New Music Friday 9/10 – Balvin the Heavy Hitter

New Music Friday is already here. September has been moving at breakneck pace, it already feels like the month is over. Nonetheless, we are here for all of your new music needs.

This week we have the highly anticipated new album from J Balvin titled Jose. We also have new music from Rauw Alejandro, Chris Brown, Sofia Reyes, Casper Magico, Zion & Lennox, Mon Laferte and many others.

For last week’s post, click here.

Without further ado, let’s get to work.

Nostaligico – Rvssian, Rauw Alejandro, Chris Brown

Rauw Alejandro has ascended to the top of reggaeton and has now surpassed the genre. He’s just a mainstream star in the Latin world. He’s really on the verge of becoming a global icon. He is knocking on that door. Now this doesn’t impress me as much as “Todo de Ti” did when it dropped but I’m a pretty big fan of this track. Adding Chris Brown certainly helps add to his legitimacy as a mainstream powerhouse.

Darte – Casper Magico, Nio Garcia, Zion & Lennox

One of my complaints about La Sistema was that Lennox’s voice felt strained. While there’s still some of that here, it’s much less prominent. This is a return to form for Zion & Lennox alongside one of the best duos in the game right now. Good song.

MMC – Dalex, Jowell & Randy, Lenny Tavarez, Justin Quiles, Rich Music LTD

This just isn’t a very good song.

Mal de Amores – Sofia Reyes, Becky G

Cumbia from Becky G and Sofia Reyes? Not what I was expecting. Now I love both of these women. It’s been well documented how long I’ve loved Sofia Reyes for. I’m not going to let that cloud my judgement here. This is a very good song. I think this will be something that helps get my English speaking friends into some different genres of Latin music. It’ll definitely get played at Salsa Saturdays, no doubt.

Adios – Deorro, Andrez Babii

Deorro is a big hit or miss artist. This one hits. This is the shot of energy I needed tonight after a long week. This is like musical coffee to keep me going. Good stuff.

Incontrolable – Dalmata

Dalmata is an OG of this game. However, being an OG does not mean all of your music, especially new music, is good. This song has its moments. There are spurts of enjoyment. That does not make for an overall great song by anymeans. Worth the listen if you like Dalmata but otherwise, not much doing here.

Nothing Else Matters – Mon Laferte

Now this is the kind of Metallica cover that I was looking forward to. This is more than J Balvin’s cover, which felt like a gimmick. This is much more of a deliberate and well thought out cover. It perfectly blends the tone of the Metallica song with Mon Laferte’s style. This is one to come back to time and time again.

Pasame la Botella – Magic Juan, Toño Rosario, Shelow Shaq

I’m a sucker for revivals of classic tracks. This is a much appreciated and very enjoyable revival of the old reggaeton classic. This modernizes the track just enough to make it relevant but not too much to make it unrecognizable. I’m a big fan.

El Tracatra – Las Villa, Wisin, Kevvo

I’m going to be honest with you. There is nothing really memorable about this song. There just isn’t.