''Plata O Plomo'' is the collaborative

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American rappers

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

and

Remy Ma Reminisce Kioni Mackie ( Smith; born May 30, 1980), known professionally as Remy Ma, is an American rapper and songwriter. Discovered by the late rapper Big Pun, she came to prominence for her work as a member of Fat Joe's group, Terror Squad ...

, released February 17, 2017 by RNG (Rap's New Generation) and

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

Background

The title of the album, "plata o plomo", translates from Spanish to "silver or lead", meaning "money or bullets". The phrase was used by Colombian drug lord

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthie ...

who would offer government officials and law enforcement the choice of taking a bribe, or having a murder contract placed against them. Fat Joe commented: "the name of the album is called Plata o Plomo... money or bullets. You know what I'm saying? However you want it."

Critical response

Neil Yeung of

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 ...

gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, praising the album for its mix of old school hip-hop with a new modern radio-friendly sound, saying that the album "plays like a mixtape (or playlist) with a wide variety of club-friendly hip-hop that often tugs on '90s nostalgia heartstrings while updating their sound with 2017 production". ''XXL'' gave the album a 4 out of 5 stars, noting that the album is a "a triumphant return for Fat Joe and Remy Ma. Scott Glaysher of

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

gave the album a 3.2 out of 5 stars, saying "Plata O Plomo was definitely made with the right intentions and features some solid rapping but the most memorable moment remains “All the Way Up” which has since been inducted into Hip Hop's overplayed archives." In a negative review, Evan Rytlewski of

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

gave the album a 5.3 out of 10, and also said "On this collaborative LP, their hard styles are too similar to make for a compelling dynamic."

Commercial performance

''Plata O Plomo'' debuted at number 44 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, earning 11,158

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...

s in its first week. The album also debuted at number 19 on the US

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart and number three on the US

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

charts respectively.

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Plata O Plomo 2017 collaborative albums E1 Music albums Fat Joe albums Remy Ma albums Albums produced by Cool & Dre Empire Distribution albums