I dare you to find a better artist name…
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[5.88]
Mark Sinker: Start at the end: the sample is La Lupe — born Guadalupe Victoria Yolí in Cuba, died in poverty in the Bronx, but true-crowned Queen of Salsa for a while along the way, in the 60s — singing a song that mockingly dons the head-dress of tyranny and monsterhood (“I’m [= women] the vampire in yr novel, SEZ YOU [= men]“), with a vivid Eartha Kitt tweak and gliding strut, which makes it very hard for me to resist.
[8]
Anthony Easton: The rise and fall of romantic heartache in the La Lupe sample would have worked pretty fantastically as a bed rock, especially with the insistent drums. Having it tacked on the end as an after thought loses the potential of collapsing time — especially since she is making a social position against reggaetón. What does it mean that she considers the traditional singing of La Lupe as an afterthought when the lyrics of the song refuse the music that is being made today?
[4]
Micha Cavaseno: Very well delivered, very important, but very dreadfully traddish and regressive rappity rap from an impressive woman.
[5]
Alfred Soto: She’s serious about teenage pregnancy and self-determination, so she shouldn’t confuse embracing reggeton with a lack of seriousness. The rhymes are stiff in an early nineties way — the rap on a Consolidated track, say, or Neneh Cherry’s Homebrew.
[5]
Brad Shoup: Impressive craft and no hint of a smile: this is brutalist hip-hop, boom-bap boxing against ghosts.
[4]
David Sheffieck: The power and rage Gabylonia exhibits here is compelling, if also a little exhausting: some greater sense of contrast in the beat or her delivery could make for a more exciting song. But the fact that the start of the outro sample is the first time I take a breath in two and a half minutes is telling.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: This is on some awesome mid-’90s NYC shit, like a b-side from AZ or Jeru. Topped by a fiery bunch of spitting by a Venezuelan rapper, and you’ve got a damn good record.
[6]
John Seroff: “Tirano”s percussion-heavy arrangement incorporates the cleverly interpolated sounds of chimes, tin can clatter, boom bap drumset, birdsong, big bass, xylophone and the crisp, gatling gun of Gabylonia’s pinpoint precise rapping. Even non-Spanish speakers should be able to recognize her 99% ethos; “yo no soy materialista” popped out loud and clear as a rallying cry. I was reminded of People’s Instinctive Travels-era Tribe, which is always a compliment. Google unearthed virtually nothing in English on Gaby and Spotify is claiming >1000 for all three of her sharp singles. Let’s set a good example and welcome her as an artist of note.
[8]