Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro aka Raúl Alejandro Ocasio Ruiz, has achieved a lot in his 31 years so far. Breaking through in 2020 with his debut album ‘Afrodisíaco’, he has since released another three acclaimed albums and notched up plenty of hits including ‘Tattoo’, ‘La Nota’ with Manuel Turizo and Myke Towers, ‘Baila Conmigo’ with Selena Gomez and ‘Todo De Ti’. Recently, the Latin star unleashed his fifth studio album ‘Cosa Nuestra’ (‘Our Thing’), which features the hits ‘Touching the Sky’, ‘Déjame Entrar’, ‘Pasaporte’ with Mr. Naisgai and ‘Qué Pasaría…’ with Bad Bunny.
Clocking in at 67 minutes and 18 tracks, ‘Cosa Nuestra’ is a lengthy collection from Rauw Alejandro. An artist very much still on the ascent, this means he can do pretty much whatever he wants with whoever he wants, and fans will lap it up. ‘Cosa Nuestra’ is primarily split between reggaeton and salsa sounds, although there are plenty of other genres blended in throughout. Opening with the atmospheric title track, Alejandro moves from falsetto to his lower range as a lilting beat drives the song. It’s a sedate start to an album that’s pretty balls-to-the-wall.
Looking at the track list, it reads a little like a who’s who of Latin music right now. Fellow Puetro Rican star Bad Bunny features on ‘Qué Pasaría…’ (‘What Would Happen…’) is a modern slice of reggaeton, the type of which Bad Bunny has crafted to make himself into one of the world’s biggest stars. Pharrell Williams appears on the dual-language ‘Committed’, which veers between sounding like Justin Bieber and Marc Anthony, and breakout Latin star Feid adds some grit on the deep reggaeton beat of ‘Revolú’.
Elsewhere on the record ‘Espresso Martini’ (sadly not a Sabrina Carpenter remix) mixes ‘Stranger Things’-like shimmers with features from Marconi Impara and Yan Block for a chilled-out slice of modern trap, and Italian megastar Laura Pausini lends her distinctive vocals to the epic soundscape of ‘Se Fue’ (‘He Went Away’). The album closes with the Timbaland produced, James Brown-sampling ‘SEXXXMACHINE’, which brings to mind a Spanish-language Michael Jackson style song.
Despite all of the assists on the record, Alejandro truly soars when he’s left to hog the spotlight on his own. The frenetic salsa jam ‘Mil Mujeres’ (‘A Thousand Woman’) plays to his lothario image while the more introspective ‘Ni Me Conozco’ (‘I Don’t Even Know Myself’) proves that Alejandro is far from a one-trick pony. ‘Tú Con Él’ (‘You With Him’) is a cover of the Frankie Ruiz song of the same name, and it’s one of the highlights here showing that away from the tricks and current trends, Alejandro can hold his own with just his voice.
‘Cosa Nuestra’ may have benefitted from being a little shorter and at times the album blends into one. Alejandro has packed plenty of memorable songs in and I’m sure a lot of these will translate better in the live arena, where the star excels thanks to his high energy performances. ‘Cosa Nuestra’ will continue to help Alejandro gain ground in the Latin market and further extend his reach across the globe.
Track list: 1. Cosa Nuestra 2. Déjame Entrar 3. Qué Pasaría… (with Bad Bunny) 4. Tú Con Él 5. Committed (with Pharrell Williams) 6. Espresso Martini (with Marconi Impara & Yan Block) 7. Baja Pa’ Acá (with Alexis y Fido) 8. Ni Me Conozco 9. IL Capo 10. Revolú (with Feid) 11. Mil Mujeres 12. Khé? (with Romeo Santos) 13. Se Fue (with Laura Pausini) 14. Pasaporte (with Mr. Naisgai) 15. Touching The Sky 16. Amar De Nuevo 17. 2:12 AM (with LATIN MAFIA) 18. SEXXXMACHINE Record label: Sony Music Latin Release date: 15th November 2024 Buy ‘Cosa Nuestra’ now
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