Get Ready for Ricky

Listening to a Ricky Martin CD is like buying a soda at the movies. You ask for the small, but when the guy behind the counter says, "Hey, the medium is only a quarter more," you realize how thirsty you are. So you go for it. Then the guy says, "How about the jumbo?" and you keep trading up until you end up with a vat of soda large enough to have an undertow. That drink is Ricky Martin. He lures you with his charisma, his outsize energy, his obvious love of performing, and soon enough the San Juan rhythms are pumping, his voice is pleading, the big emotions are coming at you and, oops, you've got a big ole cup of Ricky in your hands. Drink up.

If a former Mouseketeer, Britney Spears, can land a No. 1 CD, the time is probably just about right for Martin, a former member of the Latin teen group Menudo, to burst onto the national stage. At 27, he is already a major star in Latin America. He first caught the eye of English-speaking U.S. audiences with his joyous, hip-swiveling, eye-catchingly over-the-top performance at the Grammy Awards last February. Now, on May 11, the Latin pop star is set to release his first English-language album, Ricky Martin (C2Records/Columbia). And he is raring to hit mainstream stardom. "Everything I do, I do when I'm ready," Martin says. "So now is the moment."

Enrique Martin Morales was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1971. In 1984, at 12, he joined the ever changing ranks of the boy group Menudo. "Two things can happen when you join a group like Menudo," says Robi Rosa, a fellow Menudo alum, who co-wrote Martin's current hit single, Livin' la Vida Loca. "You can get all messed up, or you can pay attention and learn from it. We learned a lot. For Ricky and me, the studio is like home now."

Martin soon embarked on a solo singing career, releasing a series of bubbly Spanish-language albums that made full use of his good looks. (The back cover of his 1991 album has him oh-so casually reclining in a wet ribbed tank top.) In 1994 Martin got a big break and landed a regular role on General Hospital. His part on the ABC soap was not a stretch--he played Miguel Morez, a singer from Puerto Rico. Wendy Riche, General Hospital's executive producer, created the role after meeting with him just once. She was struck by his drive and determination to succeed. Says Riche: "He lives to perform."

You can feel it. Ricky is not a great CD, but it is energetic, forceful and eager to please. Martin works furiously to satisfy, to charm, to get feet moving, to keep hearts racing. This is an unabashed pop record, but it's saved by its Latin soul. It's charged with peppy horns and churning percussion and lyrics that veer from English to Spanish and back again. Martin's singing talents are limited--his voice lacks power and depth--but he is not out simply to vocalize, he's out to entertain. On Shake Your Bon-Bon, he parties hard; on She's All I Ever Had, he delivers a power ballad with impressively aggressive sincerity. One of the CD's best cuts is Be Careful (Cuidado con Mi Corazon), a duet with Madonna. It's a compelling pairing: we feel the love, but it is not between Martin and his duet partner; it's a shared passion for superstardom, from a woman who has attained it and an up-and-comer who wants it.

This is a hot summer for Latin pop. Due out later this season are CDs by Hollywood star turned singer Jennifer Lopez, Colombian rocker Shakira and Puerto Rican salsa star Marc Anthony, a man who is one of the most thrilling vocalists in any language and who will now get the chance to share his talents with a larger audience. Anthony and Lopez have already recorded an enchanting duet that will appear on both their CDs; it would also be exciting to hear him pair up with an established vocal star, someone like, say, Lauryn Hill.

In the meantime, Martin is on the fast track. Tom Calderone, senior v.p. for music and talent at MTV, says Martin's video Livin' la Vida Loca is one of the channel's five most requested clips. Saturday Night Live has booked him for a performance this weekend. "I want to do this forever," says Martin. "I want to be respected in the States in 20 years. So the first impression is very important." Indeed. The music Martin makes is the first taste of a more diverse, more flavorful America that grooves less to rock than to hip-hop and Latin pop. Want a sip? How about a jumbo?