Ritmo (Bad Boys For Life)

Album: Translation (2019)
Charted: 26
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Songfacts®:

  • The Black Eyed Peas teamed up with J, Balvin for this Spanglish twist on Corona's 1993 song "The Rhythm Of The Night." ("Ritmo" is Spanish for "rhythm"). The lyrics insert the original chorus from the Italian band's dance hit between Spanish and English verses, in which the Colombian and American artists flaunt their party lifestyles.

    "I wanted to reimagine 'Rhythm of the Night' by Corona and give it a minimal, futurist, Afro-fused reggaeton vibe," Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am said in a press release.
  • "Ritmo" was written for the 2020 buddy cop movie Bad Boys for Life, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. The third and final installment in the Bad Boys trilogy, it features a Romanian mob boss exacting revenge on the detective duo just as they are about to retire.
  • The chorus and bridge samples DJ Snake's remix of AlunaGeorge's "You Know You Like It."
  • The song gave the Black Eyed Peas their first Hot 100 chart entry since "Don't Stop the Party" in 2011. It was their first top 40 hit since "Just Can't Get Enough," which reached #3 also in 2011.
  • British music geeks will tell you that "Rhythm Of The Night" has been sampled into a hit song before. Back in 2013, Bastille reached #2 on the UK charts with "Of The Night," which mashed-up Snap!'s "Rhythm Is A Dancer" and Corona's Eurodance classic.
  • The Bad Boys for Life soundtrack album also features a remix of "Ritmo" that contains some additional bars from Will Smith's son, Jaden Smith.

Comments: 2

  • Reeny from AustraliaOmg yes finally that beat of “you know you like it” has been doing my head in for days trying to figure out what song it’s from! Thankyou
  • AnonymousThank you! It was going my head in cos I knew I’d heard that part of the song before (You Know You Like It).
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