The Singles Jukebox

Big beats, big names, big hats…

[Video][Website]
[5.50]

Juana Giaimo: I used to really like Anitta, but ever since she started trying to become a worldwide popstar, I think she sacrificed too much of her persona. In “Me Gusta” the delicacy and sensuality of her voice has been erased and it feels she could be replaced by anyone. The verses are in Spanish and English, and none of those languages are her native one, but they are the languages that have commercial success now. “Me Gusta” also offers rather superficial LGBT content, with lyrics that seem more like a draft, full of “ya” and “yeah,” and even the drop is quite boring. It has the typical warm vibes (Latin American mainstream artists still have a hard time detaching from that), with what seem real guitars and drums combined with some electronic production. Oh, and then Cardi B and Myke Towers appear almost as if they were forced into the song; there is no dynamic between the three of them.
[4]

Alfred Soto: A triumph of self-declared polymorphous perversion, “Me Gusta” can’t shake its shackling to a pinched reggaeton riff and a bland chorus, both of which are the aural equivalents of a boy reuniting with an abandoned girlfriend in a putatively queer film.
[5]

Tobi Tella: A more subtle and well-done “casual lesbianism” song than Cardi’s previous attempt at it. Her rapid language switching bars are the only urgent thing here: Anitta is playful but subdued, Myke Towers could’ve been left at home.
[5]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: For a song so stuffed with hooks, from the rhythm guitars and percussion breaks to the charisma possessed by two-thirds of the song’s performers, “Me Gusta” is a strangely anonymous affair. Maybe Cardi has already done enough features and songs playing along similar lines. Maybe Anitta cedes too much of the song to her guests, not giving her enough time to set her tone before Cardi washes over the track. Maybe Myke Towers does nothing at all. Regardless of who gets the blame, “Me Gusta” mostly sounds like wasted potential.
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: On “Me Gusta,” Anitta makes baile funk pop — and makes it pop. She flips between English and Spanish, as does guest Cardi B (I love when Cardi raps en español, pulling out another weapon in her ample arsenal), and the two sound great together; the pairing, on record, makes total sense. Puerto Rican rapper Myke Towers adds a solid third verse, both Cardi and Towers add vocal ad-libs, and really, this should by all rights sound like global pop-by-committee — I mean, Ryan Tedder co-produced it — but it’s utterly seamless. “Me Gusta” works, and is an absolute joy. This is precisely the kind of pop record we need at this exact moment in 2020.
[8]

Jessica Doyle: One of our longstanding complaints about Anitta is when she goes low and sounds a bit too detached, which thankfully is not a problem here, and I like the contrast between smooth Myke Towers and Cardi, who tackles the Spanish as if each word has a texture and a taste. The beat is maybe a bit too clean? I fear I’m not going to remember this for long, but it’s a nice change of pace for now, not least given the video’s remarkable ability to convince its watchers for three minutes that COVID-19 doesn’t exist.
[6]