El Perdedor (Maluma song)
| "El Perdedor" | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Maluma | ||||||||
| from the album Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy | ||||||||
| Released | February 9, 2016 | |||||||
| Format | Music download | |||||||
| Length | 3:27 | |||||||
| Label | Sony Music Latin | |||||||
| Writer(s) |
|
|||||||
| Maluma chronology | ||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
"El Perdedor" (English: "The Loser" is a song by Colombian reggaeton artist Maluma taken from his second studio album Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy (2015). Sony Music Latin released it as the album's third single on February 9, 2016 following fan demand. Commercially, the song was successful across countries of Latin America topping the charts in Colombia and Mexico. It also entered the top ten of many Billboard Latin charts, including number five on the main Hot Latin Songs. A music video directed by Jessy Térrero was filmed in Los Angeles and premiered on April 22, 2016. It is meant to illustrate US police racism towards people of Latin descent, a concept seen in the video when Maluma gets arrested because of a forbidden relationship with an American police officer's daughter. The clip received praise for the topics it analyzed and Maluma's acting skills. To further promote the song, Maluma performed it live during stops of his tour in support of Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy.
Contents
Background and chart performance
"El Perdedor" was selected as the third single of Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy due to high demand by Maluma's fans on social media. It was sent to radio stations on February 9, 2016.[1][2] "El Perdedor" is musically complete with reggaeton beats and a tropical sound over which Maluma sings about heartbreak and his need to reconcile with a former lover. He switches the vocal styles from singing to rapping throughout the song.[3] Lucas Villa from AXS praised Maluma's vocal abilities filled with "swagger" and added "there's no doubts that he's winning plenty of hearts with this fresh cut".[3] "El Perdedor" jumped from the position of seven to the top of the Mexican Monitor Latino chart for the week of March 14.[4] In Colombia, "El Perdedor" climbed to the top of the singles chart where it stayed for several weeks.
Music video
A music video for the song, directed by Jessy Térrero was filmed in various locations in Los Angeles in late March 2016.[5] In order to promote the clip, Maluma reposted numerous Dubsmash videos of fans answering the phone to the opening lyrics of "El Perdedor" on his Instagram profile prior to its release.[6] He also posted various pictures of the video shoot. Days leading to the music video's release, footage showing him being violently arrested by the police surfaced online; it quickly became viral and it was not disclosed what were the reasons behind the arrest.[6][7] Maluma released a video statement to his fans regarding the situation, saying,
Thank you for worrying about me. I want to let you all know that I'm fine. Things didn't go too far in this case. I know this is an alarming situation, but I want you all to be patient, and I will talk about it on Friday. I'm moving forward with my life and this Friday, I will give as many declarations as I have to on the subject. Sending you a lot of hugs and kisses, and thank you for being there for me. I love you."[8]
It was later revealed that the arrest was part of the video itself and served as a promotion.[8] The clip premiered on Maluma's official Vevo account on April 22, 2016. Upon its release, Maluma clarified that it was meant to showcase the racism and discrimination by the US police to people of Latin descent living in the country. He further called it a "worrying situation" and added that "it shows why we need to be united now more than ever".[9][10] A similar storyline is present in the video; Maluma gets arrested due to a relationship with an American police officer's daughter who strongly opposes against it.[11] Maluma's girlfriend in the clip is played by model Angelique Cooper.[12] In the beginning, he appears walking down the street when a police car stops him and an officer threatens him to stop "messing around" with his daughter. As the video proceeds, Maluma is seen together with Cooper in various love scenes, keeping their relationship secret. However, he watches her from afar and realizes that she is in a relationship with another man. During the end, Maluma confronts the boyfriend and gets arrested by the police. The video ends with the pair kissing each other and a quote in Spanish follows translating to, "Race, color, religion, gender nor social class should be an obstacle for love. Latinos Unidos."[7] Jessica Lucia Roiz of Latin Times deemed the quote as a "wonderful message".[8] A writer for Los 40 felt that the clip was released in a delicate and right moment for the fight against the discrimination of Hispanics in the US.[13] PopSugar writer Macy Daniela Martin was very positive towards Maluma's acting skills and the video's story. She called it "basically a full-on short film, featuring all the action shots and bold definition you can handle in under five minutes".[14] Lucas Villa of AXS wrote that the storyline of the video was "cinematic-like".[3]
Live performances
"El Perdedor" was performed by Maluma in various concerts throughout 2016 as part of the set list of his tour in promotion of Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy. Las Vegas Sun journalist Chris Kudialis in review of a show in Las Vegas reported that the song "kept the crowd engaged".[15]
Charts
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Colombia (National-Report)[16] | 1 |
| Mexico (Billboard Mexican Airplay)[17] | 1 |
| Mexico (Monitor Latino)[4] | 1 |
| US Hot Latin Songs (Billboard)[18] | 5 |
| US Latin Pop Songs (Billboard)[19] | 7 |
| US Tropical Airplay (Billboard)[20] | 10 |
See also
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Maluma – Chart history" Billboard Hot Latin Songs for Maluma. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
- ↑ "Maluma – Chart history" Billboard Latin Pop Songs for Maluma. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
- ↑ "Maluma – Chart history" Billboard Tropical Airplay for Maluma. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
