The Puerto Rican heavyweight gets people dancing again while reminding the world of his lyrical prowess
Eight years after his last album, and seven years after his last single, Tego Calderón is back — and we hope it’s for good.
After a few weeks of teasing new music on social media, the living reggaeton legend finally dropped his latest track, called “La Receta.” While he’s often remembered as a conscious rapper who proudly and artfully weaved themes of race, class, history, and social justice into his rhymes, he has always had time to raise the temperature on the dance floor with some of the most high-energy hits in the genre. “La Receta” falls into the latter category — produced by longtime collaborators DJ Urba & Rome, the song lets Calderón play in the perreo sandbox again with its unstoppable flow. “Estoy tan activa’o, que ni yo mismo me soporto,” he raps in the chorus.
The music video, directed by Alejandro Pedrosa and expected to drop next week, shows a stylishly dressed Calderón donning his signature afro and a quartet of women — many of them Black in keeping with his tradition of honoring Black women and Afro Latinas. Throughout the video, he dances through golf courses and tennis courts, flashing his trademark grin and belting bars in his unmistakable voice.
Fans have urged a comeback from Calderón for years and have held on to small signs that he might be returning to the scene. In the summer of 2020, Rosalía shared photos of the two of them in an undisclosed studio; later she confirmed that the Loíza native was supposed to be featured on “La Combi Versace,” which ended up as a Tokischa collaboration on her 2021 album Motomami. A year later, Calderón headlined Rimas Music’s official Latin Billboard Awards afterparty in Miami, joined by a star-studded audience that included Bad Bunny, Sech, Myke Towers, and more. Last April, he made a brief appearance at Puerto Rico’s Motherland Festival. He’s also headlining Baja Beach Fest, yet another indication that he’s reclaiming his throne.