"Agua" (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: "Water") is a song by Puerto Rican rapper

Daddy Yankee Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (; born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee (), is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor who rose to worldwide prominence in 2004 with the song "Gasolina". Dubbed the "Honorific ...

featuring Puerto Rican singer

Rauw Alejandro Raúl Alejandro Ocasio Ruiz (born January 10, 1993), known professionally as Rauw Alejandro, is a Puerto Rican singer. His accolades include two Latin Grammy Awards, two Billboard Latin Music Awards, ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards and an IHea ...

on vocals and American musician and producer

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...

on guitar, being their first collaboration with each other. It was released on March 24, 2022 simultaneously with Daddy Yankee's eighth and final studio album, ''

Legendaddy "Legendaddy" is the 19th episode of the sixth season of the American sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'' and the 131st episode overall. It aired on CBS on March 21, 2011, to an audience of 8.03 million viewers. The episode was directed by Pamela ...

'', among various other singles from the record. It was accompanied by a music video directed by Dominican filmmaker Marlon Peña. It was written by Daddy Yankee, Rauw Alejandro, Nile Rodgers, American-Colombian singer David "Raey" Fajardo, Venezuelan singer Rafael "Reggi El Auténtico" Aponte, American singer Raúl "Rey Santana" Treviño, Gary Walker, Mexican producer Scott Summers, American-Nigerian producer Emmanuel Anene and American production duo

Play-N-Skillz Play-N-Skillz are a Latin/American record production/DJ group duo from Dallas, Texas, consisting of brothers Juan "Play" Salinas and Oscar "Skillz" Salinas. Their production has won several Grammys including the Grammy Award for Best Rap Perfor ...

members Juan Salinas and Oscar Salinas. It was produced by Daddy Yankee, Play-N-Skillz and Scott Summers. It is a

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song with a trap segment,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

electric guitar riffs and love lyrics. Daddy Yankee wanted to record a 1980s-inspired track and enlisted Rauw Alejandro due to the success of his single "

Todo de Ti "Todo de Ti" () is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro for his second studio album, '' Vice Versa'' (2021). It was written by Eric Duars, Colla, Mr. NaisGai, Rafa Pabón, Jairo Bascope and Alejandro, while the production was ...

" (2021) and Nile Rodgers because of his involvement as producer and guitarist of several hits from that era. It has been praised by music critics as one of the album's best tracks—referred to as surprising, refreshing, alluring, irresistible and exciting—and was nominated for

Song of the Year A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usually ...

at the 23rd Latin Grammy Awards. Commercially, it reached number 189 on ''Billboard''s Global Excl. US chart, as well as number 12 in Panama, number 21 on the US

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin music, Latin songs, published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart ranki ...

, number 28 on ''Billboard''s

Mexico Español Airplay Mexico Español Airplay is a record chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine for Spanish language singles released in Mexico. According to ''Billboard''s electronic database, the first chart was published on January 17, 2009, with the track ...

chart and number 52 in Spain.

Background and composition

"Agua" was written by

, David "Raey" Fajardo, David "Scott Summers" Macías, Emmanuel "Eman" Anene, Gary Walker,

members Juan and Oscar Salinas, Rafael "Reggi El Auténtico" Aponte, and Raúl "Rey Santana" Treviño. It was produced and programmed by Daddy Yankee, Play-N-Skillz and Scott Summers, recorded by Emmanuel "Eman" Anene, mixed by American audio engineer Luis Barrera Jr., and

mastered Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source from which all copies will be ...

by American engineer Michael Fuller. Nile Rodgers was recorded at 5020 Studio in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. Dutch company CTM Entertainment, whose Latin division is creatively directed by Play-N-Skillz, posted on November 18, 2021 an image depicting Daddy Yankee and Rodgers at a studio in Miami, announcing a "new single coming soon," which may suggest that "Agua" was recorded during that time. Daddy Yankee crossed an item off his bucket list by working with Rodgers, who he admired since his childhood and referred to him as a "musical eminence," while Rauw Alejandro posted that collaborating with Daddy Yankee for the first time was a "dream come true" and acknowledged him as one of his inspirations. 1:35:02–1:37:04 The song's concept was to record a 1980s-inspired track featuring vocals by Rauw Alejandro, who had recently achieved success with his

and

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

single "

" (2021), while also enlisting Nile Rodgers, who Daddy Yankee saw as the "creator" of iconic guitar sounds from the that era, such as

Sister Sledge Sister Sledge was an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consists of sisters Joni, Kim, Debbie, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. I ...

's " We Are Family" (1979),

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

's " Let's Dance" (1983) and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

's " Like a Virgin" (1984). "Agua" has been described as a "1980s-inspired

" and "

pop" song with a trap segment during Daddy Yankee's verse and has a length of three minutes and twenty-four seconds. Its love lyrics are performed by Daddy Yankee and Rauw Alejandro, while Nile Rodgers plays "funky" and "groovy"

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

riffs A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

during the chorus. Daddy Yankee also briefly interpolates the chorus of " Con Altura" (2019) by Spanish singer

Rosalía Rosalia Vila Tobella (born 25 September 1992), known mononymously as Rosalía (, ), is a Spanish Pop music, pop and flamenco singer. She has been described as an "atypical pop star" due to her genre-bending musical styles. After being enthral ...

, with whom Rauw Alejandro has a relationship.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s Latin editors selected "Agua" among the album's essential tracks, praising it as "one of the most surprising tracks on ''

'', taking Daddy Yankee completely out of his comfort zone." Writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Isabelia Herrera referred to the track as "one refreshing moment of adventure," while ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

''s Lucas Villa described it as "slick and alluring," an "irresistible pop-infused romp" and one of "the album's most exciting moments". "Agua" was also included among the record's highlights by

Remezcla Remezcla is an American media company focusing on the Latin American cultural sphere. It serves the millennial market. History The brand was founded by Claire Frisbie, Andrew Herrera and Nuria Net in 2006, had no outside funding; it first re ...

's Jeanette Hernandez,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Thom Jurek and Spanish music website

Jenesaispop Jenesaispop, also known as JNSP, is an online Spanish independent news and reviews website focused on pop music, although it is also dedicated to films, TV series, books and comics. It was founded in 2006 by nine friends, including various jour ...

's Jordi Bardají. The latter found its "succession of melodic and rapped hooks" to be "spectacular" and commended its synth-pop beat. Nile Rodgers' "classic disco guitar plucking" reminded Bajardí of his "essential contribution" on

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

's " Get Lucky" (2013).

The Recording Academy National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

included it on their "Essential Guide to Daddy Yankee" list.

Accolades

Commercial performance

Following the release of Daddy Yankee's seventh and final record, ''Legendaddy'', "Agua" debuted and peaked at number 21 and 189 on ''

''s

and Global Excl. US charts, respectively, on the week ending April 9, 2022, becoming the fourth highest-peaking song from the album on both lists. It also reached number 18 on ''Billboard''s

Latin Digital Song Sales The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. In Spanish-speaking countries, the track peaked at number 12 in Panama, at 28 on ''Billboard''s

chart and at 52 and Spain.

Music video

The music video for "Agua" was one of the nine that premiered simultaneously with the release of ''Legendaddy'' on March 24, 2022. It was directed by Dominican filmmaker Marlon Peña, with whom Daddy Yankee had previously worked with on music videos including "

Mayor Que Yo "Mayor Que Yo" (English: "Older Than Me") is a bachatón song by Luny Tunes, Baby Ranks, Daddy Yankee, Tony Tun Tun, Wisin & Yandel and Héctor el Father, from the colaborative album ''Mas Flow 2'' (2005). The song reached number three on the ...

" (2005), " Shaky Shaky" (2017), "

Con Calma "Con Calma" () is a song by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee featuring Canadian rapper Snow. The song was released as a single on January 24, 2019, by El Cartel Records alongside a music video directed by Marlon Peña and filmed in Los Angeles ...

", "

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

" and "

Que Tire Pa' Lante "Que Tire Pa Lante" (contraction of "Que Tire para Alante", syncopic form of "Que Tire para Adelante") (English: "Pull Forward") is a song by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee and was released through El Cartel Records on October 18, 2019. The son ...

" (all 2019), as well as on clips for the ''Legendaddy'' tracks "

Rumbatón "Rumbatón" is a song by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee and the lead single from his eighth and final studio album, '' Legendaddy''. Described by him as "the album's flagship", the song was released on March 24, 2022, simultaneously with the rec ...

" and "La Ola". It depicts Daddy Yankee and Rauw Alejandro performing the track on coastal scenarios with dancers and luxury cars, with brief appearances by Nile Rodgers playing the guitar. The dancers were choreographed by Ukrainian choreographer Greg Chapkis, who also worked on ''Legendaddy''s music videos for the tracks "Rumbatón" and "La Ola" as well as clips for other Daddy Yankee songs including "Con Calma" and "Que Tire Pa' Lante" (both 2019).

Live performances

"Agua" was included in the setlist of Daddy Yankee's farewell concert tour, La Última Vuelta, in which Rauw Alejandro appeared on a holographic screen.

Credits and personnel

– vocals,

songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

*Emmanuel Anene –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

, songwriting *Rafael Aponte – songwriting *Luis Barrera Jr. –

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

, immersive mixing engineer *David Fajardo – songwriting *Michael Fuller –

mastering engineer Mastering is a form of audio post production which is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the Audio mixing (recorded music), final mix to a data storage device called a master recording, the source ...

– producer,

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

, songwriting *

– electric guitar, songwriting *Scott Summers – producer, programming, songwriting *Raúl Treviño – songwriting *Gary Walker – songwriting *

– vocals, producer, programming, songwriting

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Rauw Alejandro, state=collapsed Daddy Yankee songs Rauw Alejandro songs Nile Rodgers songs 2022 songs Songs written by Nile Rodgers Songs written by Daddy Yankee Song recordings produced by Play-N-Skillz Songs written by Rauw Alejandro