3ball MTY - Inténtalo

3ball MTY - Inténtalo
UMLE/Fonovisa, Mexico
Rating: 79
by Conejito Colvin

So, now that a certain Mexploitation piece by Vice has and continues to spread virally (and not in the network phenomenon sense, but more like in the infective disease sort of way), and everyone from the New York Times to your dyed-in-the-wool Chicano neighbor has reached a verdict on it, what’s left to be said, really? I mean, does an album like this—a game changer in the truest sense of the term—even warrant a trite appraisal based on its...what? Musical merit? As I type, “Inténtalo” is comfortably perched at #2 on Billboard’s Latin charts, having occupied the Top 10 list for what seems like an eternity (in Internet years, anyway). Lest the reader forget, we’re talking about rave music. Nay, Mexican rave music!

Meanwhile, The Tribal Triad continues to make the rounds at every single show on the Univision-cum-Telemundo apparatus, and then some (award shows). Hell, I can’t even drive to the grocery store without hearing “Inténtalo” blasting out of someone’s car speakers. That and Rihanna. I can’t begin to think of all the demographics this thing is exposing. All of which, I’m sure, 3ball MTY’s PR peeps are hell-bent on conquering.

I guess the real question left to ask here is, will you like it (faceless mipster, thou)? Pues, I’d say the odds are split at an even 50. Meaning, you’ll either LUUURVE it, or you’ll want to pry your ears off. Possibly both! The hard-boiled fact of the matter is that the very reasons to love this album are the same ones that could, just maybe, rub some people in an inadequate fashion. Erm, how to put this bluntly? It just sounds sooo Mexican. But, hey, don’t get me wrong, I grew up on this kind of music. I should add that, amazingly, listening to “Inténtalo” approximately 948 times since last summer hasn’t, in fact, made me want to pry my ears off (that, I expect, will happen around the 1,000 mark). So, unless you’re one of them self-loathing Mexican’t types, I don’t really see you taking an issue with this incessantly hook-heavy album.

Case in point: the auto-tune heavy “Mala Mujer.” What initially appears like an ill-conceived Latin Explosion 2.0 number eventually reveals itself to be, well, not that. It manages to stand out in a record filled with more hooks than an Australian bra factory, and it’s my dark horse for dethroning the lead single’s unparalleled state of ubiquity. Other times, the focus is less geared on the airwaves, and back where it all started, with a relentless four-to-the-floor rhythm. “Baile de Amor” is ample proof of 3ball MTY’s continued flair for stirring up the most idle of dance floors.

If you’re part of the one percent of fans out there who have been following 3ball MTY from day one—which I’ll assume, for the purposes of this review, that you exist and are reading this—then I have some bad, and possibly sad, news for you. This is the most watered-down incarnation of their sound that you will hear. BUT, if (like this writer and fellow fan), you came upon them before the bonanza, then I’ll infer that you don’t purchase records in Compact Disc format at your local retailer (which is what these days, Best Buy? Wal-Mart? I’m seriously asking, I don’t know anybody who does this!), but rather prefer downloading your tribal music from the Interwebz and will continue to do so, in spite of Erick, Sheeqo, and Otto becoming the Menudo of Mexican rave music. In which case you should disregard everything I just wrote, and instead refer to the following three words: 3BALL MTY PUTOS!

3Ball mty - Amantes Guaracheros by Steven A.

María y José - "Rey de Reyes"

The infamous Tony Gallardo has had one hell of a year. Well, maybe not in a profitable sense, but anyone following his steps (and his sudden social network deaths and resurrections) has seen him treating this year with the introspection of a giant. We can easily say that his next album is already our most anticipated record of 2012. María y José has not only kept momentum through the release of two of the best pop jams of the year (“Granada” and “Puerto Alegría”), but as predestined by its cult status, his 2010 debut Espíritu Invisible also enjoyed a well-reserved resurgence in popularity. Originally, the ruidoson father had contemplated the idea of releasing an EP this year, but through a holy and illuminating call, he has opted to redirect his mind to his much anticipated sophomore album. Unlike the negligence of attention to his debut (the world just wasn't ready), this time around he’s got plenty of fans and publications watching carefully.

In an impulsive stroke of creative temperament, Gallardo decided to go ahead and self-leak what seems to be the first single off his new album. “Rey de Reyes” is the unforeseen and outlawed anthem of this winter season. This is the first time in which we see María y José (whose veins carry royal blood) immersing fully in 3Ball territory (if you don’t know, the ruidoson and 3Ball kids are each other's biggest supporters). This piece is the sole definition of SWAG, and it’s so brutal to the dance floor, that it might steal some of the heat off the totally-gone-mainstream hit, “Inténtalo.” Well, at least creatively. The way Tony’s vocals chase the Aztec rave beat while dragging some elements of ruidoson into the ritual speak of an artist ready for his own crown and a steel shield next to his torso. Through comedic hubris and some corrido-striking guts, “Rey de Reyes” is the idolization of the forbidden fruit.

♫♫♫ "Rey de Reyes"

Video: 3Ball MTY - "Inténtalo"

| by Reuben "Judah" Torres

Vice meets Bandamax. That was my first impression upon viewing 3BALL MTY’s new video for “Intentalo.” Of course, it’s not as if no one saw this coming, especially after the group’s initial breakthrough feature in The Fader, and a certain infamous video by Vice. But tribal's roots have always been with the populace, originating in the flea markets of Tepito before making its way to northern Mexico and beyond.

One aspect I’d like to point to tends to be overlooked in the discourse surrounding tribal, and that is that its assumed role within the continuum of onda grupera and the tradition of cumbia mexicana. You’d be hard-pressed to overlook its commonalities with the latter, especially as tribal adopts the less rave-friendly 3/4 time signature, a staple of the cumbia sound. Its purely electronic nature easily recalls the '90s tecnocumbia sound of iconic acts like Mi Banda El Mexicano. Granted, the grupero connection has been easier to miss––especially as tribal is mostly based around singular DJ figures––but it becomes all the more evident with the inclusion of El Bebeto and America Sierra, both paragons of la onda grupera, as guest vocalists on “Intentalo." Particularly noteworthy is the fact that all three members of 3BALL MTY appear together as a group (or perhaps conjunto?), further reinforcing the notion that the group’s aim lies with that audience. Never mind duranguense, this is the grupero sound of the 21st century.

In an interview with Noiselab a few years ago, Toy Selectah––who has served as a sort of mentor figure for 3BALL MTY since their inception–– predicted that, in the coming years, rave music would become “la música de las periferias,” or the music of the urban outskirts, as it were. “Intentalo” is a testament to tribal’s new stature as an authentic regional Mexican style with its goal firmly bent on mass appeal. But, almost as if preempting global commodification, it winks at its presumed hipster audience, all the while basking in all its pointy boots glory.

Santos - La Sombra de Satán

La Sombra de Satán, Santos
Tropic-All, Mexico
Rating: 65
by Enrique Coyotzi

Along with the enormous phenomenon that 3Ball is becoming in the north of Mexico, Ruidosón is without a doubt the most exciting movement (not genre) happening right now in Tijuana, which is starting to obtain a stronger merited recognition. This can be reflected in these past two months’ buzzed events, 2do Aniversario del Ruidosón and Chupetón Ruidosón, where according to various tweets by assistants and the performers, both nights were an extremely wild stupendous success. Ruidosón’s most famous exponents and ClubFonograma’s beloved María y José and Los Macuanos were there, as well as the mystifying figure of a DJ working under the name of Santos.

While Santos hasn’t received the same amount of blog content his other peers have, he is also one of the ruidosón wave initiators. His debut La Sombra de Satán actually was released around January endings but ever since has remained like a well-kept secret in the blogosphere (just like his real name), excepting a small number of sites that provided their support on Santos’ presentation card. La Sombra de Satán is basically a house record that incorporates cumbia, banda and norteña; it gets in occasions as obscure as its title suggests, but essentially is filled of celebrative ready-for-the-rave smashers that rarely get macabre, yet encapsulate the essence of what this whole movement is about.

Santos definitely knows how to get bodies moving with homemade production wonders but lacks the sensibility of assembling a coherent album to digest. Clocking at almost 50 minutes long, La Sombra de Satán can get immensely tiring after the first three strong opening songs, afterwards it feels unfocused, almost like a collection of pieces put together with no planning at all. Whereas this record might seem a mess in its sequecing, Santos' electronic craftsmanship is commencing and might blossom into a more engrossing work; still the idea of partying hard with his tunes is stimulating, at least for dancing.

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