“Life has shown me that pauses are necessary for human growth,” J Balvin wrote last month on social media, which almost served as a prelude to what seems like a momentous event in his career: releasing his first album in three years. “I’m here again, recharged with energy, grateful and enjoying music like I did when I started.”
In a time when the music industry is moving at warp speed, Balvin went against the current and slowed down, going back to his roots in an effort to reconnect with his day ones with new set Rayo. Even the name of the album is a nod to the early days of his career: “Rayo” was the name of a humble little red car he drove to personally hand out his CDs in Medellín when he was just starting out.
Rayo kicks off with a soft reggaetón banger, “Cosa de Locos,” which is reminiscent of the rhythmic-leaning sound that made Balvin a household name in the first place. From there, the Colombian hitmaker takes listeners on a joyride, where he often detours from reggaetón to arrive at dembow, house music or electro-pop, with collaborators that are just as eclectic as his album, including Carín León, Feid and Saiko.
Rayo follows Balvin’s Grammy-nominated Jose, which peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart. Overall, Balvin has placed four No. 1 sets on the tally since 2016 – also including Energía, Vibras and Oasis, his 2019 joint album with Bad Bunny.
Below, Billboard ranks all 15 songs from Rayo, in descending order.
The post “J Balvin’s ‘Rayo’: All 15 Songs Ranked” by Griselda Flores was published on 08/09/2024 by www.billboard.com