Touching down in Puerto Rico…

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[7.33]

Rebecca A. Gowns: These boys don’t just rap, they play around and with each other, creating an easy back-and-forth flow that brings to mind the irreverence of Das Racist. The instrumental here sounds like not just one, but perhaps a few Cassie tracks, laid on top of each other. It’s a beautiful combination. The overall effect: chill + chill + chill = ultra firme.
[9]

Andrew Casillas: Füete Billëte is by far the most innovative rap group to hit Puerto Rico since Calle 13, which is a bit interesting when you consider how indebted the former is to the latter. Just like Calle 13, Füete Billëte is prone to playing up misogyny and shock for laughs, and each toes the line between self-righteousness and mock preaching (sometimes to their detriment). But what they most have in common is an innate ability to craft pitch-perfect singles. “La Trilla” sounds like charisma bathing in luxury cologne, with its 8-bit keyboard riffs and the sly singing in the chorus. Bonus points for the cheekiness of the middle-eight rap. One of the leanest four minutes in pop this year.
[9]

Alfred Soto: Never mind their Outkast-bating artwork: they’ve got Killer Mike’s production down pat. Their call and response is confident and casual. Points off for “fuckin’ haters” though.
[6]

Iain Mew: The loveliest vintage synth washes heard around these parts since Neon Indian prove to be surprisingly compatible with a call of “fuckin’ haters!” Thank the fun and flexible rapping that splits the difference.
[7]

Crystal Leww: The monotony is suddenly halted with a “fucking haters!” about 2/3 of the way through the song, but then it returns to a pretty consistent buzz of rappers with serviceable flows. Everything sounds…fine. This is a fine mixtape track, but yeah, just that.
[5]

Will Adams: The beat sports an ample low-end that can handle the sing-raps laid over it, but the rest of it is so unremarkable — the synth lines, especially that arpeggiated one, feel grade-school and functionless. I mostly felt cheated that the distorted drums that open “La Trilla” vanish after four bars, only to return in flashes. As for the rapping: I could take it or leave it.
[6]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: So, this jams. There is some of great Alabama duo G-Side’s open ear to the potentially corny/cutesy synthpop here, as well as their gift of layering over just enough of the spacebound haze that certain Internet factions go wild. And yet the singsong deliveries and pop-rap hookiness of “La Trilla” show artists playfully at ease with their music — more the success of savvy craftwork than swag.
[8]

Brad Shoup: Don’t want to imply second-class status here, but I could totally hear this on The Beat 102.3, at least before it completely sold out. Every once in a while, we’d get a killer, laid-back Spanish-language track from a rappa/sanga combo. Here, the singing and rapping are coming from the same place, and they’re both riding a gauzy, synth-spangled beat. The synths shimmer like the aftermath of cymbals and whine like fireworks. The dip to the lower register makes this a complete tune, rather than a particularly canny (yet attractive) pop move.
[8]

Zach Lyon: It’s got the undeniable stamp of a rapper that shouldn’t be singing, which is always charming except sometimes when Drake does it. And there are probably a zillion American indiepop references to be made for these specific synth currents, and it’s not like some form of them hasn’t been used in rap and R&B every damn day for the past three years, but they sound perfect here. Like forget-everything-you-know-it-doesn’t-matter-anymore perfect. About as successful a reappropriation job there is.
[8]