Nuevo Culture

Rico Nasty Joins Kali Uchis on Thundering, Bilingual ‘Aquí Yo Mando’

Kali Uchis embraces the brute-force 808s and chattering hi-hats of trap on her new single “Aquí Yo Mando.”

Uchis is casually commanding here, making her control clear in the song’s opening lines: “You do everything that I say,” she raps in Spanish. “If you’re with me, only I call the shots.” Uchis continues to deliver hammering, amusing one-liners — “I know I’m your obsession like Romeo Santos” is one obvious standout — and Rico Nasty also contributes a verse, sprinkling a handful of Spanish phrases in between drilling English couplets: “Bossy but you know I be/Classy but still your freak.”

“Aquí Yo Mando” relies on a battering ram of a beat co-produced by the reggaeton hit-maker Tainy along with Albert Hype, Jon Leone, and Rvnes.

After the lolling funk of 2018’s Isolation, Uchis has showed more interest in forceful club sounds during the last 18 months. Last year she put out “Solita,” a slinky missile co-produced by Tainy and Sevn Thomas (Rihanna’s “Work”) that appealed to fans of both reggaeton and dancehall. Uchis also contributed vocals to “Malvada,” another thunking reggaeton cut from Tainy’s March EP Neon16 Tape: The Kids That Grew Up On Reggaeton.

In April, Uchis released To Feel Alive. The four-track EP was recorded during quarantine.