Formula, Vol. 1
Fórmula, Vol. 1 is the debut studio album by American singer Romeo Santos, released on November 8, 2011, by Sony Music Latin. It is Santos's first album as a solo artist following the break-up of American bachata group Aventura, of which he was the lead singer. The record contains fifteen tracks, most of which were composed by Santos and co-produced with Ivan Chevere. The album experiments with the sound of bachata and other genres including R&B and flamenco. It features several Anglophone and Hispanophone guest artists including Usher, Tomatito, Mario Domm, and Lil Wayne. Recording for the album took place in 2011 at The Castle, Fight Klub, and EMG Studios in New York City. A deluxe edition of the album containing five extra tracks was released exclusively in Walmart retail stores in the United States.
Fórmula, Vol. 1
November 8, 2011
2011
The Castle, Fight Klub, and EMG Studios in New York City
54:40[1]
- Spanish
- English
- Romeo Santos
- Ivan Chevere (co-producer)
In the U.S., Formula, Vol. 1 peaked at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and Billboard Tropical Albums charts and was the best-selling Latin album of 2012. It was certified three times platinum (Latin field) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping 300,000 copies and had sold 328,000 copies in the U.S. by February 2014. It ranked number thirteen, twenty-six, and seventy-seven on the Argentine, Mexican, and Spanish album charts respectively.
Santos promoted the record by touring the U.S., Latin America and Europe. It was generally well received by critics, who praised the production of the bachata tracks although some of the duets—including those with Mario Domm and Mala Rodríguez—were criticized as obvious attempts to appeal outside of the bachata audience. The album earned Santos several accolades, including a Grammy Award nomination, three Billboard Latin Music Awards, a Billboard Music Award, a Lo Nuestro nomination, a Premios Juventud award, and a Soberano Award. Six singles were released from the record, four of which, "You", "Promise", "Mi Santa", and "La Diabla", reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart in the U.S.
Background[edit]
Romeo Santos began his career as the lead member of Aventura, an urban bachata infused band.[2] The band rose to popularity in the 2000s, has sold over 1.7 million albums in the U.S., and had the best-selling Latin album of 2009, The Last.[3] Soon after the band's separation in early 2011,[4] Santos signed a record deal with Sony Music Latin and Jive Records to record his debut solo album, Formula, Vol. 1.[3] According to his manager Johnny Marines, the contract was worth US$10,000,000.[5] Santos felt that the record was a continuation of his career rather than a new beginning.[6]
Singles[edit]
"You", the first single from the album, was released on May 9, 2011.[17] In the US, the song peaked at number ninety-seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs.[18][19] Santos is the eighth overall artist whose single has debuted at number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart.[19] It also reached number one on the Billboard Tropical Songs charts.[20] "You" was the eighth best-performing Latin single of 2011.[21]
The album's second single, "Promise" was released on September 2, 2011.[22] The song peaked at number eighty-three on the Billboard Hot 100, became his second number one single on the Hot Latin Songs and Tropical Songs charts, and peaked at number one on the Billboard Latin Pop Songs chart.[18][20][23][24] "Promise" received airplay in Mexico, where it ranked at number twenty on the Monitor Latino charts.[25]
"Mi Santa", the album's third single, was released on January 24, 2012.[26] It peaked at number one on the Hot Latin Songs, Latin Pop Songs, and Tropical Songs charts.[20][23][24]
The fourth single, "All Aboard", was released on March 8, 2012,[27] and peaked at number eight on the Latin Digital Songs chart.[28]
The fifth single, "Rival", was released on March 19, 2012,[29] peaking at number forty-two on the Hot Latin Songs and number twenty-two on the Latin Pop Songs charts.[23][24] In Mexico, "Rival" peaked at number ten on the Monitor Latino charts.[30]
The sixth single, "La Diabla", became the fourth single from the album to reach number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart;[23] making it the second-most number one singles from an album. Only Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias has had more number one hits from a single album.[31] "La Diabla" also peaked at number two on the Latin Pop Songs and number one on the Tropical Songs chart.[20][24]
"Llévame Contigo" is not a single for this album. However, its live version was used as a single for Santos' first solo live album, The King Stays King: Sold Out at Madison Square Garden. It peaked at number 2 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs cart and at number 1 on the Billboard Latin and Tropical Airplay charts.
Commercial performance[edit]
Formula, Vol. 1 was released worldwide on November 8, 2011.[67] As part of a deal with Walmart, a deluxe edition containing five extra tracks—the English version of "Promise", Spanish and English versions of "Aleluya", featuring American rapper Pitbull, "Malevo", and "Vale la Pena el Placer"—was released for sale exclusively at Walmart outlets.[68] It also contained a DVD containing music videos for "You" and "Promise".[69] A limited edition 3 disc dual sided vinyl collection of the album was also released for sale exclusively at Target stores. It contains all the tracks including the 5 extra songs from the Walmart deluxe edition.[70] In the U.S., the album debuted and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 chart and debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and the Billboard Tropical Albums charts.[71][72][73] 65,000 copies were sold in its first week, making it the biggest debut sales for a Latin album since El Cartel: The Big Boss by Daddy Yankee in 2007.[56] It was at number one for seventeen non-consecutive weeks on the Top Latin Albums chart, and thirty non-consecutive weeks on the Tropical Albums chart. Formula, Vol. 1 was the best-selling Latin and Tropical album of 2012 in the U.S.[74][75]
The RIAA certified the album triple platinum (Latin field) for shipping 300,000 copies.[76] By February 2014, Formula Vol. 1 had sold over 328,000 copies in the U.S.[77] The album peaked at number thirteen in Argentina and number seventy-seven in Spain and certified gold in Venezuela.[78][79][80] In Mexico, it peaked at number twenty-six on the Top 100 Mexico albums chart and was certified gold by AMPROFON.[81][82]