The Singles Jukebox

I’m going to ruin your day by informing you that there is Pitbull/Enrique slash fiction. And no, I’m not sorry.

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[4.75]

Anthony Easton: Iglesias’ verse is oddly sweet and light, floating from Pitbull’s mechanics like a lost sample from some Sam and Dean rip off, which makes the whole thing a smart example of production. 
[7]

Juana Giaimo: There is something in Pitbull that disgusts me — his rapping is dull and he thinks he is the best when he is actually pathetic. “Messin’ Around” is no exception. Besides, Enrique Iglesias never sounded so generic in a chorus section that drags on by featuring several attempts to be catchy which all fail one after the other. “I’m ready, girl, are you ready?” Nope. 
[3]

Alfred Soto: Dear god in heaven the “Heard it from a friend who…” bit with Enrique is the most charming thing Mr. 305’s done in years. What’s more, the boys play with the tired trope: messin’ around in this context means having a good time, showing your wares, and the rue in their voices suggest they like it that way. Or it could be two guys singing the hook to each other. After all, they’re messin’ around.
[6]

Scott Mildenhall: Last year was the first since 2008 in which Pitbull did not have a top 10 hit in the UK. A constant left pop culture with nary a flag flown half-mast, and perhaps that’s fired him up. He’s rapping with more urgency here than he often does, and from such a low base that 10% is audible. Everything else is laid-back, but not necessarily that fun. Enrique is enjoying himself though – still the guy who apologises about his mate, every night, every week, to the point that it’s almost as if the differences between them are merely superficial.
[5]

Brad Shoup: Pit strands the wordless singalong at the start; admittedly, I’m not a businessman. Still seems shortsighted. Nothing after that is juicier than Enrique’s California English. It’s pieces of pure pop, strewn along a throwback snap production. It’s just not dumb enough.
[6]

Edward Okulicz: The homoeroticism of these two singing this song to each other is extinguished by the fact that Iglesias doesn’t sound like Iglesias, he doesn’t sound like anyone, or anything. Did Pitbull build a Latin Vocaloid? He’s going to get so rich if so.
[3]

Cassy Gress: It’s sort of strange to me that Pitbull and his perfectly round head put out the most agreeable proposition song I’ve heard in months. It’s a pretty simple song, but it knows it and doesn’t try to do anything too crazy — even when he and Enrique “break it down right quick” it doesn’t amount to much more than additional voices. I’m not sure why Enrique is here though, as he’s filtered so heavily that he may as well just be pitch-shifted Pitbull.
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: Tame by Pitbull’s standards, and the only people who are gonna get the REO Speedwagon reference are 45 and over — is that really the audience he’s going for? Iglesias is aural wallpaper here. 
[3]