Song You Need to Know: Myke Towers, ‘Pin Pin’

Myke Towers’ new album, Lyke Mike, is 65 minutes of dogged, hard-nosed trap — full of blaring bass that’s sure to wake up the neighbors, clenched, claustrophobic drums, and drubbing raps.

But “Pin Pin,” which comes early in the 23-song set, offers a welcome moment of levity: Towers builds the track around a cheery salsa sample, a brassy snippet borrowed from Tommy Olivencia’s “Periquito Pin-Pin.” This salsa/hip-hop hybrid has proved effective in the past, from Meshell Ndegeocello’s “Hot Night” to Common’s “Stolen Moments – Part III” to C. Tangana’s “Mala Mujer.” Towers’ take on the sound is fleet-footed but thunderous, like tap-dancing with cinderblocks. The horns surge upward in a joyous, irrepressible loop, while the hard-bitten drums serve to tether everything to the ground.

Towers has been releasing music at a rapid clip for five years, gradually building his profile through a series of hit collaborations, including “Si Se Da” with Farruko, “Estamos Arriba” with Bad Bunny, the “La Jeepeta” remix with Nio Garcia, Anuel AA, Juanka, and Bray, and the “Caramelo” remix with Ozuna and Karol G.

Lyke Mike, distrbuted by Warner Music Latin, follows last year’s Easy Money Baby. That album showed Towers’ appreciation for a choice sample: The single “Girl” borrowed the riff from 50 Cent’s “21 Questions” and turned it into a reggaeton hit.

Find a playlist of all of our recent Songs You Need to Know selections on Spotify.