Paulina Rubio

After releasing six records including a failed attempt to cross-over into the English market, Paulina Rubio tries again with Pau-Latina, this time attempting to look innovative and experimental. Taking reggaeton, hip-hop, electronica, and anything else that someone told her the hip kids were listening to these days and mixing them with traditional flamenco and ranchero music, Rubio creates a new sound she calls "folklore-futuristico.” The plan might have been to create a safety record that had at least one element for every Latin music fan on earth, but really the record comes off sounding confused and downright insulting. The new rhythms her team exploit to make this new "folklore-futuristico” vibe come out sounding beyond formulaic and mix poorly with the traditional elements and the whole thing still bounces like the pop soundtrack to the Mexican resort that doesn’t let the locals stand within fifty feet of the front gate. Although Rubio did lend a hand to co-write three of the songs for the first time and did hand pick her production team, I blame this record on Rubio’s friends for lying to her and telling her she was cool because she was pretty.