Having spent more than a decade introducing the world to vallenato's rhythms, Silvestre Dangond was an explosive timbale player long before he became a Latin pop sensation. On Esto Es Vida, that passion for percussion gives the crooner's ballads a uniquely propulsive excitement, and he continues to embrace state-of-the-art pop without losing his distinctively Colombian flavor. He plays around with the ecstatic tension-and-release tricks of EDM ("Sigo Siendo el Papá"), and gets hips grinding with tropical-tinged R&B ("Animales"). Of course, Dangond also lays down a few smoking, retro grooves sure to grip even those who've yet to discover vallenato's irresistible pulse.