Mostly wowed…
[Video]
[7.54]
Alfred Soto: Lullabies of clubland rank among my favorite jams: losing your heart on the dance floor and the beats provide just enough release. “Bby Wow” has shockingly gone top ten in America. The guy, represented by Rusowsky, gets a POV, and, as that delicious rhythm insists, he and Karol still have something.
[8]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I had trouble getting my head around this one at first; “Bby Wow” is endearingly formless — not quite an eternal pre-chorus or an endless hook but instead a best case scenario for the oft-maligned specter of the vibes-only record. Even the title is a sigh, the closest thing to a meaningless phrase you can get while still using two actual words. In weaker hands this would be mush over a middling Tainy drum loop, but Karol G et al are experienced with this kind of mood music, floating over it glamorously.
[7]
Tom Feckerdt: Nothing about “Bby Wow” is trend-friendly. There’s no immediate hook or meme-able turn of phrase to draw in the casual crowds. Sonically, it’s a late-to-the-party convergence on a lot of Latin sounds past their big mainstream moment: the reggaeton cadence of the main melody, the subtle production nudges towards afrobeats, the dancehall “Coolie Dance” riddim sample, and even the mild lagging on said sample that makes the song accidentally flirt with guaracha. It never settles on any individual sound, which makes the single particularly apt for frictionless, background streaming. The one aspect that does cohere is the vibe of late-night loneliness and regret, maybe some tentative hope of starting anew. Thankfully, that combination’s worked wonders over the years for auteur producer Tainy, and his template works its magic again here: the chords linger deep and heavy at just the right tempo to evoke a cold and melancholic twilight, while the riddim in the back keeps things moving at an easy pace. As always, Karol G’s words are inessential, so it’s a good thing she’s surrounding herself with eclectic collaborators, in this case a Spaniard try-hard softboy and a post-Rosalia genre bender. The latter, Judeline, is one of the respectable borderline-left-field collaborators Karol got for her new album (alongside Oklou of all people), but here she’s less a collaborator chiming in on someone else’s material and more a spectral second fiddle emphasizing the song’s main ideas. By Karol’s own admission, “Bby Wow” was originally an unfinished track from her writing sessions with Judeline, but she changed her mind at the last minute and assembled the song the day she announced the album’s tracklist. Pain me as it does to admit it, I can tell. It feels like a piecemeal composition, where any of these people could be singing any given section and you’d get the same result. Cool chords, though!
[5]
David Allun Jones: The “Coolie Dance” riddim remains undefeated. Whereas most songs buoyed by that relentless pummel would have settled for its quick-hit nostalgia value alone, Karol G’s contribution to the Dance Floor Moping aesthetic utilizes the sample in ways more meta, cleverly tying it into a lyric centered on the wave of emotions triggered when that beat, a favorite of a much-missed ex, hits her ears. Guests Judeline and Rusowky feel a bit under-used here – Judeline’s “Summertime Sadness”-reminiscent opening melody especially deserving more airtime – though their added vocal textures pleasantly expand the track’s sublime daydream swirl, anchoring “Bby Wow” as the perfect soundtrack for our current seasonal transition in its balance of autumnal melancholy and summertime sizzle.
[8]
Nortey Dowuona: Once again, Coolie, Everton, Lionel & Elijah have saved another artist from the salt mines. Wild how Tainy, Omar Fedi, Raphie Choo, even our three vocalists all collectively threw their hands up and didn’t even attempt to put down their own drum pattern. It’s a better drum pattern than anything they could have come up with, but still!
[6]
Thomas Ruan: I was going to write something like “The best move “BbY WOW” makes is slowing the “Coolie Dance” riddim down, opening room for Karol G’s wistful vocal line to tumble leisurely on,” etc. But it turns out that the tempo is 120 BPM: the same as the original, Nina Sky, or Vybz Kartel versions. So my score is [7] for catchy but not too memorable, plus a bonus point for successful perceptual trickery.
[8]
Harlan Talib Ockey: Karol G and Rusowsky’s voices swirl in and out of Tainy and Omer Fedi’s reverb-flooded production. (Judeline is also there; unfortunately she doesn’t get a verse, and her harmonies with Karol G are a lightly sparkling aftertaste rather than a main feature.) Also, big fan of Rusowsky’s lyrical juxtaposition between “what that mouth do 😏” and “The thousand voids you’ve pushed me into are ringing…”.
[7]
Andrew Karpan: There is, perhaps, really no greater feeling in the world than being baby.
[10]
Jel Bugle: A block of vocoder and echo, pleasant enough, but nothing really grabs me.
[5]
Julian Axelrod: A prime example of how to scale sideways into stadium status while retaining the core of your signature sound. The fact that I didn’t notice the Judeline and Rusowsky parts until third or fourth listen is a testament to both the power of Karol’s presence and the totality of her vision.
[8]
James M Errington: Such a fever dream, but also with such a steady pulsating energy. I would be lying if I said I knew the whole lineage of this, but it feels like there’s something new here, a transcendent melancholic bliss.
[9]
Dave Moore: The #1 song in the world! And no one is talking about it! That earns it a bonus point.
[8]
Charlotte Gaze: Contemplative in the club, in much the same way as previous Tainy classic “La Canción“, but with the pulse of an ever-reliable and well-implemented 2000s riddim to keep it from getting lost in the sauce. A versatile song coming in clutch to rescue this summer, and likely many summers beyond.
[9]