Colombian artists J Balvin and Ryan Castro released this Thursday ‘Omerta’, their first collaborative album with Italian mafia aesthetics and based on the philosophy of family and loyalty, classic gangster movies.
“In this universe, trust is not negotiated, it is assumed; family is not metaphor, it is structure, and music becomes the most honest channel to narrate what cannot always be said face to face,” explains the artists’ press team in a statement.
‘Omerta’ is a word meaning silence in the Sicilian code of honor and is the title of a novel by the writer Mario Puzo, author of ‘The Godfather’.
The artists announced the album a month ago with a promotional video starring Colombian actress Sofia Vergara and also featuring actor Marlon Moreno, known for his role as a drug trafficker in the soap opera ‘El Capo’ (2009); American rapper Eladio Carrion, and J Balvin’s wife, Argentinean model Valentina Ferrer.
Tonto’ and ‘Pal Agua’, the first singles released from the album, are joined by eight other tracks that “reflect a generational dialogue shaped by the codes of Medellín”, the city where they both hail from.
Omerta’ marks J Balvin’s return with new album featuring Ryan Castro
In ‘Tonto’, J Balvin offers a sample of his family because the song begins with the words of his son Rio introducing the track: “I’m Godzilla and I present; Dj Snake, Sog, J Balvin, Ryan Castro, Latino gang”.
The album’s title track is ‘One at a Time’, a song with dancehall and Caribbean percussion influences that, according to the press team, defines the project’s sound identity from the start.
The album also explores more experimental sounds in songs like ‘Dalmation’, with synthesizers and marimbas, or ‘Melo’, which mixes dancehall and references to NBA player LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets.
In ‘GWA’, in collaboration with Eladio Carrión, J Balvin and Ryan Castro incorporate elements of trap, while tracks like ‘Medetown’, ‘Bengali’ and ‘Pal Agua’ veer towards more summery, coastal atmospheres.
The album closes with the song ‘Omerta’, produced by the also Colombian SOG, a more introspective piece in which both artists reflect on the discipline, the pressure of the industry and the permanence within the urban genre.
In one of the verses, J Balvin tells Castro: “Ryan no te dañes”, a phrase that the statement interprets as a warning born of experience and survival in music.
J Balvin is presenting his ‘Ciudad Primavera’ stadium tour, reported Agencia EFE, with long-running shows in which he has already performed in Medellín, Bogotá, Cali, Pereira, Cúcuta, Bucaramanga and Barranquilla, with only the one in Cartagena de Indias on May 9 to go, reported Agencia EFE.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
