"Suéltame" () is a song by American singer

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

and Argentine singer Tini for the former's ninth studio and second Spanish-language album, '' Aguilera'' (2022). It was written by the performers alongside Andrés Torres,

Federico Vindver Federico Vindver (born 18 August 1982) is an Argentine record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer based in Los Angeles, California. Vindver has produced along with Timbaland and worked with artists such as Justin Timberlak ...

, Mauricio Rengifo,

Rafa Arcaute Rafael “Rafa” Arcaute, is an Argentine songwriter, record producer and recording engineer. He has worked with several Latin American artists including Luis Alberto Spinetta, Shakira, C Tangana, Nathy Peluso, Illya Kuryaki & The Valderramas ...

, and Kat Dahlia. It was produced by Torres, Rengifo, Vindver and Arcaute and co-produced by Afo Verde. The song's initial release was postponed due to the

Robb Elementary School shooting The Uvalde school shooting was a mass shooting on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States, where 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a former student at the school, fatally shot 19 students and 2 teachers, while inju ...

Uvalde, Texas Uvalde ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Uvalde County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,217 at the 2020 census, down from 15,751 in 2010. It is the principal city in the Uvalde, Texas Micropolitan Statistical Area. Uvalde is ...

before it was released through

Sony Music Latin Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC (often referred to as Sony Music Latin) is an American record label owned by Sony Music. The label focuses on artists of Latin music. Sony Latin was also a division of the Sony Discos label. History In ...

as the album's fourth single on May 30, 2022, the only one featured on the album's second part, ''

La Tormenta ''La Tormenta'' (''The Storm'') is a 2005 Colombian telenovela and original story by Humberto "Kiko" Olivieri, produced by RTI Colombia and broadcast by Telemundo. The series stars Natalia Streignard and Christian Meier as the main protagoni ...

''. "Suéltame" is an

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

song, keeping in theme with the album's musical direction of honoring different genres of

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and ) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America, which encompasses Music of Latin America, Latin America, Music of Spain, Spain, Mu ...

. The song's lyrics describe a date in a nightclub where the singers flirt with a lover, while respecting each-other's barriers in sex. The song received positive reviews, with critics complimenting the song's "chill" and "catchy" melody and its sensual lyrics. The song's music video was directed by

Ana Lily Amirpour Ana Lily Amirpour (;, is an American filmmaker of Iranian descent. She is best known for her feature film debut '' A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night'', promoted as "the first Iranian vampire western," which made its debut at the Sundance Film Fes ...

and was released on July 22, 2022. The music video features a

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

theme, where Aguilera's character is seated at a table at a birthday party with guests that may want to kill her that might. The video ends with Aguilera being poisoned by the birthday cake.

Composition

"Suéltame" is described as "a sultry

-meets-

collab where the lady takes matters into her own hands by ''Billboard''. It also has bossa nova,

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

and trap influences. The song lasts for a duration of two minutes and fifty-three seconds. Lyrically, is about an exciting date in a nightclub, flirting, and mutual observance of each other's brakes and barriers in sex. It is written in the key of

F Minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...

, with a moderately fast tempo of 138 beats per minute.

Release

The release of the single was postponed for a few days due to the Uvalde school shooting. "Suéltame" premiered on May 30, 2022, and was released commercially for digital download and on streaming platforms worldwide at the same time.

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews. It has been called a "sultry, yearning temptation" by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Neil Z. Yeung, and linked to ''

La Fuerza ''La Fuerza'' () is the first solo and Spanish-language extended play (EP) by American singer Christina Aguilera. It was released through Sony Music Latin on January 21, 2022 as the first part of her ninth studio and second Spanish-language alb ...

s track " Ya Llegué".

Townsquare Media Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

deemed "Suéltame" "the song of Summer 2022". ''L'Opinionista'' opined that it was one of the best songs of July 2022, placing it at number nine on its top twenty list, and calling it "very sensual". Similarly, Argentinian daily newspaper '' Crónica'' labelled the single as a "sensual collaboration". Writing for ''Prime News'', Albert Nowicki praised the track for its "chill", "catchy melody" and Aguilera's soothing vocals. Víctor Berzal de Miguel of ''Cultura Diversa'' considered "Suéltame" a "breath of freshness" and a "seducing, catchy mix of soft reggaetón and trap", and thought the song "kicks off the EP 'La Tormenta''softly". "Suéltame" was listed as one of the best Latin songs of 2022 by

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

's experts.

Music video

The music video for "Suéltame" was directed by

and produced by Sara Greco. The footage opens with a birthday cake-making process. However, someone puts a drop of snake poison in the batter. The cake is later presented in front of the pop star, who is not knowing that people around her want her to die. Those sitting around Christina are her distant relative, who "rides her coattails," the bodyguard, who "knows her weak spots," and the lawyer, who is "getting greedy" among others. Then Tini appears as Christinas's undercover, sensing that something bad is about to happen. The video ends with Tini getting bite of strawberry as hinting of Christina getting bite of the poisonous cake and ends choked up.

Live performances

Aguilera performed "Suéltame" live for the first time at the 2022 Mallorca Live Festival, along with other songs from '' Aguilera''. It was the first show in Aguilera's EU/UK Summer Series promotional tour for the album.

Personnel

Vocals *Christina Aguilera –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

* Tini – co-lead vocals Musicians and technicians *Rafa Arcuate – producer, keyboards, programmer, recording engineer *Ray Charles Brown, Jr. – recording engineer *Morgan David – assistant engineer *

Jaycen Joshua Jaycen Joshua is an American audio engineer based in California. He won three Grammy Awards: the first for mixing ''Growing Pains'' for Mary J. Blige in 2007, followed by '' El mal querer'' for Rosalía in 2018, and ''Hyperspace'' for Beck in ...

– mixing engineer *Jean Rodríguez – recording engineer, vocal producer *Mauricio Rengifo – producer, keyboards, programmer, recording engineer * Andrés Torres – producer, keyboards, programmer, recording engineer *Felipe Trujillo – assistant engineer *Afo Verde – co-producer *Federico Vindver – producer, keyboards, programmer, recording engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2022 singles 2022 songs Christina Aguilera songs Tini (singer) songs Songs written by Christina Aguilera Sony Music Latin singles Songs in Spanish Reggaeton songs Songs written by Andrés Torres (producer) Songs written by Mauricio Rengifo Song recordings produced by Andrés Torres (producer) Songs written by Tini (singer) Songs written by Kat Dahlia