"Rei Momo" is the debut solo album by David Byrne, released on October 3, 1989. This album follows his earlier collaborative work, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981), and showcases a vibrant mix of Latin music styles, including rumba, mambo, merengue, cumbia, and samba, drawing from various countries like Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Brazil.
While the album is primarily sung in English, it features notable guest appearances from artists such as Kirsty MacColl, Willie Colón, and the legendary Celia Cruz.
Rei Momo was co-released by Luaka Bop and Sire Records. Notably, three tracks—"Loco de Amor," "Good and Evil," and "Office Cowboy"—were excluded from the LP version but included in cassette and CD formats. To promote the album, Byrne performed "Dirty Old Town" and "Loco de Amor" on the Thanksgiving episode of Saturday Night Live in 1989, further highlighting the album's eclectic sound and Byrne's artistic versatility.
