Format Digital download Genre Latin pop Label Sony Music Latin | Recorded 2014 Length 3:31 | |
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Released April 21, 2015 (2015-04-21) | ||
"La Mordidita" (English: "The Nibble") is a song recorded by American singer Ricky Martin featuring Yotuel Romero, from his tenth studio album, A Quien Quiera Escuchar (2015). It was released on April 21, 2015 through Sony Music Latin as the third single from the album. The song was written by Martin and Yotuel alongside Pedro Capó, Don Omar, José Gómez and Beatriz Luengo while the production was handled by Rayito and Yotuel. It is an uptempo song with prominent elements of Latin pop and lyrics detailing feelings of lust for a desired person. The song received positive reviews from music critics who praised its blend of many music elements such as salsa, cumbia, and reggaeton. It further received numerous nominations at several Latin award ceremonies. "La Mordidita" was commercially successful across Spain and other countries of Latin America. It reached number six on the US Billboard Hot Latin Songs and number three in Spain where it was certified double platinum.
Contents
- Background and composition
- Reception and accolades
- Chart performance
- Music video
- Live performances
- References
The music video for "La Mordidita", filmed in Cartagena, Colombia and directed by Simón Brand, premiered on June 12, 2015. It features Martin dancing on the streets accompanied by dancers, models and ballerinas all infected with a "dancing virus" transmitted through a bite. It received positive response from the public, winning the Video of the Year award at the Premio Lo Nuestro 2016 and becoming the singer's most-viewed video on Vevo. As part of the promotion of "La Mordidita", Martin made several appearances on televised shows and award ceremonies where he performed the song live. It was also performed live during his One World Tour (2015-16).
Background and composition
"La Mordidita" was written by Ricky Martin, Pedro Capó, José Gómez, Yotuel Romero and Beatriz Luengo for Martin's tenth studio album A Quien Quiera Escuchar. Its production was completed by Antonio Rayo along with Romero. Talking about his collaboration with Yotuel, Ricky Martin said in an interview, "It was a very big collaboration being able to work with Yotuel; a Cuban brother, big producer, composer, someone who I admire and respect a lot". During the same interview, he talked about the song, saying "It is a coquettish song, it presents a party, union of cultures, it is energetic". Two remixes of the song were availabale for digital download; a Brian Cross remix on June 2, 2015 and an "Urban Remix" by Zion & Lennox on July 17, 2015.
The uptempo song contains musical elements of salsa, cumbia, and reggaeton. Allan Raible from Yahoo! further found "flamenco-esque propulsion and modern electro and EDM touches". Marcus Floyd of the website Renowned For Sound felt that the song was reminiscent of the "Latino party vibe" characteristic of Martin's other songs. Other critics further found influences of African and Latin music in its instrumentation and rhythms. "La Mordidita" contains a soccer chant during its bridge. Rapper Yotuel has a short rap contribution in the song. Lyrically, "La Mordidita" which translates to "The Nibble" in English, talks about the lust felt for a desired person.
Reception and accolades
Upon its release, "La Mordidita" received favorable reviews from contemporary music critics. Jessica Lucia Roiz of Latin Times praised the track for being "sexy", "fun", and "addicting". Marcus Floyd of the website Renowned for Sound described it as "intense" and felt that musically, it exemplified the "Latino party vibe we love Ricky Martin for". AllMusic's writer Thom Jurek picked the song as one of the best on A Quien Quiera Escuchar. Clint Rhode of The Herald-Standard opined that "La Mordidita" is one of the songs on the album on which the singer is "delivering intoxicating rhythms". Yahoo!'s Allan Raible praised the "interesting mix" of musical elements on "La Mordidita". El Nuevo Día journalist Eliezer Ríos Camacho called the song "pure craftmanship" and wrote that it was created for dancing with a blend of merengue and La Quebrada-style techno. A writer of Televisa dubbed the track a dance number in which all of Martin's Latin style is present. He further described it as a fusion of merengue and bachata and added that "it is going to be present on all of the dance floors". Carolina Cabrera from Starmedia praised the song for being "full with energy, sensuality and temptation".
"La Mordidita" received nominations on several Latin-based award ceremonies. At the first Latin American Music Awards held in 2015, the song received an award in the category for favorite pop/rock song. At the 2016 Latin Billboard Music Awards, "La Mordidita" was nominated in the category Latin Pop Song of the Year, but lost to "Mi Verdad" by Maná and Shakira. It also received a nomination in the Best Latin Dance Track category at the 31st Annual International Dance Music Awards. "La Mordidita" was acknowledged as an award-winning song in the pop category at the 2016 ASCAP Latin Awards.
Chart performance
Following the release of A Quien Quiera Escuchar in February 2015, "La Mordidita" debuted at number seventeen on the Billboard's US Latin Digital Songs chart, with 2,000 digital downloads sold. In May 2015, Martin extended his record for the most top twenty singles on Latin Pop Airplay, when "La Mordidita" jumped 40-20 on this chart. In mid-August 2015, "La Mordidita" earned Martin his twenty-sixth top ten hit on Hot Latin Songs. He became the fourth artist with the most top tens in the 29-year history of the chart. In late August 2015, Martin earned with "La Mordidita" his fifteenth number-one on the Latin Airplay chart (up 58 percent, to 11.8 million audience impressions). Eventually, "La Mordidita" peaked at number six on the US Hot Latin Songs chart, number one on Latin Airplay and number seven on Latin Digital Songs. It also reached number one on Latin Pop Airplay, number two on Latin Pop Digital Songs, and number twenty-six on Tropical Songs. On the 2015 Billboard Year-End charts, "La Mordidita" was ranked on the twentieth position on the Latin Airplay, twenty third on Hot Latin Songs, and thirty second on Latin Digital Songs.
"La Mordidita" peaked at number thirteen on the Mexican Espanol Airplay chart and number forty-eight on Mexico Airplay. It was certified gold by the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (AMPROFON) for shipment of 30,000 copies in that country. In Spain, the song debuted at number forty-three on the country's singles chart for the week of April 26, 2015. On the chart issue dated August 9, 2015, it reached a peak position of number three, and was later certified double-platinum by the Productores de Música de España (PROMUSICAE) for shipment of 80,000 copies. It later emerged as the 25th most successful single in Spain in 2015. "La Mordidita" also topped the charts in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
Music video
The music video for "La Mordidita" was filmed in Cartagena, Colombia in mid-March 2015 with Simón Brand serving as its director. The first scenes of the clip were filmed at the Casa Museo Rafael Núñez, where Martin was accompanied by Colombian actress and ballet dancer María Cecilia Sánchez. Other scenes were filmed on various local streets in the city. Speaking about the concept behind the video, Brand elaborated that it revolved around Martin spreading a "virus" through a bite, converting the people around him into "sensual and amusing" dancing zombies. He concluded that "basically, we will be spreading the nibble across the city".
A short teaser for the clip was shown through the YouTube channel of Mexican magazine Quién on June 9, 2015. The music video later premiered on the Spanish-language television program Primer Impacto broadcast by Univision on June 12, 2015 and was released on Martin's Vevo account shortly afterwards. A behind-the-scenes video was also released on Vevo on June 15, 2015. The music video opens with Martin biting the hand of a girl who continues to dance afterwards. She dances inside a house and then goes in the garden, where she bites a gardener's neck. She continues dancing on the streets and bites a street vendor. The "infected" people go on biting people around them and they all gather behind Martin where the perform dance routines on the streets. During the end they all gather to continue their dance at a party. Yotuel also appears in the video towards the end.
Jessica Lucia Roiz of Latin Times praised the video's "wonderful" scenery. A writer of Televisa's website described Martin as "more sensual than ever". Mandy Fridmann of The Huffington Post wrote that the singer "gives us all of his sensuality in looks, movements and gestures". La Nación journalist Jessica Rojas found "fun and colorful image sequence of images". Marie Palma F. of Starmedia felt that the video showed "the taste of Latinos". The clip for "La Mordidita" became Martin's most-watched music video on Vevo as of 2015. At the seventh Premios Quiero in 2015, the music video for the song was nominated in three categories - Best Video by a Male Artist, Video of the Year and Best Choreography. It won the Video of the Year award at the Premio Lo Nuestro 2016 making Martin the most awarded artist in the history of the award show.
Live performances
On June 30, 2015, Ricky Martin appeared on the Argentinian TV program Showmatch where he performed the song along with "Disparo al Corazón" and "Adiós". He also performed "La Mordidita" with Yotuel at the 2015 Premios Juventud on July 16, 2015 as the opening number of the awards ceremony. Yakary Prado of Miami Diario described Martin's choreography as "shocking". He also performed it as a medley with "Disparo al Corazón" during the Latin Grammy Awards of 2015 on November 19. On May 12, 2016, the song was performed by Yotuel along with Pedro Capó and Beatriz Luengo at the ASCAP Latin Music Awards. "La Mordidita" was part of Martin's set list during his One World Tour (2015-16). It was sung as a medley along with Martin's older songs "Pégate" (2006), "María" (1995) and "La Bomba" (1998).