About a year and a half after the unpredictable and underproductive rapper {$N.O.R.E.} promised the album One Fan a Day with {$the Neptunes}, {$Mariah Carey}, and {$Beanie Sigel} as his guests stars, the {\reggaeton}-flavored {^N.O.R.E. y la Familia...Ya Tú Sabe} appeared in its place. With a high-profile album in the can and the lucrative {\reggaeton} train bringing everybody who rides it plenty of bling in 2006, there's every reason to suspect {^La Familia} is an embarrassment waiting to happen, but it's hardly that at all. While {$N.O.R.E.} might not be the first to mix {\hip-hop} and {\reggaeton}, only mixtapes, mashtapes, and bootleg white labels have blended the two genres with such abandon, weaving a {\hip-hop} stance into a hyped-up {\bachata} number or dropping smooth Latino crooning over an old-school boom-bap beat. The latter is what {&"Soy un Gangsta"} does perfectly, but most of the album draws upon {\reggaeton} beats, many thanks to {$SPK}, who previously brought the spice to some {$Tony Touch} tracks. {&"Mas Maiz"} is one of the producer's best efforts, with an extravagant set of guest stars that goes from {$Fat Joe} to the darling {$Nina Sky}. Elsewhere, slick {\dancehall} team {$T.O.K.} makes an appearance, {$Ja Rule} hangs for a track, and {\reggaeton} vets {$Don Omar}, {$Ivy Queen}, and {$Daddy Yankee} step up to the plate. The album's bulging guest list does make this more of a {$N.O.R.E.}-hosted party than a {$N.O.R.E.} album, something that might disappoint fans coming off his very focused, very {\hip-hop} album {^God's Favorite}. But as track after track swirls and hypnotizes with infectious {\raps} and hooks, the fact that this isn't a grimy hustler or a {$N.O.R.E.}-centric album matters less and less. The inclusion of {&"Oye Mi Canto"} -- an in-your-face {\reggaeton} stunner that was originally released to promote One Fan a Day -- as a bonus track is just the icing on the cake, and if you can't get over the sharp left turn the rapper's discography takes, it's your loss and {\reggaeton}'s gain. {^La Familia} is a spicy thug party that breaks plenty of rules and never feels contrived or anything but inspired. After listening to it, an album with a {$Mariah Carey} duet as its centerpiece doesn't seem that exciting at all. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide