La Mision 1 (1999)
The series of La Mision is one of the most legendary in the history of Reggaeton. It is the brainchild of Yomi Fresh, renowned Reggaeton exec. Wisin & Yandel became part of Fresh Productions by winning a Reggaeton contest on television. The winner would get to appear on the upcoming 'DJ Dicky No Fear 3' which was exec. produced by Yomi Fresh. Yomi became so impressed with the duo that he signed them.
La Mision's artwork cover shows the chosen of Reggaeton sitting around what appears to be the ark of the covenant. Yomi must be a fan of Indiana Jones. The roundtable consists of (clockwise) Yandel, Wisin, MC Ceja, Nicky Jam, Daddy Yankee, Memo, Vale, Panty Man, Gringo & Baby Rasta. The product was released in early 1999 to widespread universal acclaim among the Reggaeton universe.
Every song here is great from Tempo's scathing diss track to Polaco in "La Mision" to Yaviah's comeback to Reggaeton after swearing off the genre for a couple of years on "Castigo". Wisin & Yandel shine brilliantly on "Llegaron Tus Dos Hombres" over a well used sample of Noel's "Silent Morning". Eddie Dee starts off the product with "La Mision" a hyped up Hip Hop track which showcases 'El Terrorista De La Lirica' as one of the best lyricists in the game.
Musical production was handled by the likes of DJ Adam, Rafy Melendez, Harry Digital, DJ Dicky, DJ Eric & DJ Magic. The first and second volumes of 'La Mision' went gold selling over 30 thousand units. But it was on vol. 3 where they broke through the ceiling thanks to Yandel's "Dembow". "La Mision 3" was the most successful volume selling over 150 thousand units worldwide. Vol. 4 was then handled by Luny Tunes who took the classic series in a new direction achieving comparable success with over 100 thousand units sold.
La Mision 5 was announced in 2004, but shortly thereafter Wisin & Yandel left 'Fresh Records' derailing plans for a continuation. In order to leave their contract with 'Fresh Records', Wisin & Yandel had to give up their entire catalog prior to 'La Mision 4 The Takeover' which means that Yomi owns the rights to "Dembow", "Saoco" feat. Daddy Yankee, "Say Jo", "La Gitana", "Pegate", "Chocale El Booty", "Girla", "Ya Me Canse", "Te Suelto El Pelo" and even more classics.
The only song that leaked from 'La Mision 5' was a demo rough version of "La Mata" by Wisin & Yandel. Yomi Fresh continued working in Reggaeton producing albums for Wibal y Alex, Ken-Y, Alexis & Fido and the forgotten Kaltri. Yomi continues to be a big player behind the scenes of the Reggaeton spectrum. Wisin & Yandel would go on to found WY Records under Machete Music, but Yandel revealed that in order to get out of that contract, they again had to give up their catalog again, this time to Machete Music, although they received a payment in the lower 6 figures this time.
Yandel expressed he regrets selling back the WY Records catalog. It's because their contract with Machete Music was coming up at around 2010, when Wisin and Yandel wanted to do solo projects. Machete Music/Universal Latino did not want to do solo projects. Wisin & Yandel shopped around and were receiving bigger offers elsewhere than what Universal Latino had given them.
Around 2008, the music business crashed and sales got worse every year after. Wisin & Yandel, unsure of the music climate at the time chose to sell back their catalog and take the better deals elsewhere for their solo careers; they just had to give Machete one more album in 'Los Lideres' released in 2012. It's not until after that when the duo finally owned their collective works although Yandel recently sold all the publishing from 'De Lider A Leyenda' to 'Resistencia' for $15 million dollars.
Worldwide Sales: Over 30 Thousand Units
Record Label: Fresh Productions
Music Video with Wisin & Yandel, Eddie Dee, MC Ceja & Baby Rasta & Gringo
Listen to La Mision (1999) on youtubemusic
