The Singles Jukebox

Finally, the Jukebox covers a song about me!

[Video][Website]
[5.50]

Claire Biddles: What isn’t irresistible about a song that steals its introduction from “Rhythm is a Dancer” and whose title translates to “Boy Magic”, the greatest combination of two words in any of the world’s languages? 
[7]

Danilo Bortoli: Valesca Popozuda has always relied on gimmickry in order to deliver her songs. “Beijinho no Ombro” became a cultural phenomenon in Brazil mainly because it embodied ratchet culture in a new, catchy manner for its time. “Boy Magia” doesn’t do anything different — it derives from a well-known trope (“boys magia” are described as sexually attractive men in certain queer circles). That is, the song itself works as a meme — a good and fun one, but nothing more.
[5]

Iain Mew: Popozuda’s performance is engaging and she sounds like she’s having fun to the point of laughing mid-word. It’s what keeps the cavernous beats sounding like a good time and not a crushing storm, and even then it’s a close-run thing.
[7]

Alfred Soto: The marching band percussion is a good sound in theory, but I hear the discord between it and the chorus. Kudos to the Brazilian’s agility in chuckling and talking through the verses and the laser beams synths aimed at her as if she were in a K-pop tune.
[5]

Madeleine Lee: It’s hard not to be charmed by a well-timed casual giggle in the middle of a song, but those soggy drums in the background are trying their best to ruin the mood.
[4]

Ryo Miyauchi: Valesca Popozuda keeps up with those drums with ease, enough to crack a satisfied laugh as she does it. But it becomes a hot mess when the chorus hits. The drums go off on its own beat like firework poppers while she needs some calm to let that title phrase ooze with titillation. Those slow-burning synths suggest mystique, but “Boy Magia” blows its cover real quick.
[4]

Tim de Reuse: I gotta admit — I’m really into the way the word “Magia” gets grotesquely stretched out while a bombastic percussion section plays triplets underneath. I even like how every single beat feels like an accent, and how every element is designed to attract so much attention that the forward momentum of the whole thing becomes disorienting and unpleasant. This song is that one person at a concert who’s so incredibly into it that they cheer in the front row but clap on the one and the three — enthusiastic to a fault, unrestrained by precepts of restraint.
[6]

Juana Giaimo: “Boy Magia” would work well at a club, where the most successful songs are  straightforward, short and have a fun hook. I can even imagine my friends and I imitating Valesca Popuzuda sighing “um boy magia,” making amusing faces, but I can’t imagine listening to this in any other context. 
[6]

Ramzi Awn: Synths are in full Euro-dance effect, and the hooks are tight on “Boy Magia.” Pace and energy fuel the track, though all the moving parts may lead to some dance-floor confusion. All in all, happy holiday fun.  
[7]

Brad Shoup: She’s disinterested in any magic the twinkling, humid track offers, opting for plainly voiced lust (and a fair amount of laughter). It sounds like well-rehearsed patter, but not rote. I kept waiting for the drop in the funk; it never arrived.
[7]

Anthony Easton: For a woman who is named after her juicy ass, and a genre named after dance halls, this is disappointingly shallow in ass shaking. 
[4]

Natasha Genet Avery: “Boy Magia” stuffs garbled beats, pulsing synths, and even a 2012 drop into two and a half minutes, and I still found myself bored by the time the first chorus rolled around.
[4]