Monday, August 27, 2012

HEAR THIS: Kat DeLuna "Wanna See U Dance"

With the returning rise of samba-sampling and influenced work edging it's way back onto the Top 40 (and the dance floor), it's about time some attention returns to everyone's favorite "Whine Up"-er, Ms. Kat DeLuna.

If anyone deserves an 'Underappreciated' tag, it's Kat. Breaking onto the scene with 2007's "Whine Up", a scorcher of a dance track that earned her a Best New Artist trophy via MTV Latinoamerico, Kat essentially introduced to America an up-and-coming producer in Nadir Khayat -- we better know him now as RedOne. While RedOne's career took off -- thanks in large part to a collaboration with Lady Gaga via The Fame -- Kat was forced to spin her wheels. Despite releasing quality dance cuts in "Run the Show", "In the End", "Unstoppable" (with a featured tag by Lil Wayne), "Push Push", "Breathing Your Love" (with the amazing Darin), "Dance Bailalo", "Dancing Tonight" (a #1 on the Billboard Dance Chart) and most recently "Drop It Low", Kat has struggled to gain much attention and her sophomore album Inside Out never even saw release in the US.

While the setbacks must be difficult, the Kat DeLuna style has continued to filter out into the ether. "Push Push" was "covered" (in a sense, at least) by Korean quartet SISTAR as their debut single. 2011's Rise of Pitbull and the return of Jennifer Lopez to the mainstream market (thanks to RedOne and one crazy good sample), plus the Caribbean-influenced sounds featured in recent works by Rihanna and Nicki Minaj (again, RedOne), what better time is it than the present for Kat to return to the airwaves? That answer would be none. None better time than now.
 
Enter "Wanna See U Dance (La La La)", Kat's latest single off her upcoming third overall album, Viva Out Loud, set for release this "fall" (so...any time now, really). In typical Kat fashion -- the song is an earworm thanks to the counterpoint of a catchy chorus with a strong musical accompaniment fitting like proverbial hand in glove. The song's video was premiered via Ryan Seacrest (.com) and features a jungle-inspired motif complete with short-haired, blonde Kat writhing around in the rain.
 

 
While the song isn't as instanteously punchy as say "Drop It Low" or "Whine Up" before it, it instead blends a bit more into the sound popular at the moment while still retaining Kat's unique timbre, sexuality and sense of identity. The song straddles clubby dance music during the verses with a downright Brazilian feel straight outta Rio during the chorus (and a snappy dubstep breakdown in the bridge...but it's not as cliched as you'd think). Will it be enough to give Kat her due with the mainstream populice? We can hope.

"Wanna See U Dance (La La La)" is now available for purchase on iTunes.

No comments:

Follow Me on Instagram via @melismaticdiva