Rei Momo is the debut solo studio album by the American musician David Byrne and his second overall studio album (after the 1981 collaborative album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts), released on October 3, 1989. The album reached number 54 on the UK Albums Chart and number 71 on the Billboard chart.
The album consists of diverse Latin music styles from Cuba (rumba, mozambique, mambo, chachachá, bolero), the Dominican Republic (merengue), Puerto Rico (bomba), Colombia (cumbia, mapeyé) and Brazil (samba, pagode). The album is mostly sung in English and features guest appearances by Kirsty MacColl, Willie Colón and Celia Cruz, among others.
The album was co-released by Luaka Bop and Sire on 3 October 1989. Three songs, "Loco de Amor", "Good and Evil", and "Office Cowboy" are excluded from the LP. All songs are present on the cassette and compact disc editions. David Byrne performed "Dirty Old Town" and "Loco de Amor" on Saturday Night Lives Thanksgiving show in 1989.
The album was well-received by critics. In a retrospective review for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis wrote "ByrneâÂÂs first postâÂÂTalking-Heads solo album is a cut above [the multitude of late 80s pop albums dabbling in world music] and an underrated joy".
All tracks composed by David Byrne; except where indicated.