"Por Favor" is a song by American rapper

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

and American

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

Fifth Harmony Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, was an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and previously Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group signe ...

from the group's self-titled third studio album, and was released as its third and final single. The song was written by Pitbull, Madison Love,

Sermstyle Jamie Michael Robert Sanderson (born 24 November 1987 in South Shields, England), known professionally as Sermstyle, is a British singer, songwriter, record producer, and remixer who lives and works from Los Angeles. Recognition Sermstyle was f ...

and Philip Kembo, and produced by the latter two. Additional writing credits were also given to Usher,

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

Adonis Shropshire Adonis Shropshire, or Adonis for short, is an American songwriter and record producer. He has written and or produced singles including: Mariah Carey's "I Stay In Love", Usher Raymond's " My Boo", P. Diddy's "I Need a Girl (Part One)", " I Need ...

and

Manuel Seal Manuel L. Seal, Jr. (born September 26, 1960) is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, vocal coach, and arranger. His credits include artists as Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Usher, TLC, Aretha Frankli ...

, as it contains a sample from the 2004 single " My Boo" by Usher and Keys, as well as

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

where the latter song incorporated a melody from the 1977 song "He's All I've Got" by American female vocal trio

Love Unlimited Love Unlimited was a female vocal trio that provided backing vocals for American singer-songwriter Barry White on his albums and concert tours. They also found success with their own recordings. Career Formed in 1969, the group included Barry ...

. The song was released on October 27, 2017, in two versions; a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

version, in which

Lauren Jauregui Lauren Michelle Jauregui Morgado (; born June 27, 1996) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl group ...

and

Ally Brooke Allyson Brooke Hernandez (born July 7, 1993) is an American singer. She is a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony. Brooke began to establish herself in 2017 as a solo artist, featuring on Lost Kings' " Look at Us Now" with rapper ASAP Ferg. ...

are the main two contributors from the group heard on the song, and a

Spanglish Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mos ...

version, where all four members can be heard. The Spanglish version has been performed at the 2017 Latin American Music Awards, on the finale of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'' and on ''

Showtime at the Apollo ''Showtime at the Apollo'' (formerly ''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' and ''Apollo Live'') is an American variety show that first aired in syndication from September 12, 1987 to May 24, 2008. In 2018, the series returned on Fox with Steve Harvey h ...

''. Shortly after the single's release the Spanglish version was included on the

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

re-release of the album, thus becoming its third official single and the final single released by the group prior to their indefinite hiatus, which began in 2018. The original version of the song was also intended to be included on Pitbull's eleventh studio album ''

Libertad 548 ''Libertad 548'' is the eleventh studio album by American rapper, singer and record producer Pitbull. It was released on September 27, 2019, via Mr. 305 Records. The album also features guest appearances from El Micha, Lenier, Yomil y El Dany, ...

'' (released September 27, 2019), but it did not make the final tracklist. An additional full-English extended remix to the song, which was used for live performances by the artists, was released to DJ record pools and radios for airplay.

Background and composition

"Por Favor" is a

latin pop Latin pop (in Spanish and in Portuguese: Pop latino) is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. Originating in Spanish-speaking musicians, Latin po ...

song that has elements of hip hop,

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American Hip hop m ...

and

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

. It runs for three minutes and nineteen seconds. Lyrically, it discusses

self empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

and your love for someone. It has had a Spanish version and a Spanglish version that have the same lyrical meaning but in different languages.

Critical reception

Ross McNeilage from

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

said that the song is a "summer hit anthem during the winter time", similar to the time when the 2013 hit "

Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

" was released. Mike Wass from

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

said that "Mr. Worldwide shows his swagger" on the track and how "Fifth Harmony sing the killer vocal hooks and chorus on the track." Perri Konecky from PopSugar said that the track is a "banger", while calling it a "sexy song" and a "spanglish love letter", and that "it's a perfect jam for as to put on and dance to all weekend."

Live performances

Pitbull and Fifth Harmony performed the song on the finale of the 25th season of ''

Dancing With The Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'', and at the 2017 Latin American Music Awards, at the beginning of Pitbull's medley performance before accepting the Dick Clark Award for Excellence. On February 22, 2018, Pitbull performed 'Por Favor' among a medley of hits at the Premio Los Nuestro's 2018. The artists also performed the song on the first episode of the reboot of ''

'' (first shown on 1 March 2018), as a remix featuring new English lyrics during the chorus.

Music video

Background and reception

The music video for "Por Favor" was released on November 27, Mike Wass from

said that, "It has been a busy year for both artists. Pit dropped his 10th LP, ''Climate Change'', and is gearing up to release a greatest hits on December 1 — complete with a new single called 'Jungle'. As for Fifth Harmony, they released their self-titled third LP (their first as a quartet)."

Synopsis

Jeff Benjamin from FUSE represents the synopsis. "The video begins in a traditional Asian temple garden which then Pitbull wanders around, following a mysterious beauty in a red dress who ultimately has a surprise for him at their sensual dinner together. Meanwhile, the four ladies Lauren Jauregui, Ally Brooke, Dinah Jane and Normani Kordei deliver their verses in a red room, looking all sorts of fabulous." It then shows scenes where Pitbull is dancing with his date in a

Washitsu A , meaning "Japanese-style room(s)", and frequently called a "tatami room" in English, is a Japanese room with traditional tatami flooring. also usually have sliding doors (), rather than hinged doors between rooms. They may have and, if the ...

where as still showing scenes at the dinner table. His date pulls out a note which shows the word "Dale!" which then leads into the conclusion of the night."

Track listing

Streaming Streaming – Spanglish version

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Fifth Harmony 2017 songs 2017 singles Latin pop songs RCA Records singles Pitbull (rapper) songs Fifth Harmony songs Songs written by Pitbull (rapper) Songs written by Manuel Seal Songs written by Jermaine Dupri Songs written by Adonis Shropshire Songs written by Bilal Hajji Songs written by Usher (musician) Songs written by Alicia Keys Songs written by Barry White Songs written by Madison Love Songs written by Sermstyle