Additional personnel: Voltio.

By the 2000s, the rise of Latin pop, reggaeton, and Rock en Espanol (mirroring the booming Latin population in the United States) made it possible for mainstream pop stars to cross market. Reigning contemporary R&B queen Beyonce did just that with her 2007 EP IRREEMPLAZABLE, which contains eight tracks, four of which are in Spanish. The EP's centerpiece is Beyonce's 2006 smash hit "Irreplaceable," sung in Spanish, along with Spanish-language versions of "Listen" and "Beautiful Liar."

Given the slick pop sheen of Beyonce's tunes, their immediate accessibility and hookiness, it's not at all odd that they translate so well. This is the sort of pop that isn't culturally specific, but the Spanish language vocals clearly gives the EP an extra appeal in Latin communities. The lead-off track, "Amor Gitano," sets the tone, while a Spanglish version of "Beautiful Liar," and remixes of the English-language versions of "Beautiful Liar," "Irreplaceable," and "Get Me Bodied" (featuring mix work by Timbaland) round out the package.

Four months after Columbia released a "deluxe edition" of B'Day, which added a second disc, the label released this "special low-priced CD" -- essentially the bonus disc from the deluxe B'Day with a tacked-on Timbaland remix of "Get Me Bodied." If you're a die-hard Beyonc‚ fan, you'll probably feel jerked around a bit -- especially if you bought B'Day when it came out in September 2006 and bought the deluxe edition seven months later, only to find out that the bonus material would later come out on its own (with a track not on the second disc of the deluxe edition!). And there's really not much to the disc, anyway: a Spanish-language version of "Irreplaceable," along with its attendant norte¤a mix, the subdued "Listen (Oye)," three mixes of "Beautiful Liar," "Amor Gitano" (a duet with Alejandro Fern ndez), and the aforementioned Timbaland remix. ~ Andy Kellman