"La Vida Es Así" (''English: Life Is Like That'') is a song by
Puerto Rican reggaetón
Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular and electronic music that originated in Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puerto Rican musicians. It has evolved fr ...
singer-songwriter
Ivy Queen
Martha Ivelisse Pesante Rodríguez (born March 4, 1972), known professionally as Ivy Queen, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer and actress. She is considered one of the pioneers of the reggaeton genre, commonly referred to as the Queen of Reggae ...
. It was written by Queen,
Francisco Saldaña and
Marcos Masis, produced by
Tainy
Marco Efraín Masís Fernández (; born August 9, 1989), known professionally as Tainy, is a Puerto Rican record producer, songwriter and record engineer. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he entered the world of reggaeton with his wor ...
and released as the lead single off her seventh studio album, ''
Drama Queen'' (2010) on May 11, 2010.
The song was serviced to Latin radio in both Urban and Tropical formats. The reggaeton version of "La Vida Es Así" was a success on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' Latin charts. The song's accompanying music video was shot on May 17, 2010 in Miami and premiered on mun2 on June 22, 2010 and VEVO on June 28, 2010 and was directed by Marlon Peña. The video has over 100 million views on YouTube.
In 2022, the song was re-recorded into bachata for
Arthur Hanlon
Arthur Hanlon is an American pianist, songwriter and arranger renown in Latin music, with multiple hits on the Billboard charts and collaborations with Latin music's biggest names. Born to Irish-American parents, Hanlon is from Detroit, Michigan, ...
's album ''Piano & Mujer, Vol. 2.''
Background
After the success of her 2007 effort ''
Sentimiento'', which would be certified Platinum by the United States
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA), a substantial live album was distributed by
Machete
A machete (; ) is a broad blade used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a dimin ...
in 2008. This would lead up to Queen signing with the label in April 2010 as the label celebrated its fifth anniversary.
The signing, described as a 360 deal, includes profit sharing in tours, sponsorships and merchandising.
Ivy Queen was previously signed to a distribution deal with
Univision Records, which in turn was acquired by Machete's parent company
Universal Music Latin Entertainment
Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in producing and distributing Latin music in Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico. UMLE includes famous Latin music labels such as Uni ...
in 2008.
President of
Universal Music Latino
Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in producing and distributing Latin music in Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico. UMLE includes famous Latin music labels such as Uni ...
and Machete, Walter Kolm, commented in a press release "It's a privilege to have Ivy Queen a part of our artistic roster. Ivy is an extraordinary woman with incomparable talent, and she's number one in her genre. We're happy to be able to work with her on her new album as well as future projects".
"I'm very proud to be a part of Machete Music. They are a young, vibrant company that has created a name for itself in Latin music in the United States and the world. They are a strong and important company that has been recognized for nurturing their artists’ creative talents," said Ivy Queen, regarding the partnership.
Ivy Queen told ''Efe'' that the composition process started while she was heartbroken at home. Her emotions then burst out in the recording studio. She added the song is one of 26 songs she wrote during this period.
Composition
"La Vida Es Así" was written by Queen, along with
Francisco Saldaña and
Marcos Masis. The song features vocal effects, minor key tonality and synthesizers. The urban version attacks with a modern and aggressive beat, while the bachata version slows with tropical rhythms by
Luny Tunes
Luny Tunes is an American reggaeton production duo consisting of Francisco Saldaña (Luny) and Víctor Cabrera (Tunes) who have been known for creating unique musical rhythms for some of the most popular reggaeton artists since the early 2000s ...
. In the lyrics, Ivy Queen declares to a rival "The guy you're dating is mine, and you know it, but here's the detail: He's worthless in bed. That's why I'm here to congratulate you for setting me free, I have to confess." The reggaeton rhymes depict how life is while telling a story of revenge and love sickness. Angie Romero of ''
Latina Magazine
''Latina'' was an American lifestyle, entertainment, beauty and fashion magazine for bilingual Hispanic women published in English by Latina Media Ventures.
In May 2010, Latina Media Ventures named editorial director Galina Espinoza and publish ...
'' describes the song as being a "powerful and pulsating break-up anthem."
Recording for "La Vida Es Así" and the rest of ''Drama Queen'' took place at
Mas Flow Studios, in
Carolina, Puerto Rico
Carolina (; ) is a Carolina barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico, immediately east of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan and Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, Trujillo Alto, n ...
, owned by
Luny Tunes
Luny Tunes is an American reggaeton production duo consisting of Francisco Saldaña (Luny) and Víctor Cabrera (Tunes) who have been known for creating unique musical rhythms for some of the most popular reggaeton artists since the early 2000s ...
. The reggaeton version was produced by Tainy, who also produced "
Acércate" off of ''Drama Queen''. The bachata version was produced by Tainy and Luny Tunes who also co-produced "Acércate". Queen has worked with Luny Tunes previously before, with Luny Tunes producing many of her biggest hits such as "
Te He Querido, Te He Llorado".
Release and chart performance
"La Vida Es Así" was released in both urban and bachata versions on May 11, 2010 by Machete Music. The bachata version was released on June 22, 2010. The reggaeton version became a success on the ''Billboard'' Latin charts, while the bachata version failed to acquire any chart success. On the
''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs chart, the song debuted at number forty-nine on the week of June 6, 2010 and peaked at number eleven on the week of August 21, 2010.
Aventura’s "
El Malo" withheld the song from entering the top ten of the chart. On the
''Billboard'' Latin Pop Airplay chart, the song debuted at number thirty-three on the week of July 3, 2010 and peaked at number ten on the week of August 28, 2010. On the
''Billboard'' Latin Rhythm Airplay chart, the song debuted at number twenty-nine on the week of May 22, 2010. The following week, the single catapulted 29-7, enjoying a 1.8 million audience impression, up 154% from the previous week. It reached number one for the week of July 10, 2010, becoming her second number-one single, replacing "
Cuando Me Enamoro" by
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...
featuring
Juan Luis Guerra
Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born 7 June 1957) is a People of the Dominican Republic, Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. Throughout his career, he has won numerous awards including 28 Latin Grammy Awards, three
Grammy Awards, ...
and was later succeeded by "Cuando Me Enamoro" a week later. It was the sixteenth most played song on Miami's La Kalle 106.7FM in 2010.
Reception
Simone Wilson, writing for ''
LA Weekly
''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
,'' listed the song as one of the best reggaeton songs of the past half-decade (2006–2011).
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
2022 re-recording
In 2022, Queen recorded a rendition of the song for
Arthur Hanlon
Arthur Hanlon is an American pianist, songwriter and arranger renown in Latin music, with multiple hits on the Billboard charts and collaborations with Latin music's biggest names. Born to Irish-American parents, Hanlon is from Detroit, Michigan, ...
's album ''Piano y Mujer II.'' A recording of
Rocio Durcal's hit, "
Ya Te Olvide," along with an outro jam, entitled "We Are Going to Make It Tonight" with Catalina García,
Ha-Ash,
Lupita Infante and
Debi Nova were also recorded and included on the album, which was released on November 23, 2022.
The three songs formed part of Hanlon's second HBO concert special, 'Piano y Mujer', produced by Loud and Live and
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
, which debuted November 29, 2022 on
HBO Max
Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...
in the United States and Latin America. According to Hanlon, "A piano and a female voice are the ideal combination." He revealed that during the recording process for the first installment in the series, they were "looking to make beautiful, meaningful music, especially in the middle of the pandemic."
Credits
Credits are adapted from Apple Music.
Performing Artists
* Arthur Hanlon — Piano
* Ivy Queen — performer
* Dan Needham — drums
* David Vazquez — bass
* Sergio Cavalieri — guitar
* Camilo Velandia — guitar
* Eddie Perez — keyboards
* Kelvin Santos — güiro
* Willie Smith — organ
* John Calzavara — guitar
* Pat Seymour — tenor saxophone
* Cisco Dimas — trumpet
* Miles Fiedler — trombone
* Ray Díaz — percussion
* Steven Cruz — guitar
* Lala Nascimiento — background vocals
* Pinto Picasso — background vocals
* Jason Edmunds — background vocals
* Aliethia Evcans — background vocals
* Tayanna Monestime — background vocals
Composition and lyrics
* Martha Pesante — composer
* Francisco Saldana — composer
* Marco Masis — composer
* Pat Seymour — arranging
Production and engineering
* Arthur Hanlon — producer
* Eddie Perez — producer, mixing engineer, recording engineer
* Pinto Picasso — vocal producer, recording engineer
* Jean Rodgriguez — recording engineer, vocal producer
* Andrei Fossari — mastering engineer
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vida Es Asi
2010 songs
2010 singles
2022 songs
Ivy Queen songs
Bachata songs
Machete Music singles
Songs written by Ivy Queen
Songs written by Tainy
Songs written by Francisco Saldaña
Song recordings produced by Luny Tunes
Songs with feminist themes
Songs in Spanish