Vice Versa (stylized in all caps) is the second studio album by Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro. It was released on June 25, 2021, by Sony Music Latin and Duars Entertainment. Two weeks after finalizing his debut studio album, Afrodisíaco (2020), Alejandro started recording his sophomore album, going experimental on it and having a departure from his signature music styles. He worked with several producers, including Tainy, Caleb Calloway, and Mr. Naisgai to create the album. Musically, Vice Versa consists of electropop and house tracks, reggaeton songs, Latin pop numbers, bolero lines, and Brazilian funk rhythms. After the album's release, Alejandro embarked on the Rauw Alejandro World Tour and the Vice Versa Tour in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
The album was supported by five singles: "2/Catorce", "Todo de Ti", "Sexo Virtual", "Cúrame", and "Desesperados". The global hit "Todo de Ti" topped the charts in 18 countries and reached the top three on Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Billboard Global 200 charts, becoming the third all-Spanish song in history to reach the top three on the latter. The song was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. "Desesperados" peaked at number one in nine countries, as well as the top five on Hot Latin Songs. "Todo de Ti", "Cúrame", and "Desesperados" all reached the summit of the Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts in the United States.
Vice Versa received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented its various genres and the singer's versatility. Rolling Stone ranked the album as the best Spanish-language or bilingual album of 2021 and the third-best album of the year. It was nominated for Favorite Latin Album at the American Music Awards and Top Latin Album at the Billboard Music Awards, both in 2022. The album was a commercial success. It debuted atop the US Top Latin Albums and Latin Rhythm Albums with first-week sales of 21,000 units. It has also spent 54 weeks on Billboard 200, making it the sixth Spanish album in history to spend more weeks on the chart. Additionally, Vice Versa spent nine weeks at number one in Spain. The album has received several certifications, including octuple platinum (Latin) in the United States.
Background and recording
Rauw Alejandro released his debut studio album, Afrodisíaco on November 13, 2020. The album experienced both critical and commercial success, being nominated for Best Música Urbana Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. Two weeks after finishing the work on Afrodisíaco, he started working on his sophomore studio album, Vice Versa. On the latter, he got a departure from his "signature reggaeton and Latin R&B", going "experimental". During an interview with Billboard, he explained:
Alejandro added that he tries to connect with his fans in every project that he does, by putting his "heart and soul on the table" and expressing his "art to the maximum". In an interview with Vice, he told the magazine that he does not like to repeat projects and the things he does: "If we play a lot of music of that genre, people get saturated, we always have to give them a break so that when they come back again, they'll come back strong." He also wanted the album to be "more personal" than Afrodisíaco and reduced the number of collaborations on it. He worked on Vice Versa with the assistance of several producers, including Tainy, Caleb Calloway, Álvaro Díaz, and Mr. Naisgai. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Calloway stated that Alejandro was "planning to make something like Vice Versa for years", and since Afrodisíaco "was his first big project", the team "wanted to make sure [they] had a more commercial approach". He added: "The next album, we wanted it to be more experimental."
Music and lyrics
Vice Versa is a Spanish language album composed of 14 songs, consisting electropop and house tracks, reggaeton songs, Latin pop numbers, bolero lines, and Brazilian funk rhythms. Lyrically, the album is divided into three facets; it begins with love songs, then there are breakup and heartbreak lyrics, and eventually a recovery and healing. "Todo de Ti" () is a dance-pop and electropop song, with elements of disco, pop, Latin pop, dance, electro, and nu-new-wave. The track was inspired by funk from the music of singers James Brown and Bruno Mars, as well as "the nostalgia of the 1980s". is a romantic song about a girl who drives Alejandro crazy and makes his heart race, while the hopeless singer confesses he likes everything about her. A reggaeton and electronic perreo, "Sexo Virtual" () is an erotic song about "overcoming distance, bringing the bodies together", with Alejandro exposing "some of his deepest fantasies".
In "Nubes" (), which is a reggaeton and pop song with elements of electronic music, Alejandro declares his eternal love to the girl who has won his heart. A collaboration with Puerto Rican singer Chencho Corleone, "Desesperados" () is an upbeat reggaeton song, with elements of cumbia and dembow, about two people who are apart, but still have love for each other, so they somehow try to get back together. An Urbano Latin R&B song, "2/Catorce" () is about passionate and sexual moments as a couple, and situations where the temperature rises. The trap-bolero ballad "Aquel Nap ZzZz" (), features elements of R&B and reggaeton, and is a romantic love song dedicated to Alejandro's girlfriend Rosalía. The song includes Rosalía's vocals and was inspired by their relationship.
"Cúrame" () is a lofi hip hop reggaeton ballad, with urban and tropical rhythms, that narrates a love story referring to two relationships; the current one and the one from the past, which continues to leave its mark today. "Cosa Guapa" () transforms from dancehall into deep house, and includes verses in English. "Desenfocao'" () is a new wave, synth-pop, and funk song, with elements of disco, pop, EDM, and deep house, and finds the singer very confused after a relationship breakup, so that he barely even knows where he is. "¿Cuándo Fue?" is a downbeat heartbreak ballad, while both "La Old Skul" and "¿Y Eso?" nod to the old-school reggaeton, with the former sampling "En la Cama" by Nicky Jam and Daddy Yankee. On the trap-pop song "Tengo un Pal", Alejandro collaborated with Puerto Rican singer Lyanno, while he featured Brazilian singer Anitta on the baile funk track "Brazilera".
Singles "2/Catorce" serves as the lead single of Vice Versa. It was accompanied by a music video posted to YouTube, directed by Eric Duars and Alejandro. Both were surprise-released on February 14, 2021. It reached number one in Dominican Republic, as well as the top 15 in several other countries such as Argentina and Spain, and on Billboards Hot Latin Songs in the United States. "Todo de Ti" was released for digital download and streaming on May 20, 2021, as the second single from the album. The song was ranked among the Best Summer Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone. It was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The track became a massive global hit, reaching number one in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, and Uruguay. The track was subsequently ranked as the best-performing song of 2021 in both Latin America and Spain. "Todo de Ti" also reached the top three on Billboards Hot Latin Songs and Billboard Global 200 charts, becoming the third all-Spanish song in history to reach the top three on the latter.
The third single from Vice Versa, "Sexo Virtual" was released on June 25, 2021, accompanied by a Nuno Gomes directed music video, alongside the album. The song reached number one in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama. It also debuted in the top 20 of Hot Latin Songs, and was certified platinum in both Mexico and Spain. "Desenfocao'" was issued to Latin American radio stations on August 10, 2021, as the first promotional single from the album. An accompanying music video, directed by Alejandro and NINE-D, was released on the same date. After going viral on TikTok and achieving commercial success, "Cúrame" was sent to radio stations on August 27, 2021, as the fourth single from the album. A music video for the song, directed by Nuno Gomes, was released on September 16, 2021. The song reached number one in Colombia and Dominican Republic, as well as the top three in Spain. It also reached the summit of the Billboards Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts in the United States.
"Nubes" was released on August 31, 2021, as the second promotional single, while its music video was directed by Fernando Lugo and released simultaneously with the song. The album's final single, "Desesperados" was launched for digital download and streaming on December 9, 2021. The song was ranked among the 100 Greatest Reggaeton Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone. It was nominated for Best Reggaeton Performance and Best Urban Song at the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. The track peaked at number one in Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Spain, and Uruguay, and reached the top five in Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Latin America, and Mexico, and on the Hot Latin Songs. It also reached the summit of the Latin Airplay and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts, and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Global 200. An accompanying music video, released simultaneously with the song, was directed by Manson.
Other charted and certified songs "Aquel Nap ZzZz" peaked at number 37 on the US Hot Latin Songs chart and number 64 in Spain. "Cosa Guapa" and "La Old Skul" reached numbers 53 and 45 in Spain, and were certified platinum and double platinum in the country, respectively. "La Old Skul" also peaked at number seven on Monitor Latino's Chile Urbano chart. "Brazilera" was certified gold by Pro-Música Brasil for track-equivalent sales of over 20,000 units in Brazil.
Marketing Release Vice Versa was released for digital download and streaming by Sony Music Latin and Duars Entertainment on June 25, 2021. It featured a 17-second interlude, entitled "Track 4", consisting of electronic sounds and a robot voice repeating the word "loading". On December 9, 2021, the album was re-released with "Desesperados" replacing "Track 4" on the album.
Live performances
To further promote Vice Versa, he embarked on the Rauw Alejandro World Tour and the Vice Versa Tour. The former began on July 15, 2021, at the Enigma Night Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, and concluded on December 18, 2021, at the Fair Expo Center in Miami, with concerts throughout the United States, Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, and Dominican Republic. The Vice Versa Tour began on January 15, 2022, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and concluded on June 11, 2022, at the Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, with 26 shows across the United States, Latin America, and Spain. DVILA, Joonti, and Pailita served as supporting acts on the tour. The Vice Versa Tour sold over 327,000 tickets and grossed over $24.5 million.
In addition to his tours, Alejandro performed singles from Vice Versa on several television programs and award shows. He performed "Todo de Ti" on The Kelly Clarkson Show, 2021 MTV Millennial Awards, and the 2021 Billboard Latin Music Awards. He gave a live performance of "Desenfocao'" and "Cúrame" in a special two-song set with Billboard and Honda Stage. Alejandro and Corleone performed "Desesperados" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on April 6, 2022. On May 15, 2022, Alejandro performed a medley of "Cúrame", "Museo", and "Todo de Ti" at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards. On November 17, 2022, the singer gave a live performance of "Lejos del Cielo", "Más de Una Vez", "Desesperados", and "Punto 40" at the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards.
Critical reception