Does anybody know how you say ‘trend-hopping musical carpetbaggers desperately trying to revive the quickly dying embers of their career’ in Spanish? Asking for a friend. And, I guess, for anyone who still remotely cares what will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo are up to on their second Fergie-free album. Truth be told, these bumptious Latin grooves are all likeable enough, albeit pretty generic. And they’ve got a whole slew of guests — including Shakira and J. Balvin — to take the place of Ms. Ferguson (and, coincidentally, insulate themselves from any cultural-appropriation accusations). And let’s face it: Almost anything would be better than another album of lowest-common-denominator junk like My Humps and Pump It. Well, maybe anything except a song based around M.C. Hammer’s Can’t Touch This. That reminds me of a Spanish term I do happen to know: Mierda.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The time has finally come! Popping off on a global scale like they never left, Black Eyed Peas unveil their anxiously awaited eighth full-length album, Translation. Integrating hip-hop, pop, dance, reggaeton, and trap, the album unites Black Eyed Peas with some of the hottest voices in the world. They join forces with Shakira on the sexy and seductive Girl Like Me while the guys go crazy alongside Tyga and Nicky Jam during Vida Loca. Meanwhile, Becky G adds sass and spirit to Duro Hard, and French Montana turns up East Coast-style with a fiery flow on Mabuti. Everything culminates on News Today. Above acoustic guitar and a glitchy beat, they deliver provocative and powerful observations on life in 2020.”
