Musically, Ricky Martin consists of dance-pop tracks, power ballads, mid-tempo pop songs, and rock numbers.

[5] It topped the charts in more than 30 countries,[6] and Martin performed it at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, which was greeted with a massive standing ovation and met with acclaim from music critics.

However, the huge interest in the disc encouraged Columbia Records to decide to rush the album to release two weeks ahead of schedule, on May 11.

Tim Devin, the general manager of Tower Records in New York added about Martin: "He's always been one of our strongest Latin artists, but interest in him has picked up considerably since that performance.

[15][16] Ed Morales from Democrat and Chronicle stated that the album "runs the gamut from ska and rock' n' roll to Latin pop".

[24][26][27] A Spanglish guitar-based down-tempo duet along with Madonna, "Be Careful (Cuidado con mi corazón)" mixes acoustic and electronic elements.

[24][28] The ballad "Private Emotion", which features a guest appearance by Swedish singer Meja is a cover version of a song under the same title by the Hooters for their fifth studio album Out of Body (1993).

This version of "María" is remixed by Puerto Rican DJ Pablo Flores, who upped the tempo and the sex appeal of the song, turning the slow-burn flamenco laced track into an up-tempo samba tune in a house bassline.

[34][37] Columbia Records released "Livin' la Vida Loca" to radio stations on March 23, 1999, as the lead single from the album.

[74] It reached number one in the Czech Republic,[75] and was a top 10 hit in Finland,[76] Norway,[77] Scotland,[78] Sweden,[79] Switzerland,[80] and the United Kingdom.

[73] Music videos were filmed for both English and Spanish versions of "Livin' la Vida Loca", "She's All I Ever Had", "Bella", "Shake Your Bon-Bon", and "Private Emotion".

[91] According to The Wall Street Journal, Martin succeeded Leonardo DiCaprio as "the reigning king of heartthrobs" to become the most popular male celebrity on the American shopping website eBay in 1999, following the album's release.

[104][105] At the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, he performed "She's All I Ever Had" and "Livin' la Vida Loca", accompanied by a group of impressive women dressed in glitter.

[106] To promote the album's material in the United Kingdom, Martin delivered performances of "Livin' la Vida Loca" and "Shake Your Bon-Bon" on the BBC's Top of the Pops on August 6, 1999, and November 19, 1999, respectively.

[15] Rolling Stone's James Hunter felt it lacks the excitement of Martin's 1998 album Vuelve because of its remixes and Warren-penned songs.

However, he said that Martin's take on Latin pop is made interesting enough by highlights such as "Livin' la Vida Loca", "Shake Your Bon-Bon", and the "perfectly constructed ballad" sung with Madonna.

[114] Steve Dollar from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described the album as "shockingly irresistible",[109] and Jim Farber from Daily News thought it is "certainly an improvement over Martin's four Spanish records".

[121] The Times staff assured Martin would be a "household name" before the end of the summer, and described the project as "cheesy, breezy, mass-appeal pop".

[118] In a retrospective review for Billboard, Leila Cobo described Ricky Martin as "an album that went from percussion-filled dance tracks" to "smooth, unabashedly romantic ballads".

[16] Coinciding with the album's 20th anniversary, Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine gave it a positive review, highlighting "Livin' la Vida Loca" for its "clever fusion of ska, rock, mambo, swing and pop sounds", and "She's All I Ever Had" for Martin's "charismatic heartthrob and his passionate and emotive vocals".

[124] Ricky Martin debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 661,000 copies, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan for the chart dated May 29, 1999.

[138] Ricky Martin sold a total of six million copies in the United States in 1999 and was the third best-selling album of the year in the country, only behind Millennium, and ...Baby One More Time by Britney Spears.

[151] Additionally, Ricky Martin peaked at number one in Europe,[152] Finland,[153] New Zealand,[154] and Norway,[155] as well as the top five in many countries, such as Germany,[156] Japan,[157] and the United Kingdom.

[161][162] "Twenty-one years ago Puerto Rican heartthrob Ricky Martin led the Latin explosion with the release of his English-language self-titled album."

"[165] Following his performance of "The Cup of Life" at the Grammys, and the success of "Livin' la Vida Loca" and Ricky Martin (1999), he opened the gates for many Latin artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, Santana, and Enrique Iglesias who released their crossover albums and followed him onto the top of the charts.

[24][166][167] Jim Farber from Daily News noted that Ricky Martin "provides a textbook example of how to mix Latin beats with pop tunes and rock intonations".

[119] Lucas Villa from Spin wrote about Martin's global success in 1999: "When the world went loca for Ricky, he led the way for other Latin music superstars like Spain's Enrique Iglesias, Colombia's Shakira and Nuyoricans like Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony to make their marks beyond the Spanish-speaking crowds.

[160] Celia San Miguel of Tidal Magazine stated that Martin "highlighted the public's thirst for a different kind of pop" in 1999, noting the album's "fusion-heavy" and "hip-shaking rhythms associated with Latin music".

She continued crediting "Martin and the paths he created" responsible for the Latin music and Spanish and Spanglish lyrics being "a commonplace phenomenon on English-language radio" in 2019.

[170] Also, Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield described 1999 as "the year music exploded", mentioning Spears, Aguilera, Martin, NSYNC, and the Backstreet Boys as "a new breed of stars" who got born.