Data (album)

''Data'' is the first solo studio album, and second overall including the collaborative album ''Dynasty'' (2021), by Puerto Rican record producer and songwriter Tainy. It was released on June 29, 2023, through Tainy's record label Neon16.

A 20-track album, each song features a different singer or musician. Arca, Arcángel, Bad Bunny, Chencho Corleone, Daddy Yankee, E.Vax, Feid, Four Tet, J Balvin, Jhayco, Jowell & Randy, Julieta Venegas, Kany García, Myke Towers, Ozuna, Rauw Alejandro, Sech, Skrillex, The Marías, Wisin & Yandel, Young Miko and Zion, among others, appear as featured artists. Production was handled mainly by Tainy himself, with Tomoko Ida, Carlos Lopez, Albert Hype, Arca, Jota Rosa, E.Vax, Gibran Alcocer, Richie Lopez, Lil Baby Grand, Skrillex, Four Tet, Tuiste, Mvsis, De la Cruz and Jon Leone, also having production credits.

The album spawned six singles: " Lo Siento BB:/", "Sci-Fi", "Obstáculo", "Fantasma , AVC", "La Baby", and "Colmillo". The former single was highly successful, charting in various countries and being certified platinum multiple times in the United States. It also won Best Reggaeton Performance at the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards.

''Data'' debuted at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number two on the Top Latin Albums chart, being his fourth entry on the latter chart. It also reached the top of the Latin Rhythm Albums chart, being his first appearance on the chart since '' Mas Flow: Los Benjamins'' in 2006. In Spain, the album debuted at the top of the chart.

Background

Tainy came to prominence at age 15 when he collaborated in Luny Tunes's album '' Mas Flow: Los Benjamins'' (2006), where he worked with various reggaeton artists such as Wisin & Yandel, Don Omar and Arcángel, among others. During the 2000s, he produced albums like '' Wisin vs. Yandel: Los Extraterrestres'' (2007), Daddy Yankee's '' El Cartel: The Big Boss'' (2007) and Arcángel's ''El Fenómeno'' (2008), furthering his career as a producer within the reggaeton industry.

In 2021, Tainy released his debut studio album ''Dynasty'', a collaborative album with Puerto Rican singer Yandel. The same year, he released " Lo Siento BB:/", a collaboration with Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny and Mexican musician Julieta Venegas, the song would eventually become the first single for ''Data''. According to Tainy, the album took around three years to make, with the first ideas for the album coming after a trip to Tulum, Mexico. Most of the recording for the album took place in Miami with additional recording in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain, New York, Los Angeles and Kioto. The album consists of several collaborations with reggaeton artists that Tainy had previously worked with such as Daddy Yankee, Bad Bunny and Wisin & Yandel, among others, as well as non-reggaeton artists like Julieta Venegas and the Marías, and emerging Latin acts like Young Miko, Álvaro Díaz and Kris Floyd. Tainy said that "''Data'' is a representation of who I am as a person and as a music fan, being able to have my own album is very special, I'm putting my all into this, everything I've learned since I started working with the people I admire".

In 2023, after the released of the album's third single "Obstáculo", Tainy announced the release date for the album. On 16 June 2023, he shared the tracklist via his Instagram. The post showed a tracklist composed of twenty songs including "Colmillo", featuring Colombian singer J Balvin, Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko and Puerto Rican duo Jowell & Randy, as the tenth track. "Colmillo" was discarded from the album, lowering the final number of tracks to nineteen. However, "Colmillo" was later added on the album and released as the 6th single on October 11, 2023, completing the album.

Composition

The album is composed of nineteen tracks, each featuring at least one artist. Some singers make multiple appearances in the album such as Myke Towers ("Obstáculo" and "Pasiempre"), Rauw Alejandro ("Volver" and "Sci-Fi"), Sech ("11 y Once" and "La Baby"), Jhayco ("Pasiempre" and "Fantasma , AVC"), Arcángel ("Pasiempre" and "Me Jodí...") and Bad Bunny ("Mojabi Ghost", " Lo Siento BB:/" and "Pasiempre", the latter uncredited). About the collaborations, Tainy said "I wanted to pay homage to some of the first artists who gave me a chance", referring to the artists with whom he worked at the beginning of his career.

''Data'' deals with themes of success, struggle and technology. "Pasiempre" features lines about success within the music industry as well as having a lasting career as an artist. In the song, Arcángel raps the line: "Because I'm not an artist of the moment, I'm an artist forever". In the same song, Bad Bunny, who makes an uncredited appearance, references Tainy's career mentioning his influence in reggaeton music while also giving a shout-out to Nely el Arma Secreta and Luny Tunes, producers that helped bring Tainy into the industry. Similarly, in the opening track "Obstáculo", Myke Towers raps about the struggles in life and the obstacles he had to overcome throughout his career. In the closing track "Sacrificio", which has been called the "most personal song in the album", rapper Xantos talks about the sacrifices one has to do to succeed. Technology makes appearances throughout the album specifically in relation to human connections. In "Fantasma , AVC", Jhayco raps about "getting ghosted in a relationship in which you'd like to go further", while in "En Visto", which can be translated to "On Read", Ozuna sings about the feeling of missing someone and wanting to reconnect with them.

Mainly a reggaeton album, ''Data'' explores various genres and musical influences. "Pasiempre", blends hip hop with experimental and electronic sounds towards the end, "Todavía", a minimalistic "classic reggaeton song" and "En Visto", described as "one of the more reggaeton sounding songs of the album". Poppier sounds appear in "Mojabi Ghost", which mixes reggaeton and electro-pop with 80s new wave influences and "Paranormal", a mix of electro-pop and "spacey effects". More electronic songs are "Fantasma , AVC", which contains drum and bass elements and "Volver", which features an EDM beat. Finally, urban influences appear in the R&B-infused "Si Preguntas por Mí" and "Sci-Fi", a fusion of pop, space electronic, and Spanish R&B.

The album also features more slower and atmospheric songs such as "11 y Once", a "heartfelt slow perreo" that features electric guitars and puts enphasis on Sech's voice while also using robotic effects to represent the fusion between technology and human emotions, "mañana", a pop ballad with trap influences, "Me Jodí...", an old school hip-hop song that features "smooth synths and spacey oriental inspired strings" and the stripped "Sacrificio", whose instrumental feature violins and a classical piano.

Concept

The album explores the themes of human connections and technology. Its name comes from the idea of music and songs as information that we receive, "data" that shapes the way we are. In response to that, Tainy envisioned the album as a film about a cyborg

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