Pa Las Baby's y Belikeada is the seventh studio album by American regional Mexican band Fuerza Regida. It was released on October 20, 2023, through Rancho Humilde, Street Mob, and Sony Music Latin. The album follows the band's sixth and seventh studio albums released at the end of 2022, Pa Que Hablen and Sigan Hablando, and commercially successful singles such as "Bebe Dame", "Ch y la Pizza", "Igualito a Mi Apá", and "Qué Onda".
The album of 30 songs is a regional Mexican album, with multiple genre variants, as well as different music genres, bring used throughout the songs in the album. Its guest appearances include Marshmello, El Fantasma, Chino Pacas, María Becerra, Manuel Turizo, Gabito Ballesteros, Juanpa Salzar, Calle 24, Chuy Montana, Armenta, Chuyín, Jonathan Caro, Omar Ruiz, Los Dareyes de la Sierra, Turo Pacas, and Ángel Tumbado, with production being handled by several producers, as well as some of the respective artists.
Two consecutive singles from the album were released in the summer of 2023—"TQM" and "Sabor Fresa"—which appeared on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at numbers 34 and 26, respectively. After the album's release, music videos for some of the songs on the album were also uploaded, with a music video for "Harley Quinn" (with Marshmello) being uploaded following its increase in streams; it peaked at number 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In the United States, the album peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200, selling 38,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It had also peaked atop both US Top Latin Albums chart Regional Mexican Albums chart.
Background
After the release of multiple singles since the beginning of 2023, Fuerza Regida announced on October 1, 2023, the album's release date.[2] Jesús Ortíz Paz of the band revealed to Billboard, through a photo, that he had been working on the album in Malibu, California.[3]
The album begins with the spoken word track "Bienvenida", which contains uncredited vocals by Kenia Os. Billboard described "Bienvenida": "Pa Las Baby’s [y Belikeada] opens with a dark and seductive tone, as a sultry voice professes her affection for corridos... then she appears to pick up a machine gun and shoot."[7] In the song "Crazyz", the lyrics mainly focus on American actress Lana Rhoades, who also appears in the music video for "TQM".[8] Lyrically, the songs "GDL", "CJNG", "3 Trokas", and "F's" are apologies for organized crime and are possibly directed to close alies of Mexican drug lord El Mencho.[9]
Ortíz sings in English on the song "Dafuk", the only drill song on the album,[10] which is the first time the group recorded and published a song in the English language and in the genre.[11] In the song "Harley Quinn", with Marshmello, it experiments and blends house music with corridos bélicos and Sinaloan sierreño.[12] "Freaky Freaky", with Calle 24 and Armenta, is a reggaeton track.[13][14] The album also includes banda music, norteño music, and Mexican cumbias, in tracks such as "Zona de Comfort", "Puro MQueen" with Darey Castro, and "Desgraciada".[15] The album also contains two previously released singles, and successful, "TQM" and "Sabor Fresa", with the latter on track 27 and "TQM" on track 28.[4]
Critical reception
Isabela Raygoza from Billboard commented on the release: "The album serves as a testament to the group’s evolution as they immerse themselves in la belikeada movement, embracing the realm of excess in all forms: women, power, wealth."[10] The same author placed it on the magazine's list of "Best Latin Albums of 2023", adding that "[Pa Las Baby's y Belikeada] consolidated them as a force not only in Mexican music but also in pop."[7]
Julianne Escobedo Shepherd from Pitchfork described Pa Las Baby's y Belikeada as a "30-song sierreño epic detailing a seedy millennial underworld of parties inside compounds with armed guards, high-stakes gamblers, and babes with big asses."[16] The album was placed on number 46 on Rolling Stone's "The Best Latin Albums of 2023" list, adding that "Fuerza Régida prove that they’re unafraid to step out of their comfort zone."[17]
Commercial performance
In the United States, Pa Las Baby's y Belikeada debuted at number 14 on the Billboard 200 chart, with 38,000 album-equivalent units.[18] It also debuted at number two on Top Latin Albums chart and atop the Regional Mexican Albums chart.[19] In its 26th week, the album would peak atop the former chart, also returning to number one on the latter chart, with 24,000 additional units, making it the band's first number one album on the chart.[20]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Jesús Ortíz Paz, except where noted
