"Sexo Virtual" () is a song recorded by 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 ...

for his second studio album, '' Vice Versa'' (2021). It was written by

Tainy Marco Efraín Masís Fernández (; born August 9, 1989), known professionally as Tainy, is a Puerto Rican record producer, songwriter and record engineer. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he entered the world of reggaeton with his wor ...

, Emmanuel Sosa, Alberto Carlos Melendez, Kenobi, Colla, Eric Duars, Alejandro, and Álvaro Díaz, while the production was handled by Albert Hype and Tainy. The song was released by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

on June 25, 2021, as the third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album. A Spanish language

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

perreo Sandungueo, also known as ''perreo'', is a style of dance and party music associated with reggaeton that emerged in the late 1980s in Puerto Rico. This style of dancing and music was created by DJ Blass, hence his Sandunguero Vol. 1 & 2 albums and ...

, it is an erotic song about overcoming distance, bringing the bodies together, with the singer exposing some of his deepest

fantasies Fantasy is a genre of fiction. Fantasy, Fantasie, or Fantasies may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Fantasia (music), a free-form musical composition * ''Fantasie'' (Widmann), a 1993 composition for solo clarinet by Jörg Widmann * ...

. "Sexo Virtual" received positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

, who complimented its lyrics. The track was commercially successful, reaching number one in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama. It debuted in the top 20 of the ''

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 ...

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 and was certified platinum in both Mexico and Spain. The accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by Nuno Gomes and depicts an illusional futuristic

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

experience.

Background and release

Alejandro released his debut studio album, ''

Afrodisíaco ''Afrodisíaco'' () is the debut studio album by Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro. It was released on November 13, 2020, by Sony Music Latin and Duars Entertainment. After releasing several projects including a mixtape, an extended play, and m ...

'', on November 13, 2020. Two weeks after finishing the work on ''Afrodisíaco'', he started working on his second studio album, '' Vice Versa''. The latter was released for

digital download Digital download may refer to: *Downloading, the processing of copying data to a computer from an external source *Digital distribution, a method of downloading software or audio-visual media as opposed to buying it at a traditional point of sale * ...

and

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

Sony Music Latin Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is an American record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. Sony Latin was also a division of the Sony Discos label. History In ...

and Duars Entertainment on June 25, 2021, and "Sexo Virtual" was included as the second track. On the same day, the song was picked as the third

promoting the project, issued by

to Latin American

radio airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

Music and lyrics

Musically, "Sexo Virtual" is a Spanish language

and

. The song was written by

, Emmanuel Sosa, Alberto Carlos Melendez, Kenobi, Colla, Eric Duars, Alejandro, and Álvaro Díaz. Its production was handled by Albert Hype and Tainy, and the track runs for a total of 3 minutes and 28 seconds. Lyrically, "Sexo Virtual" which translates to "Virtual Sex" in English, is an erotic song about "overcoming distance, bringing the bodies together", with Alejandro exposing "some of his deepest

". The lyrics include, "Esta noche por video / Pendiente, que te vo' a llamar / Nos vemos y el bellaqueo / Lo terminamos con sexo virtual" (Tonight by video / Pending, I'm going to call you / See you and do the bellaqueo / We end it with virtual sex). ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

''s Lucas Villa compared the song with " Digital Get Down" by

NSYNC NSYNC ( ; also stylized as *NSYNC or N Sync) was an American vocal group and pop boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, ...

, noting it for "breaking down love-making in the streaming era".

Critical reception

"Sexo Virtual" has been met with positive reviews from

. In 2022, Ernesto Lechner from ''

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 ...

'' ranked the track as Alejandro's 16th-best song, highlighting "the tension in the lyrics". Also from ''Rolling Stone'', Lucas Villa described the song as "alluring". Lindsay Weinberg from ''

E! Online E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable television network. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel focuses primarily on pop culture, celebrity based reality shows and movies. ...

'' called its lyrics "steamy", saying that he "turned up the heat" for the song.

Commercial performance

"Sexo Virtual" debuted and peaked at number 20 on the US ''

chart on July 10, 2021, becoming Alejandro's 18th entry. The song also debuted at number 22 on Spain's official weekly chart on July 4, 2021. The following week, it reached its peak of number 19. It was later certified double platinum by the

Productores de Música de España Productores de Música de España (; shortened as Promusicae) is the national organisation responsible for the music charts of Spain. it is a trade association that represents more than 90% of the Spanish recorded music industry. It is the Inter ...

(PROMUSICAE), for track-equivalent sales of over 120,000 units in the country. In Latin America, "Sexo Virtual" reached number one in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama. In Mexico, the song was certified platinum by the

Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (AMPROFON) (English: Mexican Association of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms, A.C.) is a non-profit organization integrated by multinational and national record companies in M ...

(AMPROFON), for track-equivalent sales of over 140,000 units.

Promotion

Music video

An accompanying

was released simultaneously with the song. The visual was directed by Nuno Gomes and depicts an illusional futuristic

experience. In an interview with ''E! Online'', Alejandro stated that it "is truly mind blowing and fun", with them having "a blast shooting it".

Live performances

The song was included on the

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

s for Alejandro's the

Rauw Alejandro World Tour The Rauw Alejandro World Tour was the second concert tour by Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro, in support of his first two studio albums, ''Afrodisíaco'' (2020) and ''Vice Versa (Rauw Alejandro album), Vice Versa'' (2021). It began on July 15 ...

and the Vice Versa Tour.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. *

associated performer, composer, lyricist * Marcos Masís "Tainy" producer, composer, lyricist * Emmanuel Sosa composer, lyricist * Alberto Carlos Melendez composer, lyricist * Jorge E. Pizarro "Kenobi" composer, lyricist, recording engineer * José M. Collazo "Colla" composer, lyricist, mastering engineer, mixing engineer * Eric Pérez Rovira "Eric Duars" composer, lyricist * Jorge Álvaro Díaz "Álvarito" composer, lyricist * Albert Hype producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2021 songs 2021 singles Rauw Alejandro songs Songs written by Rauw Alejandro Sony Music Latin singles Songs in Spanish