"Ritmo" (also known as "Ritmo (''Bad Boys for Life'')") is a song by American group

Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

and Colombian singer

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer. He is one of the best-selling Latin artists, with 35 million records sold worldwide. Balvin was born in Medellín. At age 17, he moved to th ...

, released by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

on October 11, 2019, as the first single from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

of the 2020 film ''

Bad Boys for Life ''Bad Boys for Life'' is a 2020 American buddy cop action comedy film that is the sequel to ''Bad Boys II'' (2003) and the third installment in the ''Bad Boys'' franchise. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise their starring roles in the film, ...

''. It is also included on the group's eighth studio album ''

Translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

''.

Background and composition

The song features a prominent, slowed down sample of the 1993 song " The Rhythm of the Night" by the Italian group Corona (the song is performed by Italian singer Jenny B, the ghost-voice involved in the project).

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

was originally intended to appear on the remix version, but

Jaden Smith Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (born July 8, 1998) is an American rapper and actor. The son of Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith, he has received various accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an MTV Movie Award, a BET Award and a Young A ...

, whose father starred in the third film, appeared on the remix instead which was released on the film's soundtrack.

Live performance

The song was performed live at the closing ceremony of the

2019 Southeast Asian Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, were the 30th edition of the SEA Games, Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Critical reception

''Billboard'''s writer Jessica Roiz compared "Ritmo" to "The Rhythm of the Night", writing that the first one "fuses Hip-Hop, EDM, and reggaeton, has Spanish and English verses without interrupting the original chorus from "The Rhythm of the Night"". In a less enthusiastic review, Gary Suarez of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' wrote that "the overextended J Balvin atop a convenient confluence of virally primed factors" which "proved irresistible to radio programmers and streaming playlisters", but he defined the use of Corona's semple a "plunder".

Accolades

Music video

The official video of the song, directed by Colin Tilley, was released on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on October 11, 2019, on the official

's Black Eyed Peas channel.

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number 100 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and peaked at number 26, staying on the chart for 27 weeks. It became the Black Eyed Peas' 17th Hot 100 entry and their first since " Don't Stop the Party" peaked at number 86 in 2011, as well as their first top 40 entry since " Just Can't Get Enough" peaked at number 3 in 2011. On ''Billboard''s

Mainstream Top 40 Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

chart, the song peaked at number 8. The song spent 24 weeks at number one on the

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 ...

chart.

Easter Eggs

The first line of the song's rap, "No son ni Reebok ni son Nike" (translates to "They are neither Reebok or Nike"), references a viral clip in which a Dominican radio caller requests Corona's " The Rhythm of the Night" by asking the host to play the song that goes "esos son Reebok o son Nike" (translates to "are those Reebok or Nike"). The moment went viral after the host impressively retrieved the requested song based on that clue alone.

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2019 songs 2019 singles 2020 singles J Balvin songs Macaronic songs Number-one singles in Romania Bad Boys (franchise) Songs written for films Songs written by J Balvin Black Eyed Peas songs Songs written by apl.de.ap Songs written by will.i.am Epic Records singles Music videos directed by Colin Tilley Songs written by Keith Harris (record producer) Songs written by Ann Lee (singer) Songs written by Giorgio Spagna Songs written by Pete Glenister