Hawái? That sweet crossover money, of course!
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[4.38]
Juana Giaimo: I thought this remix would be good given that Maluma and The Weeknd share a similar persona, but their music style is so different that The Weeknd is completely out of place here. His voice is too delicate for that strong reggaeton beat that Maluma definitely knows how to handle better. His rapping has never been very strong but here he is versatile, easily changing from rapping to singing from one line to the other. The lyrics of the chorus are quite ironic, something that The Weekend doesn’t transmit at all, and overall, I’m just tired of of pop stars singing in Spanish just because it’s trendy.
[5]
Rodrigo Pasta: The original “Hawái” is a sticky piece of rotten melodrama that takes itself both too seriously and not seriously enough. Maluma’s role of a casanova who can get any girl he wants yet chooses to go back to the same girls over and over is a would-be tragic figure, if he wasn’t so smug and arrogant about everything he says. Here, he doesn’t sound the slightest bit convinced that the girl is actually doing whatever she can to stay on his mind, yet he plays the part anyway, in a foolish yet boring way. The remix brings on the Weeknd, and he does make the song somewhat better, if only for novelty’s sake – he brings in the unnecessary detail that they broke up because he “didn’t want marriage”, and his Spanish singing is stilted and funny. But we’re still left with Maluma, a thouroughly unlikeable presence. Too bad such a catchy melody is wasted on this.
[3]
Thomas Inskeep: The Weeknd brings his sweet, high pop vocals to Maluma’s reggaeton smash, but to what end? The song is stuck in neutral.
[4]
Alfred Soto: Although a distinctive singer, Maluma also likes to kick his shoes off as the groove rides him — a clause I’d never write about The Weeknd, who wants you to notice every yearning recrimination. A nice try.
[5]
John S. Quinn-Puerta: Personally, I’m getting tired of the industry compulsion to add English to perfectly good Spanish language pop in search of a crossover hit.
[4]
Rachel Saywitz: The Weeknd’s attempt to sound soft and seductive fails spectacularly on this track; his voice sounds more like a goat on its dying breaths. In 2021, we can only hope that he won’t feature on a reggaeton track again — oh no, is he going to sing this at the Super Bowl?
[4]
Katherine St Asaph: The Weeknd’s thin, fluttery falsetto is not so bad a fit for Latin music, if you forget for a moment that it’s a cash grab. But by nature it doesn’t add much to Maluma’s already thin track. Somehow — even with their personae, with this subject matter — neither of them sound louche enough.
[4]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Maluma’s original was already teetering on the edge between charming and slimy, with Maluma selling the “damn, happy for you… I could treat you better” vibes with the utmost sincerity. The Weeknd takes an accelerationist approach with the remix — he makes the terms of the break-up explicit, offers to go “half on a baby”, which, no, I’d rather not, and uses his vocaloid-esque croon to make the whole affair distinctly ridiculous. It still grooves, but the Weeknd’s additions make “Hawai” into a funhouse mirror version of itself. Now we just need these two to link up with Sam Hunt for the “Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s” remix to create a dudes who are down bad megamix.
[6]