Viva Friday is a compilation of the best new Latin songs, albums and videos recommended by the Billboard Latin editors.
Farruko, Sharo Towers, Andy Clay & Alex A.C. – “El Tiempo Pasa” (Sony Music Latin)
Farruko has returned to classic reggae with “El Tiempo Pasa.” With the song, Farru sends positive vibes amid the world’s current adversities, making you feel peaceful, strong and positive and wishing to go back in time to make things right. According to a press release, Farruko wrote “El Tiempo Pasa” months ago during a writing session outside the country. At the time, COVID-19 was just beginning to spread around the world and progressively advancing in the U.S. — SUZETTE FERNANDEZ
Suenatron – Suenatron
If there’s an album that will get you up and dancing, it’s Suenatron’s eponymous debut, which drops five years after the group kicked off their career. Suenatron showcases the group’s ability to organically fuse an array of sounds, like norteño, cumbia, pop and hip-hop, and pays tribute to their bicultural and bilingual Mexican-American upbringing. Known for their popteño sound, a term they coined to describe their music, the eclectic 10-song production includes previously released uptempo singles like “Cumbia Cali,” “Compas” featuring Jonaz (Plastilina Mosh) and “Botas y Tejanas” — tracks that show off their modern take on cumbias and norteño songs. Fresh off their national tour alongside Ozomatli, the quartet was founded by Hernán and Giovanny Hernández, the sons of Los Tigres del Norte’s Hernán Hernández, who are joined by two of their childhood friends, Matt González and Eduardo Montelongo. — GRISELDA FLORES
Cheo – Sorpresa (Nacional Records)
Cheo (Jose Luis Pardo) whittles down his portfolio of sounds and melodies in Sorpresa, his latest album as a solo act, as he grapples with an increased amount of musical ambiguity after his Los Amigos Invisibles years and as a producer (Rawayana, Okills). An intentionally diverse tale of personal experiences with a defiant swagger, Sorpresa explores the complexities and intricacies of life with a profound-yet-pleasurable analysis of emotions traversing through bouncy and lithe Latin soul, salsa, bossa nova, disco, funk, house, slow grooves and mambo. Marrying his Venezuelan background with injected doses of New York vigor, the grueling period of musical hesitation allowed for a space of inspired conversion. From collaborations by Okills, Lolita Sola, Nave Ascensor, Gamboa, Ulices Hadjis and Simon Grossman, to Monsieur Periné’s Catalina García and Santiago Prieto, the set unlocks new rooms of explorations and celebrates every facet of Cheo’s eclectic body of work. — PAMELA BUSTIOS
Zion & Lennox – “Mujer Satisfecha” (Warner Music Latina)
Produced by Dímelo Flow and Jorge Milano, Zion & Lennox’s new song “Mujer Satisfecha (Satisfied Woman)” organically fuses infectious beats and rhythms like dembow and urbano, pairing perfectly with Zion’s melodic vocals and Lennox’s rapping skills. The cheeky track doesn’t leave much to the imagination, with the duo reminiscing on past relationships. After being featured in collabs with other artists, “Mujer Satisfecha” is the Puerto Rican duo’s first single of the year following their 2019 song “Sistema.” The release of new music was supposed to coincide with Zion & Lennox’s ICONIC Tour Twenty 20, their first trek in the U.S. to pay tribute to their 20-year career, but the tour had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New dates will be announced soon. — GF
Yandel – “Espionaje” (Y Entertainment)
Yandel presents his recent solo track “Espionaje,” fresh off the heels of the Wisin & Yandel collaboration with Sech and the duo’s 2019 Como Antes Tour. With its melodious mix of reggaeton and captivating drumbeats, the song is set to become a club (or quarantine) favorite in 2020. “Espionage,” which was produced by Nesty “La Mente Maestra” and released under Yandel’s record label Y Entertainment, is about a man who’s not willing to let the woman of his dreams escape. The sci-fi-inspired music video was filmed in Medellín, Colombia, under the direction of J.P Valencia for the audiovisual company 36 Degrees and features Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2019, Madison Anderson, as the lead model. “I recorded this one a while ago and have been waiting for a special moment to share it with the world,” Yandel said in an official statement. “Humanity is going through very difficult times and if there is something that has the capacity to cheer hearts, to unite people in these difficult times, it’s music.” — JESSICA ROIZ
Elsa y Elmar feat. Mabiland – “Nadie Va”
Elsa y Elmar has teamed up with Mabiland to not only bring to life a new version of her 2018 “Nadie Va,” but to bring to the forefront the raw female talent hailing from Colombia. The collaboration, which dropped Monday, is a hypnotic trap song fused with slow-tempo pop and R&B-tinged melodies. “I already deleted all the letters and photos that reminded me of you/ I escaped memories, I cut them/ I know they will be useless,” singer-songwriter Elsa Carvajal kicks off the song. Two minutes and 20 seconds in, Medellin-based artist Mabiland drops her fierce rap verses. “Thank you for making me a part of this song,” the Colombian hip-hop artist expressed on Instagram. “To more music with powerful women.” — JR
El Bebeto & W. Corona – “Ya No Soy El Mismo” (Universal Music Group)
El Bebeto is testing urban waters in his new single “Ya No Soy El Mismo” in collaboration with rapper W. Corona. As opposed to the regional urban genre, which combines corridos and Latin trap music, “Ya No Soy El Mismo” is a rhythmic combination of ranchera and flairs of hip-hop, bringing out the best of both the regional Mexican and Latin urban genres. With lyrics such as “I’m not the same anymore/ I don’t even know who I am/ I hope you realize what you did,” El Bebeto sings about a man who can’t fathom the fact his girlfriend played with his heart. In the music video, the singer is seen performing the song in the middle of a foggy woods. — JR
Lido Pimienta – “Te Quería” (Anti-Records)
Colombian-Canadian artist Lido Pimienta previews the third and last single from her forthcoming Afro-Latin and electro-cumbia Miss Colombia, due April 17. “Te Quería” traverses through the broad harmonic overtones of the Caribbean steel pan by James Gregorie and the honeyed flurries of the flute by Karen Ng, which elevate the mood of the song. Pimienta wallows in self-analysis about a nonreciprocal relationship (si tú a mi nunca me querías, ¿yo por qué tengo que darte perlas? “if you never loved me, why do I have to gift you pearls?”), yet her vocals echo an optimistic air in a song that becomes a patchwork of rural reminiscence and folky swells written by Pimienta and co-produced alongside Matt Smith (aka Prince Nifty). — PB
Chicano Batman – “Pink Elephant” (ATO Records)
LA-based outfit Chicano Batman’s “Pink Elephant” skitters gracefully between Carlos Arevalo’s acidic guitar riffs and Eduardo Arena’s commanding bass line, undergirded by Bardo Martinez’s sensuous vocals. The second single from the band’s Invisible People set, slated for May 1, is laden with warm funk-damning vignettes (“She’s the pink elephant in the room/ She’s got an eagle’s eye worth of zoom/ She’s quite incomparable in terms of style/ Extremely f—ing dangerous and hostile”), psych-pop and tropicalia reverberations, shrouded by the amplitude of Gabriel Villa’s jarring drum set and produced by Leon Michels. — PB
