Album Review: Oasis by J Balvin

As Alejandro "Sky" Ramirez wrote J Balvin's verse on "Un Peso"--a standout on his new collaborative album with Puerto Rico's Bad Bunny--the Colombian musician recalled an old song from the Argentinian rock band Los Enanitos Verdes that his family used to drink and party to back in his hometown of Medellín. Their 1994 hit "Lamento Boliviano" was drenched in self-medication and singer/bassist Marciano Cantero's romantic pathos offered the kind of lyrics that get screamed back at you when sung to packed stadiums: "Y yo estoy aquí, borracho y loco (And here I am, drunk and crazy)/Y mi corazón idiota, siempre brillará" (And my idiot heart, always shining). For J Balvin, Sky flipped part of the original hook to turn Balvin from the heartbroken to the heartbreaker: "Y tu corazón idiota siempre me extrañará" ("And your idiot heart will always miss me").

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