Calambre (transl. 'Cramp') is the debut studio album by Argentine singer and rapper Nathy Peluso. Recorded between Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Los Angeles, the album was released on 2 October 2020 by Sony Music.[2] Calambre won the Premio Gardel (the Argentine equivalent to the Grammy Awards) for Best Alternative Pop Album and was also nominated for Album of the Year and Best Cover Design at its 23rd annual edition.[3][4] The album's second single, "Buenos Aires" also won Record of the Year at the ceremony.[5] Calambre was awarded Best Alternative Music Album at the 22nd Latin Grammy Awards and Best Urban Music Album at the 2021 Premios Odeón.[6] The album was nominated for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.[7]

Calambre
Studio album by
Released2 October 2020 (2020-10-02)
Recorded2019–2020
GenreLatin hip hop[1]
Length40:31
LanguageSpanish
LabelSony
Producer
  • Rafa Arcaute
  • Pedro Campos
  • Al Hug
  • Federico Vindver
  • Pearl Lion
  • Rvnes
  • Illmind
  • Ángel López
  • Mosley Bros
  • Ramón Sánchez
Nathy Peluso chronology
La Sandunguera
(2018)
Calambre
(2020)
Grasa
(2024)
Singles from Calambre
  1. "Business Woman"
    Released: 7 February 2020
  2. "Buenos Aires"
    Released: 29 May 2020
  3. "Sana Sana"
    Released: 18 September 2020
  4. "Delito"
    Released: 18 January 2021

Background

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Professional recording sessions for the album's confection began in early 2019 shortly after Peluso signed a record deal with Sony. As she reached mainstream audience in Spain thanks, in major part, to her guest performance at the television talent show Operación Triunfo in March 2020, the album making process was sped up. A tour that would have visited huge music festivals such as Coachella and Lollapalooza was scheduled to happen in early 2020 but was entirely cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] The album's title, cover art and release date was announced through social media on September 15, 2020.[9]

Recording

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Peluso stated for Remezcla that during the creative process of the album "I came up with the album in terms of concepts and big picture ideas, and then I had the luck of working with the person who was my right hand on this project: Rafael Arcaute. He helped me shape all the ideas and bring the project together, and he put me in touch with some of the producers you mentioned, like Illmind and Angel Lopez and a bunch of musicians, like Spinetta, who I admire so much. It was really fun because it took place kind of all over the world. I started recording in Spain with my technicians, then I went to Argentina for ‘Buenos Aires’ and recorded in their original studio. I never imagined doing that. Then I went to Los Angeles and the whole thing was just so natural—we locked ourselves in the studio and through improvising for hours, we came up with songs like ‘Sana Sana’ and ‘Trio.’ There are tons of people and I’m so bad at naming everyone, but it was just such an honor to work with musicians who are so huge in genres I admire so much and have studied non-stop".[10]

Critical reception

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In order to promote the album, the label stated from Miami that "Calambre is the type of signature album many artists spend a lifetime pursuing. Nathy Peluso’s grand vision has been achieved in this work that captures lightning in a bottle and raises the bar for musical excellence".[11] Meanwhile, Jesús García Serrano from Mondo Sonoro gave the album a seven out of ten defending that "there is no doubt about the talent and versatility of Nathy Peluso; a voice with abundant power, that comes to give a breath of fresh air to Latin pop, fusing urban sounds with classic genres. His rogue lyrics and pose are another story, the same they empower you that make you put your hands to your head".[12] García Serrano also named Calambre the 33rd best album made-in-Spain of 2020.[13] Online magazine Remezcla stated that "the record is in-your-face and relentless, which seems to be exactly her goal".[10] Jordi Bardají wrote for Jenesaispop that "in many cases it seems that Nathy has put her lyrics, and also her voice, before the possibility of making an album that renews or shows the sounds she has grown up with from a different point of view. In their case at least they accompany some great songs, but perhaps relying too much on their influences was unavoidable today". Bardají gave the album a great score of eight out of ten.[14] Billboard said that Calambre is "a box full of surprises, showcasing Peluso’s vocal and rhythmic versatility".[15]

Conversely, Peluso has been accused of cultural appropriation by some Internet publications, due to her use of Caribbean and African American symbology.[16] Peluso is from Argentina but has lived in Spain since her early teenage years. Some accused Peluso of blackfishing and trying to copy American rapper Hurricane G.[17] Many compared Peluso's situation with the one Spanish songstress Rosalía suffered after releasing her sophomore album El Mal Querer, which combined flamenco music with modern urban sounds.[18] Rosalía was also accused of appropriating the culture of Romani people and Andalusians although being Catalan.[19]

Track listing

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Calambre track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Celebré"
Rafa Arcaute3:37
2."Sana Sana"
  • Ángel López
  • Federico Vindver
  • Gino Borri
  • Illmind
  • Peluso
  • Arcaute
  • Arcaute
  • Ángel López
  • Federico Vindver
  • Illmind
2:59
3."Buenos Aires"
  • Peluso
  • Campos
  • Arcaute
Arcaute4:00
4."Delito"
  • Al Hug
  • Vindver
  • Borri
  • Peluso
  • Pearl Lion
  • Arcaute
  • Rvnes
  • Arcaute
  • Vindver
  • Pearl Lion
  • Rvnes
  • Al Hug
3:23
5."Sugga"
  • Peluso
  • Campos
  • Pop Wansel
  • Happy Perez
3:10
6."Trío"
  • Elena Rose
  • Vindver
  • Borri
  • Mosley Bros
  • Peluso
  • Arcaute
Arcaute3:06
7."Business Woman"
  • Peluso
  • Campos
  • Pedro Campos
  • Arcaute
  • Vindver
3:47
8."Llamame"
  • Peluso
  • Campos
Arcaute3:41
9."Amor Salvaje"
  • Peluso
  • Campos
  • Campos
  • Arcaute
3:13
10."Arrorró"
  • Peluso
  • Campos
Arcaute1:28
11."Puro Veneno"
  • Peluso
  • Campos
  • Arcaute
  • Arcaute
  • Ramón Sánchez
4:08
12."Agarrate"
  • Peluso
  • Campos
  • Arcaute
Arcaute4:02
Total length:40:31

Notes

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Charts

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Weekly charts

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Weekly chart performance for Calambre
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[21] 5

Year-end charts

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Year-end chart performance for Calambre
Chart (2021) Position
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[22] 48

References

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  1. ^ "Nathy Peluso, crítica de su disco Calambre en Mondo Sonoro (2020)". Mondo Sonoro (in Spanish). 5 October 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Nathy Peluso estrena Calambre, su primer álbum de estudio". Neo2 Magazine (in Spanish). 2 October 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  3. ^ de 2021, 7 de Mayo. "Nathy Peluso, Fito Páez y Nicki Nicole, los más nominados de los Premios Gardel 2021". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 9 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Músicos notorios nominados en Premios Gardel - Espectáculos". ANSA.it (in Spanish). 17 April 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2021.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ de 2021, 23 de Julio. "Se entregaron los Premios Gardel: Lali ganó a mejor canción, Nathy Peluso fue la más premiada y Fito Páez se llevó el de Oro". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Premios Odeón 2021: lista de ganadores". HOLA (in Spanish). 10 March 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  7. ^ "2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List". GRAMMY.com. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Rage Against The Machine, Frank Ocean y Travis Scott encabezan Coachella 2020". Binaural (in Spanish). 3 January 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Nathy Peluso anuncia el lanzamiento de 'Calambre'". Indie Rocks! (in Spanish). 17 September 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Nathy Peluso Tells Us about 'Calambre,' Her Reaction to the Surprise Latin Grammy Noms & More". Remezcla. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  11. ^ "NATHY PELUSO presenta su esperado álbum CALAMBRE". Sony Music Entertainment Latin. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Nathy Peluso, crítica de su disco Calambre en Mondo Sonoro (2020)". MondoSonoro (in Spanish). 5 October 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Los mejores discos nacionales de 2020 (Del 50 al 25)". MondoSonoro (in Spanish). 27 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Nathy Peluso / Calambre". jenesaispop.com (in Spanish). 2 October 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  15. ^ "First Stream Latin: New Music From Llane, Nathy Peluso, Arcangel & More". www.billboard.com. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  16. ^ Uniandino, El (28 November 2020). ""Calambre" de Nathy Peluso: ¿Cuándo el referente se vuelve apropiación cultural?". El Uniandino (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Acusan a Nathy Peluso de apropiación cultural y de plagiar a la artista negra Hurricane G". GENTE Online (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  18. ^ "El gran parecido que comparten las cantantes Nathy Peluso y Rosalía". DEBATE (in European Spanish). Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Nathy Peluso: Soy consciente del talento que tengo y no me hace falta copiar a nadie". Vanity Fair (in Spanish). 8 June 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Nathy Peluso comparte el clip de "Sana Sana"". Indie Rocks! (in Spanish). 18 September 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Nathy Peluso – Calambre". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  22. ^ "Top 100 Albumes Anual 2021". Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 20 January 2022.