Gran City Pop
Gran City Pop is the ninth studio album by Mexican singer Paulina Rubio released by Universal Music Group on June 23, 2009. The album's first single "Causa y Efecto" became Rubio's first number one single on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart since "Ni Una Sola Palabra" in 2006. It was also Rubio's fourth number one single in her career on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs and her 3rd consecutive album to come out with a number one single on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart.
On December 2, 2009, Gran City Pop received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album.
Background
Production
The production features compositions by Estéfano, Los Rabanes, Jeremías, Noel Schajris, Gian Marco Zignago, Lester Méndez, and Mario Domm. Paulina prepared her album with her own songs with the help of Coti, who had a big influence in the writing of the album. Speaking to a Mexican radio program, the "Golden Girl" said that the new material presented many changes. She explained: " at the same time I remain very loyal to my music; my rancheras, boleros, and simple rhythms like the songs we used to listen to as children". She also added: "This new production will have songs by Mario Domm, the leader of Camila, and Estéfano, but there are some songs of mine with Coti; it's an album to get out the child within us".Content
According to her web site, the idea of Gran City Pop is "an imaginary and enormous city where Paulina groups in one vision, some of the life and musical experiences lived during the last years in many cities of the world; experiences that have marked her life forever and now she wants to share in ten songs with influences that enrich this new stage of her career. In the album she collaborates with Estéfano, Chris Rodríguez, Cachorro López, Léster Méndez and Coti".Rubio started working on Gran City Pop in her Miami house studio in 2008 as a follow-up to her eighth album Ananda, released in 2006. The album includes a variety of styles, which took months of recording.
On iTunes, those that pre-ordered the album got two bonus tracks: an acoustic version of "Causa y Efecto" and a bonus song called "El Tren de La Vida."
First confirmed by Amazon, a special edition including a DVD was available to pre-order. Both versions, the regular edition and the special edition, were released on June 23, 2009.
Reception
The album received positive reviews from critics, who stated that the album is a great pop album.- Phil Freeman, from Allmusic, gave a positive review, giving it 4 out of 5 stars, saying:
- Rachel Devitt, from Rhapsody.com, gave a positive, though not rated, review, saying:
Jesús Rodríguez de El País considers Gran City Pop as a "party and romance tailor's drawer; pop rhythms, Latin airs, rock guitars, rancheras and tequila, melodic song and disco sound packaged under the concept of the three cities that have marked his life: Mexico City, Madrid and Miami. "
Chart performance
The album sold 9,400 copies in its first week of release, debuting at #44 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. It debuted at #2 on the US Billboard Latin Albums chart and #1 on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart. Gran City Pop has been awarded a platinum award for shipments of over 300,000 copies worldwide after one month of release.The album debuted at #2 on the Mexican Albums Chart where it has been certified Gold for sales of over 40,000. On the Spain Albums Chart, the album debuted at #3. In Colombia, the album reached a gold certification for over 10,000 copies sold.
Promotion
Paulina's big comeback took place in the month of April at the 2009 Billboard Latin Music Awards, where Rubio performed her lead single "Causa y Efecto" for the first time. Paulina also performed live at Univision's Premios Juventud. Rubio made a private concert at Gotham Hall in New York City on May 11 to promote Gran City Pop. The concert was presented by Univision Radio. During her stay in New York, she visited the MTV Tr3s Studios, she taped the show ESL, and presented fans the single "Causa y Efecto". The performance was aired on May 14. Paulina appeared at Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2009 on October 15 along with Cobra Starship performing "Good Girls Go Bad" and "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes". She was the female performer with the most nominations :"Video of the Year", "Best Artist", "Best Pop Artist", "Best Solo Artist" and "Artist of the Year". She won "Best Solo Artist", which became her first award. Rubio and Cobra Starship won an MTV Award for "Best Live Performance at Los Premios 2009", as voted by the public, beating artists such as Shakira, Nelly Furtado, and Wisin & Yandel. On November 1, Paulina performed "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes" on ¡Viva el Sueño!, a reality competition show similar to American Idol. On November 12, Paulina performed at the 2009 Premios Telehit in Mexico and was given the award for being the Mexican female artist with most international fame. Paulina performed at the Miss Colombia 2009 ceremony on November 16. Paulina performed at Premios Oye! and won the "Audience Award", given to her by her mother Susana Dosamantes. On February 5, 2010, Paulina performed at the 2010 Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam. On February 18, Paulina performed at the Premios Lo Nuestro 2010. Lastly, Paulina performed "Algo De Ti" for the first time at the 2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards on April 29 as a duet with rapper/singer Wyclef Jean.
Tour
In September 2009, Rubio started her the third solo concert tour, the Gran City Pop Tour, in support of this album.Singles
- "Causa y Efecto", the first single from Gran City Pop was released to U.S. radio on March 30, 2009 and worldwide on April 1. The song was well received by critics and fans. The music video for this song was released on May 6 by Universal Music Spain. "Causa y Efecto" has been successful, reaching #1 on the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, becoming Rubio's fourth #1 on the chart. It peaked at #7 in Spain.
- "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes" was released as the second single from Gran City Pop. The music video was directed by Jessy Terrero on August 26 in New York. The video premiered on October 8. "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes" has so far peaked at number 9 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, becoming her second top ten hit from the album. The song also peaked at number 5 on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart. On October 21, it entered the Spanish Top 50 Songs at number 37 and peaked at number 3, becoming her first top five hit from the album in Spain and second top ten hit from the album overall.
- "Algo De Ti" was released as the third single from Gran City Pop. Paulina filmed the music video on February 26, 2010 in Miami. The director was Steven Oritt and was produced by Jessy Terrero, who filmed both video versions of "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes". The video premiered on April 30. "Algo De Ti" debuted at number 50 in Spain on the issue of week 17; the song later reached a peak of 48.
Credits
- Executive Producer: Paulina Rubio
- Art Direction: Eli Tersse
- Design: Pon un Diseñador Gráfico en tu Vida
- Photography: Gustavo López-Mañas
- Hairstyling: Tony Lucha
- Stylist: Cristina Cellini
- Makeup: Jennifer Daranyi using Dior
- Engineer: Enrique Larreal
Track listing