The video to Loco X Volver, the opening track to Maluma’s album by the same name, begins at daybreak, with a Colombian campesino (or farmer) carrying a basket of flowers down the mountain to the strains of an acoustic guitar. The visual — set to the beat of a 6/8 bambuco, the most traditional rhythm of Colombia’s Andean regions — and then Maluma’s opening line —“Mother, what’s this I’m feeling?”—clearly aims to tug at heartstrings.
The song “Loco X Volver” (Dying to Come Back), is a love letter to Colombia that puts everything and the kitchen sink into lyrics and imagery, a smorgasbord of iconic scenes from Maluma’s homeland: soccer, bicycles, firecrackers, grandparents, home cooking, horses, countryside, and a beaming artist who looks genuinely at home (specifically in his state of Antioquia) in the midst of it all. It’s a lot, and yet we lap it up. I watched the video three times in a row, finding new connections to home in every view.
As a Colombian abroad, I am, of course, swayed by this approach. But Loco X Volver, the album, goes much further than simply playing on nostalgia. Maluma’s seventh album is a beautifully rounded, 14-track set where the artist dares to step back from the pop-tinged reggaetón that defines him and adds salsa, vallenato, música popular and acoustic pop.
Featuring collabs with the likes of Belee, Ryan Castro, Kany García and Grupo Frontera, and written and produced together with a cast that includes MadMusick (the production duo of brothers Giencarlos and Jonathan Rivera), Loco highlights an artist ready to make changes.
Beyond “Loco X Volver,” here are five other tracks where Maluma moved out of his comfort zone.
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“Tu Recuerdo”
Maluma calls this a “Salsita motelera,” a smooth, romantic salsa reminiscent of the romantic salsa movement coming out of Puerto Rico in the early ’90s, but directly inspired by Maluma’s grandfathers love of all things classic salsa. It explains why Maluma has done salsa before, notably “La Fórmula” with Marc Anthony. But while that is a far brasher track punctuated by stiletto horns, “Tu Recuerdo” is far more romantic and nostalgic, tinged with longing but also sexy sultriness.
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“El Vallenato”
Yes, this is a vallenato, but call it Maluma-style. “El Vallenato” is about the genre itself in its use of accordion, but it’s more about the feeling of loss that so many vallenatos evoke. The track, co-written with Colombian vallenato star Felipe Peláez and rising artist Maisak (signed to Maluma’s label, Royalty records), is a poignant lament with memorable melody lines.
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“Con el corazón”
Maluma’s collaboration with the late música popular star Yeison Jiménez gained added gravitas due to Jiménez’s death in January in a plane crash, months after the track was recorded. This is a heartbreak track sung by lovelorn pals, but it’s also a testament to the true friendship between the two Colombian stars in their first and only collaboration.
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“Botero”
While Maluma of course inserts reggaetón in much of what he does, forays into rap are rarer. With help from Puerto Rican veteran Arcángel and Spanglish drill star NTG, “Botero” is full of classical music accents in its piano and orchestral arrangements — in sharp contrast with NTG’s rap, Arcángel’s distinctive tenor and chanteo, and through it all, Maluma’s croon. My favorite track on the album.
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“Una Vida Juntos”
Maluma’s fascination with roots music goes back several years, and in the regional Mexican realm, he’s already collaborated with the likes of Carín León and Grupo Frontera. In “Una Vida Juntos,” he returns to Frontera, this time with additional help from El Bogueto. The final track is vintage Maluma in its penchant for melodies, a fine complement to a group that is equally musical.
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