‘Die With a Smile’, ‘APT.’, ‘Please Me’ years ago… Bruno Mars doesn’t usually fail when he teams up with a female artist. Lady Gaga, Rosé and Cardi B have given him huge hits, and he has given them huge hits. With ‘Still’, the matter is different: it is not even remotely one of the biggest hits on Karol G’s album, despite the power of the names involved.
It is surprising that, especially with the background of ‘Die With a Smile’ – one of the most successful songs in history – and ‘Si Hasta Te Hubiera Conocido’, Karol G and Bruno Mars have not managed to make a hit together to match: the song does not appear in the entire Spotify top 200. Irony wanted the song to be a collaboration with two Spanish pseudo-underground artists: Judeline and Rusowsky.
‘Still’ has taken a risk by betting on dream-pop, although in this style Carolina Giraldo’s collaboration with Cigarettes After Sex has worked better. In that song, Karol G managed to convey an emotion that does not appear in ‘Still’. Bruno brings all the intensity we know him to, and his virtuoso vocal performance is the best part of the song.
Dedicated to a breakup, ‘Still’ is the typical song about wanting the other person to be okay even though the separation hurts: “I’d still hope you were happy / Even though it’d be hard / ‘Cause I’d still love you / Even with a broken heart.” Karol G and Bruno put emotion into the performance, but the song doesn’t finish flying.
The dream-pop synths and romantic chorus build a ballad that, at the very least, should be pretty, but feels stereotypical and shoddy. Even though Karol and Bruno had never collaborated, it seems like they have already sung this song many times.
