Puerto Rican reggaetonero Yomo used to wipe floors for a living. Now he's the self-described "cleanup hitter of reggaetón.''

Born José Alberto Torres Abreu in Chicago, Yomo worked as a handyman and janitor in Puerto Rico before landing a touring gig with Master Joe & O.G. Black in 2005. On the strength of his live performances, Yomo was tapped to participate in Hector "El Father's" Sangre Nueva compilation, featuring up-and-comers like Árcangel, De La Ghetto and Ñejo y Dálmata. His standout single, Déjale Caer to' Peso, a throbbing club track with Hector "El Father," led to further guest appearances on Más Flow, Chosen Few and Los Rompe Discotekas.

In 2007, Yomo signed a deal with Hector "El Father's" now-defunct Gold Star Music imprint, once home to Alexis y Fido and Trebol Clan. After inheriting his new boss' beef with Don Omar, Yomo dropped the Afrika Bambaataa-influenced single Tu Te Las Trae. But things between Hector and Yomo soon turned sour. Last year, impatient with production delays, Yomo paid $200,000 to be released from his contract. But the 26-year-old says he won't hold a grudge against his former mentor: "He taught me how to crawl and then how to walk."

Yomo's debut, My Destiny, was released late last year. His latest hit single, Descara, as well as a star-studded remix of Tu Te Las Trae featuring Jowell y Randy, Voltio and Ñejo y Dálmata, are currently streaming on MySpace.

See: myspace.com/yomoonline

• Senegalese-American singer-rapper Akon returns with Freedom, an album filled with "extremely breezy, Caribbean-tinged songs that are less hip-hop than lucid pop," according to The Boston Globe. "[H]is best songs [are] light, expertly constructed and just a touch insipid," writes The New York Times. Rolling Stone calls Freedom "pure melodrama about love and love lost, delivered in a hooting style over synth-swamped beats that are closer to early Peter Gabriel than to 2008 hip-hop."
• Rapper and actor Common drops Universal Mind Control, his eighth album. Spin magazine loves its retro sound: "While we're used to Common in the role of poetic prophet or self-righteous rhyme slayer, Universal Mind Control is primarily a rhythmic celebration, paying tribute to Afrika Bambaataa and Jonzun Crew jams." The Los Angeles Times applauds his new direction: "Common tries to break away, taking on a harder, naughtier persona and dipping his typically dusty grooves in executive producer Pharrell's cold chemical wash. For part of the album, the techno gambit blows fresh air into Common's paisley pondering."
• American pop-punkers Fall Out Boy release their fifth album, Folie à Deux (Madness For Two). "For all the negatives said, written or blogged about Fall Out Boy (and trust us, there are a lot), it's damn near impossible to fault the Chicago-born band for their creativity, ingenuity and willingness to try just about anything," gushes Alternative Press. The Onion's AV Club gives the album an "A" while underscoring that the band is overshadowed by bassist Pete Wentz's tabloid escapades: "While the adulation of millions of kids has made the Chicago quartet a platinum-selling arena act, the group inspires equally passionate disdain from non-fans, who made 'Wentz' slang for 'douche.'"
• California R&B singer-songwriter Keyshia Cole is back with a new hairdo and a new album, A New Me. USA Today calls it "sexier [and] more playful," featuring "much less pain than on previous works." Entertainment Weekly thinks she's "chosen an odd way to escape" the Mary J. Blige comparisons, since Cole "turns her focus from heartbreak to happiness only a few years after Blige promised she was done with drama." Allmusic digs the change of pace: "Cole pushes herself into new territory and becomes a more versatile songwriter and vocalist in convincing, frequently thrilling, fashion."
• Miami based producer and rocker Kevin Rudolf releases In The City, an album that "cribs tricks from both rap and rock 'n' roll, not in the pursuit of a bastardized Limp Bizkit-type hybrid, but with the intention to produce a crossover rock record with modern hip-hop tools," according to the BBC. Despite the album's flaws, hip hop webzine Rap Reviews enjoys Rudolf's Cash Money Records debut: "In the City offers good production, excellent melodies, and – of course – the same song, ideas, and kinds of guest appearances many times over. Still, I'd recommend it as a blueprint for potential."

Latinos didn't sell baseball tickets. Until "Fernandomania."

Following the trail blazed by Caribbean baseball legends like Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and Juan Marichal, Fernando Valenzuela set off a fan frenzy in 1981 after winning the first eight starts of his rookie season. Nicknamed "El Toro," the pudgy Valenzuela attracted large crowds of Hispanic fans in Los Angeles who wanted to see first-hand his signature screwball and unorthodox delivery: a high leg kick with both arms raised high above his head and a quick glance at the heavens. Manager Tommy Lasorda recalls how Fernandomania soon went mainstream and national: "Every ballpark we went to, they wanted to see this lefty pitcher who looked up in the sky…I still don't know how he did that."

By the end of his first year, the Sonora, Mexico-born Valenzuela helped the Dodgers defeat the feared New York Yankees in the World Series. He was rewarded for his efforts, becoming the only pitcher to win both the Rookie of the Year award and the Cy Young Award in the same season. A six-time all-star, Valenzuela played for the Dodgers until 1990 and spent the rest of the decade fighting for a starting spot on various teams, including the California Angels, Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres. In 2005, Valenzuela was named to the MLB Latino Legends team, both for his on-field exploits and for helping to popularize baseball among West Coast Latinos.

Valenzuela is currently a Spanish-language color commentator for Los Angeles Dodgers radio broadcasts. Jaime Jarrín, who has called Dodger games for nearly half a century, experienced "Fernandomania" firsthand: "Fernando turned so many people from Mexico, Central America, South America into fans."

Don Omar says Marcy Place are the future of bachata – and he's putting his money where his mouth is.

Earlier this year, 28-year old Juan Carlos Cabrera and brothers Billy (26) and Joel Pabón (20) met Don Omar during a recording session in Aventura's studio – located on Marcy Place in the Bronx. Don Omar was impressed, but not by what he heard on his headphones. The reggaetonero says he was struck by the Dominican-American trio's enthusiasm and strong work ethic, which reminded him of his early struggles in Puerto Rico. Don Omar christened the group Marcy Place and signed them to his Orfanato imprint.

The group's debut album, B From Marcy Place, was released earlier this month and features collaborations with Aventura's Lenny Santos, Don Omar and Wisin y Yandel. Driven by slinky guitars and slithering bass, lead single Todo Lo Que Soy finds Marcy Place proclaiming: "I wish I could give you more than love." On the Spanglish R&B ballad "Unfaithful," the NYC outfit is hearbroken: "You don't know que es el amor, te llevaste mi corazón."

Marcy Place are currently promoting their album across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

See: myspace.com/marcyplacemusic

(image by hyperscholar via flickr)

10. Jalapeños cause mass salmonella poisoning

When over 1,250 Americans became sick from salmonella poisoning, authorities suspected tainted tomatoes. But three months after the outbreak began – the largest in over a decade – the true culprit was identified: raw jalapeños. By then, the tomato industry had suffered over $100 million in losses.

9. Natural disasters cause $200 billion in damages

From earthquakes in China to hurricanes in Cuba, from a cyclone in Burma to over 1,700 tornadoes in the United States, natural disasters inflicted over $200 billion in damages this year. One of the world's most important insurance companies suggests the disasters aren't entirely natural, blaming man-made global warming for the increasing ferocity of storms.

8. Daddy Yankee endorses John McCain

In late August, Daddy Yankee endorsed U.S. presidential candidate John McCain, citing the senator's stance on immigration – atypically liberal for a Republican. In the days that followed, Fat Joe called Yankee a sell-out and Pitbull called the endorsement a publicity stunt.

7. Tuition hikes at predominantly Latino colleges

With the U.S. economy in recession, state governments across the country are cutting costs and raising fees to balance their budgets. Among the hardest hit institutions are public colleges. Schools in New York, California, Texas and Colorado, many of which are predominantly Latino, will increase tuition next year, likely forcing some students to postpone their studies just as a college degree becomes even more important.

6. U.S.-México border fence gets started

Years in the planning (and in litigation), construction of the U.S.-México border fence began this year. Whether construction will continue is not entirely clear.

5. Postville, Iowa immigration raids

In May, hundreds of workers at a Postville, Iowa meatpacking plant were detained on immigration charges. It was the largest such raid in years. By late July, many of the detained workers had begun to provide testimony against their former employer, reporting harrowing tales of child labor and unsafe working conditions. In early November, the company filed for bankruptcy.

4. México's drug war escalates

The U.S. remains the largest consumer of illicit drugs and Latin America its principal supplier. Most of those drugs enter the U.S. through México where competition between rival traffickers has claimed the lives of over 4,000 men, women and children. All sectors of Mexican society have come under attack, often through acts of terrorism designed to produce a climate of fear and political paralysis.

3. RBD disbands

Love them or hate them, RBD made bank. In four years, the made-from-Television pop group moved well over 15 million records, sold out dozens of stadiums and made a lasting impression on tens of millions of fans. The group disbanded in August and has just completed its farewell tour.

2. Barack Obama

Less than 50 years after the U.S. abolished laws which prevented African-Americans from voting, the U.S. elected its first Africa-American president. Credited with running the most effective campaign in modern history, Senator Barack Obama will now confront the greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression while managing at least two wars abroad.

1. The Economy

This year, the global economy nearly collapsed after one of its foundations, the finance sector, imploded as a result of the subprime mortgage meltdown in the United States. Every nation has been and continues to be impacted as demand for products and services decreases, companies cut back on production and personnel and governments invest trillions of dollars to keep entire industries, from banks to auto manufacturers, from going bankrupt.