) link Okayplayer link
Tego Calderón chronology
White Lion Hits Version, Vol. 1 (2004) The Underdog/El Subestimado (2006) El Abayarde Contraataca (2007) Singles from The Underdog/El Subestimado "Los Mate" Released: August 15, 2006 "Chillin'" Released: October 20, 2006 "Cuando Baila Reggaeton" Released: 2007
Alternate cover
Japan Release

The Underdog/El Subestimado is a Rap/Hip-Hop album released by Tego Calderón on August 29, 2006. The first single of the album was titled "Los Maté" ("I Killed Them"), which has garnered much air-play on the radio. During a press conference in und, Tego decided not to use as much reggaetón and focus more on hip-hop. He is also a fan of salsa, the blues, and reggae (the second single of the album, "Chillin," is a reggae song completely in Spanish) and he incorporates these styles in the album. Because of this, many fans were surprised, as they expected classic reggaeton. The album garnered points in originality, making it stand out more than Daddy Yankee's Barrio Fino En Directo and Don Omar's King of Kings. The album is widely considered the best of Calderón's career.

Contents 1 Background 2 Release and promotion 2.1 Promotional Mixtape 2.1.1 Mixtape Tracklisting 2.2 Japan Release 3 Track listing 3.1 Japan Edition 3.2 Target exclusive CD 4 Charts & Nomination 4.1 Charts 5 Credits 6 References

[edit] Background

The album The Underdog/El Subestimado is Tego's third album, and by many considered the best of his career. Tego decided to mix both reggaeton and hip-hop for this album's sound.. He also has two songs influenced by African drums on the interludes ("Por Que?" and "Son dos Alas"). The second single, "Chillin'", is a pure reggae song.

Two songs on the album have been influenced with salsa. Llora, Llora had a lot of airplay, and it features the Venezuelan salsa star, Oscar D'León. The song "Chango Blanco" was also influienced by salsa, and has more of a salsa sound than "Llora, Llora", though Oscar D'Leon is featured on it.

The song "Slo Mo'" was featured in Tego's first film called Illegal Tender. This song has the chorus sang in english, and some parts of the first and second verse sang is english. "Mardi Gras" is influenced by Blues musuic. Also, Tego Calderon's songs "Llevatelo To'" and "Burreo, Burreo" have been influenced by jazz music.

[edit] Release and promotion

The first single from the album, titled "Los Mate" had a lot of airplay when released, and its lyrics reflects the album. The music video for "Los Mate" was watched a lot on both spanish and english channels. Los Mate was the promotional single for the album.

The secong single, "Chillin'" also had a lot of airplay. The music video was watched on channels including: MTV, MTV Tr3s, BET, VH1, and many others. Although "Cuando Baila Reggaeton" didn't have a music video, it was the third single and had a lot of airplay. "Llego el Chynyn" had a music video, and was seen and heard a lot through the streets without promotion. Tego made this video to promote one of the newest artists on his label, Chyno Nyno.

[edit] Promotional Mixtape

A street mixtape was released with the album for promotion. The album includes songs that didn't end up being on the album, songs that Tego was featured, and songs by the new artist in his label, Chyno Nyno.

[edit] Mixtape Tracklisting

1. "Intro"
2. "Ven Mamita"
3. "Gangsta Shit" (Tony Touch feat. Tego Calderon)
4. "Skit"
5. "Mueve"
6. "Street Mix" (Chyno Nyno)
7. "Skit"
8. "Mi Mama Me Dijo" feat. The Game
9. "Chyno" (Chyno Nyno)
10. "Skit"
11. "Los Negritos"
12. "Trangalanga"
13. "Acapelas 4 the DJ"

[edit] Japan Release

Tego Calderon released a Japan album packing version of his album with Atlantic Records. If you buy it in the United States, the album costs more than forty dollars. This release was made because Tego had a lot of copies sold in Japan for his album.

[edit] Track listing

1. "¿Cómo Me Llamo Yo?"
2. "Los Maté"
3. "Mardi Gras"
4. "Slo Mo'"
5. "Pon La Cara"
6. "Payaso (Interlude)"
7. "Payaso" Feat. Voltio & Eddie Dee
8. "Comprenderás"
9. "Llora, Llora" Feat. Oscar D'León
10. "Chillin'" Feat. Don Omar
11. "Veo, Veo"
12. "Oh Dios"
13. "Extremidades"
14. "Son Dos Alas (Interlude)"
15. "Chango Blanco"
16. "A Mi Papá"
17. "Cuando Baila Reggaetón" Feat. Yandel (Produced by Luny Tunes & Tainy, Joker)
18. "Bureo, Bureo"
19. "¿Por Qué? (Interlude)"
20. "Llévatelo Todo"
21. "Bad Man" Feat. Buju Banton
22. "Mil Cosas" (Featured in EA Sports game NBA Live 06)
23. "Llegó El Chynyn" Feat. Chyno Nyno[*]

[edit] Japan Edition

24. "Tu Comprenderas"

[edit] Target exclusive CD

1. "Tú Comprenderás"
2. "Ven Mamita"
3. "Vámonos del Club" (feat. Zion)
4. "T-T-T-Tego"

[edit] Charts & Nomination

The Underdog/El Subestimado was nominated for the 2006 Latin Grammy Awards for "Best Latin Rock Album".

[edit] Charts

Charts (2007)[1]	Peak position
Billboard Top Latin Albums	2
U.S. Billboard Billboard Latin Rhythm Albums	1
U.S. Billboard Top 200	43
U.S. Billboard Comprehensive Albums	43
U.S. Billboard Top Rap Albums	10

[edit] Credits

• Executive Producer: Tego Calderon
• Mastered by: Chris Athens at Sterling Sound
• A&R: Tego Calderon
• Management: Gaby Acevedo
• Marketing: Veronica Alvericci
• Prodject Coordination:Kenya Calderon
• Creative Direction|Design: Carlos Perez from Elastic People
• Graphic Design: Raul Justiniando from Elastic People
• Photography: Blasius Erlinger

[edit] References