While we’ve been seeing Bad Bunny put up monster numbers in the Latin field for a couple years at this point, the latest album from Colombian star KAROL G has seen her take an impressive record for herself – narrowly edging out the ongoing success of SZA’s SOS, MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO is history’s first #1 … Continue reading KAROL G – MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO
Reggaeton
Bad Bunny – Un Verano Sin Ti
Even with the scores of K-pop fans, it’s entirely possible that Puerto Rican experimentalist Bad Bunny is currently the biggest musical brand in the world. Breaking Drake’s monster first-week streaming totals with his fourth solo studio album after a surprise drop, Un Verano Sin Ti is over 80 minutes in length and rarely feels like … Continue reading Bad Bunny – Un Verano Sin Ti
Daddy Yankee – LEGENDADDY
With his last album release nearly a decade ago, it’s impressive that the influence of Puerto Rican reggaeton originator Daddy Yankee still reverberates so strongly throughout the global music culture. The man who coined the term behind the genre that is now so prevalent in the mainstream wherever you go, many up-and-comers still pay their … Continue reading Daddy Yankee – LEGENDADDY
ROSALÍA – MOTOMAMI
To fully put into perspective just how mind-bending Spanish pop experimentalist Rosalía’s highly-celebrated fusions of genre can be: different online articles have compared her latest to the works of The Beastie Boys, Moby, Lorde and Nine Inch Nails. Rosalía herself has said it was inspired by Nina Simone and J. S. Bach, and actual collaborators … Continue reading ROSALÍA – MOTOMAMI
Arca – KICK ii
Avant-garde Venezuelan electropop artist Arca has been one of music’s most boundlessly forward-thinking personalities for years now, and she continued to surprise this past week when she announced that her long-anticipated KICK ii album, a sequel to last year’s excellent KiCk I that jumpstarted the series, was actually going to be four albums, released one … Continue reading Arca – KICK ii
Anuel AA & Ozuna – Los Dioses
Perhaps jumping on the bandwagon kickstarted by Latin trap titans Bad Bunny and J Balvin teaming up on a collaborative project last year, two of the genre’s B-tier names (to North American audiences at least) have elected to do the same. Anuel AA has always been a bit of a lite version of Bad Bunny … Continue reading Anuel AA & Ozuna – Los Dioses
Bad Bunny – YHLQMDLG
As Latin-influenced music continues to take over every facet of the worldwide music industry, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny has repeatedly proven that he’s a force to be reckoned with, as his sophomore full-length album brings in more sales for an album recorded in Spanish in over a decade. Titled YHLQMDLG, an abbreviation of a … Continue reading Bad Bunny – YHLQMDLG
Rapid Fire Reviews (Ariana Grande, Broods, Luis Fonsi)
I've been gone for a while but my school commitments are once again slowing down and I'll be able to catch back up to the present with some quick posts here. I just completed my first year at journalism school and will be writing music reviews in major publications this summer! Here are my thoughts … Continue reading Rapid Fire Reviews (Ariana Grande, Broods, Luis Fonsi)
Bad Bunny – X 100PRE
One of the biggest musical trends over the previous year was pop music beginning to draw from many different aspects of various Latin-American genres, perhaps none more so than Latin trap. Already a global superstar, it was Bad Bunny’s feature verse on Cardi B’s “I Like It” that turned him into a household name in … Continue reading Bad Bunny – X 100PRE
Rapid Fire Reviews (Cardi B, Kali Uchis, Pentatonix)
Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy 2017’s breakout star Cardi B finally releases her debut studio album, and while it certainly isn’t anything groundbreaking, she delivers 13 very solid tracks loaded with the hilarious personality we’ve come to love, a bevy of great guest spots and some surprisingly impressive technical skill. Invasion of Privacy is just … Continue reading Rapid Fire Reviews (Cardi B, Kali Uchis, Pentatonix)
Ben's Beat - Music Reviews 