The Singles Jukebox

Old world reggaeton…

[Video]
[4.50]

Ryo Miyauchi: From what I understand, “Alocao” hinges on the pull of two players who try to keep their game while letting the other fold. Blame Bad Gyal’s voice, but it’s hard to buy into her side of the story of her male counterpart as a side piece with actual history; she conveys less nonchalance than pure detachment from her narrative. It’s also tough to compare when her foil is Omar Montes, who fights against the chill of the beat with a brute voice and a slick, sleazy tongue. The conversation in “Alocao” leans a little too one-sided.
[5]

Alfred Soto: Dance tracks depend on the anonymity of vocalists. But Bad Gyal doesn’t sound anonymous — she sounds bored, if not disengaged, while Omar Montes tries too hard to lift this preset-anchored track up a hill.
[3]

Edward Okulicz: There’s something unnatural about this song, like the beat is too loud, too sharp in a way that’s trying to stave off boredom. The same could be said for Bad Gyal, who brays for attention, straining to be heard over the boring beat but instead being trapped like a vortex. Montes’s delivery, as if too tired to open his mouth more than a fraction, at least provides some contrast.
[4]

Michael Hong: Omar Montes smooths everything out with a severe case of mush mouth while Bad Gyal brings sharpness through her over-enunciation. There’s a reason Montes is relegated to ad-libs on Bad Gyal’s verses and the lack of chemistry only emphasizes the instrumental falling into a sluggish side-shuffle that never truly takes off.
[3]

Oliver Maier: Bad Gyal outshines Montes whenever she actually gets hold of the mic, which is not often enough. Thankfully not even his mediocre performance can suppress the ebullient beat.
[6]

Kylo Nocom: Bad Gyal mops the floor with her boorish collaborator on a song that’s horny in ways both regrettable and kind of entertaining. If this is what it takes to make her a presence in Spanish mainstream airplay and not just a fixture of Fact Magazine hype, so be it.
[6]