Real is the fourth studio album by Puerto Rican reggaetón recording artist Ivy Queen, released on November 21, 2004, by Universal Music Latino.

Initially to be Queen's debut full-length English-language studio album, it featured collaborations with hip hop and fellow Latino artists Hector El Father, Fat Joe, Getto & Gastam, La India, Gran Omar and Mickey Perfecto.

"Chika Ideal" and "Rociarlos" failed to attain chart success, although the former reached the top ten of Terra Networks' music-video countdown.

Several other tracks, including "Tócame" and "Baila Así", received airplay on both Anglophone and Hispanophone radio stations in the United States.

[1] Ivy Queen then embarked on concert tours of Latin America and the United States; she also promoted the album with a network television-news segment, detailing her career (and struggle for respect) in reggaetón, as well as by performing "Chika Ideal" on Don Francisco Presenta.

[2] Over the next few years, Queen appeared on reggaetón compilation albums, spawning hits (including "Quiero Bailar")[4] and collaborations with artists on Tommy Boy and Columbia Records.

[citation needed] It was a factor in reggaetón's mainstream exposure in 2004 (with Daddy Yankee's Barrio Fino and Tego Calderon's El Enemy de los Guasíbiri), and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

These included Dee along with Queen, Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderón, Voltio, Vico C, Zion, Lennox, Nicky Jam, Johnny Prez, Gallego, and Wiso G. The song brought all twelve artist together as one to show that "unity is needed for the genre reggaetón to evolve and survive".

[14] She said it was a good opportunity to reach the competitive Anglo hip hop music market after her success in Latin American countries.

[14] Queen recorded songs with some of hip hop's most popular MCs, including American rapper Fat Joe (who appeared on her debut English album).

Collaborations include "Matando", "Rociarlos" (also featuring Hector El Father) and "Baila Así" with Queen's then-husband, Gran Omar; a hip-hop track, "Quítate Two", with Fat Joe; "Acércate" with Mikey Perfecto, "Tócame" with salsa singer La India and "Vas A Morir" with Puerto Rican duo Getto & Gastam.

[20] According to Navarro and Queen in a 2004 interview on mun2 The Roof, the album was expected to feature a duet with Puerto Rican singer Don Omar.

[25] It alternates between reggaetón and hip hop as Queen experiments with Caribbean music,[26] R&B, pop, electronica, funk, dancehall and acoustic ballads: "I really think this album is for people to really just sit down and listen to it".

[28] "Dale Volumen" ("Add Volume"), in a minor key, is characterized by simple harmonic progressions, synthesizers and stick-drum percussion and influenced by reggae and Afro-Latin music.

Its track listing included "Dile", "Soldados", Quitate Two", "Matando", "Baila Asi", "Chika Ideal", "Rebulera", and "Mi Barrio".

[38] This was a result of Ivy Queen's success with her seventh studio album, Sentimiento, which sold 9,000 copies in its first week and was certified platinum within two months of release.

[39][40] Ivy Queen appeared on Don Francisco Presenta, where she performed "Chika Ideal" (the first single from Real) to promote the album.

Queen performed on the Reggaeton Tour 2004, also featuring Aldo Ranks and La Factoria, in a number of South American countries (including Ecuador); she sang "Papi Te Quiero" and "Tu No Puedes", promoting Diva and Real.

[48] Unlike Queen's previous albums, the artwork for Real features provocative photography; her middle and thighs are emphasized to create a sexy image.

[67][68] After the reggaetón "explosion" on the west coast of the United States, Real helped Ivy Queen enter "Bay Area mainstream hip hop dials" with "Dile", "Tócame" and "Baila Así" "staples" on Hispanic radio stations.

[69] Rolling Stone gave Real three out of five stars, complimenting the "combo of raspy braggadocio and sexy rhymes" and noting the "pop-savvy" nature of the LP.

[73] According to Patricia Meschino of Miami New Times, the album features a "wide range of styles, including the lilting Haitian compas rhythms of 'Dile' ('Tell Her'), the bhangra–flavored 'Baila Asi' ('Dance Like This'), the acoustic guitar ballad 'Ángel Caído' ('Fallen Angel') and 'Tocame' ('Caress Me'), all of which are adapted to Ivy Queen's 'confident, raspy vocals'".

[27] Leila Cobo of Billboard said the album was "highly anticipated" after the release of Diva: Platinum Edition several months earlier, with over 100,000 copies sold.

[6] Agustin Gurza of the Los Angeles Times criticized the album, claiming "[it] lacks real instruments,"[70] calling it bawdy and indecent.

[78] Terra Networks called the music video for "Chika Ideal" one of the hottest of the summer, saying the song showed "why she is the queen of reggaetón".