‘Mesmerize’ by Ja Rule and Ashanti, ‘My Boo’ by Usher and Alicia Keys, ‘Dilemma’ by Nelly and Kelly Rowland, ‘Hurt You’ by Babyface and Toni Braxton, ‘Hate That I Love You’ by Rihanna and Ne- I… History has left great romantic R&B duets sung by boys and girls. Sometimes she was the rapper and he was the singer, as is the case with Missy Elliott and Ginuwine’s seductive ‘Take Away’.
Álvaro Diaz and Nathy Peluso join this long tradition of romantic music with their new single, ‘Xq Eres Así?’, the Song of the Day. Although only time will tell if ‘Xq Eres Así?’ deserves to be incorporated into that pantheon of classics, Diaz and Peluso’s intention to recover the style of the R&B ballads of the 2000s is clear. On the one hand, the production emits that Timbaland aroma that you remember. On the other hand, the song is pure seduction.
In ‘Xq Eres Así’, Álvaro and Peluso play two lovebirds who miss each other. For them not seeing each other is the end of the world. Álvaro and Nathy wait for the other to call them on Facetime, they look for each other on the street. But they have distanced themselves. Why are you like this, girl, he sings. Why are you like this, boy, she sings. And Nathy, as if invoking Rocío Jurado, warns that love has burned from using it so much: “We wanted each other so much that we made it burn / and it really started to burn us,” she sings.
‘Xq Eres Así’ is the first musical union of Álvaro Diaz and Nathy Peluso. Coincidentally, both have released an album this year, in the same month of May: ‘Sayonara’ came out on the 17th, and ‘GRASA’ on the 24th. Both albums remain on the Spanish album chart: ‘GRASA’ has re-entered at 23 thanks to the release of its vinyl edition, and ‘SAYONARA’ remains at 52.
The video clip for ‘Xq Eres Así’ confirms the influence of the 2000s on the entire project, evoking the atmosphere of an American suburban house of the time, and also the costumes. Directed by Agustín Puente (‘GRASA’) and Didi Doménech (C. Tangana).
