Translation (album)

Translation is the eighth studio album by American pop rap group Black Eyed Peas. It was released on June 19, 2020, by Epic Records. The album features guest appearances from Shakira, J Balvin, Ozuna, Maluma, Nicky Jam, Tyga, El Alfa, Piso 21, Becky G, French Montana and J Rey Soul.

Translation
Studio album by Black Eyed Peas
Released	June 19, 2020 (2020-06-19)
Genre	Hip hop pop dance reggaeton Latin trap[1]
Length	56:30
Language	Spanish English Tagalog
Label	will.i.am Epic
Producer	DJ Snake Johnny Goldstein Rvssian Keith Harris DJ Ammo Papatinho Mucky Shakira will.i.am
Black Eyed Peas chronology
Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 (2018) Translation (2020)
Singles from Translation
"Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life)" Released: October 11, 2019 "Mamacita" Released: April 10, 2020 "Feel the Beat" Released: July 17, 2020[2]

Marketing and sales

The track listing was revealed on June 11, 2020, alongside the album announcement.[3] "No Mañana" was released as a promotional single on June 12, 2020, along with the album's cover art.[4][5] The album was also promoted with two Hot Latin Songs chart toppers, "Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life)"[6] and "Mamacita".[7]

Translation was released on June 19, 2020, by the group's BEP label and Epic Records. The following week, it sold 15,000 album-equivalent units, measured largely from streaming revenue – 14 million streams of album tracks through on-demand services, measured as 10,000 streaming equivalent albums – while 4,000 units were traditional album sales. The performance earned the album a chart debut at number 52 on the Billboard 200 and at number three on the Top Latin Albums, which was the group's first top-five appearance on the latter chart.[6] The album is their first to enter the Billboard 200 chart since The Beginning in 2010 and Fergie's departure from the group.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	63/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Belfast Telegraph	6/10[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Tom Hull – on the Web	B+ ()[12]

Translation was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received a weighted average score of 63, based on four reviews.[8]

Reviewing in June 2020 for Rolling Stone, Gary Suarez said the "often clunky" album shows the group exploiting the contemporary Latin pop trend, albeit with occasional charm.[11] In Variety, A.D. Amorosi believed songs such as "I Woke Up" and "Get Loose Now" sound as if they were focus grouped for Latinx audiences, but said of the album overall, "BEP have found a new sense of adventure, inventiveness and contagion through the modern Latin music prism."[13] Ingrid Angulo from Hot Press was more impressed, applauding their foray into reggaetón and saying, "The collaborations are seamless and the tracks as catchy as ever, cementing the modern global success of Latin-inspired dance music."[14] Tom Hull was also relatively positive, writing in his blog, "Seems like they had a perfectly functional hip-hop/funk album on tap for summer release, then wound up adding a most atypical and remarkable topical song, 'News Today.'"[12]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the official Black Eyed Peas website.[15]

Translation track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Ritmo" (featuring J Balvin)	William Adams Allan Pineda Keith Harris José Álvaro Osorio Balvin Francesco Bontempi Michael Gaffey Peter Glenister Annerley Gordon Giorgio Spagner	will.i.am Harris^[a]	3:41
2.	"Feel the Beat" (featuring Maluma)	Adams Yonatan Goldstein Pineda Jimmy Luis Gomez Juan Luis Londoño Arias Hugh L Clarke Paul Anthony Thomas Curtis T. Bedeau Gerard R. Charles Brian P. George Lucien J. George	will.i.am Johnny Goldstein^[a] Mucky^[a]	3:57
3.	"Mamacita" (featuring Ozuna and J. Rey Soul)	Adams Goldstein Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado Pineda J. Gomez Madonna Ciccone Bruce Gaitsch Susan Leonard Patrick Leonard	will.i.am Goldstein^[a]	4:11
4.	"Girl Like Me" (featuring Shakira)	Adams Goldstein Pineda J. Gomez Shakira Brendan Buckley Albert Menendez Tim Mitchell	will.i.am Shakira^[a] Goldstein^[a]	3:42
5.	"Vida Loca" (featuring Nicky Jam and Tyga)	Adams Pineda J. Gomez Micheal Ray Stevenson Nick Rivera Caminero James Johnson Alonzo Miller Kirk Burrell	will.i.am ^[a]	3:54
6.	"No Mañana" (featuring El Alfa)	Adams Pineda J. Gomez Emmanuel Herrera Batista	will.i.am Goldstein^[a]	3:39
7.	"Tonta Love" (featuring J. Rey Soul)	Adams Goldstein	Goldstein will.i.am^[a]	3:50
8.	"Celebrate"	Adams Goldstein Pineda J. Gomez	Goldstein will.i.am^[a]	3:39
9.	"Todo Bueno" (featuring Piso 21)	Adams Goldstein Pineda J. Gomez David Escobar Gallego Pablo Mejia Bermudez Juan David Huertas Clavijo David Lorduy Hernández Alejandro Patiño	Goldstein will.i.am^[a] Mosty^[b]	3:50
10.	"Duro Hard" (featuring Becky G)	Adams Reynard Bargmann Rebbeca Marie Gomez J. Gomez Goldstein Damien Leroy Papatinho	will.i.am Mucky^[a] Ammo^[a] Goldstein Papatinho^[a]	3:25
11.	"Mabuti" (featuring French Montana)	Adams Goldstein Pineda Karim Kharbouch Simon Carter Walter Carter David Ferguson William Hull Curtis Reynolds Keith Samuels Brian Sherrer	Goldstein will.i.am^[a]	4:16
12.	"I Woke Up"	Adams Pineda J. Gomez Tarik Johnston	Rvssian	3:30
13.	"Get Loose Now"	Adams Goldstein	will.i.am Goldstein^[a]	2:27
14.	"Action"	Adams Pineda J. Gomez William Grigahcine	DJ Snake	4:12
15.	"News Today"	Adams Goldstein Pineda J. Gomez Benjamin Mor	Goldstein	4:16
Total length:				56:24

Target and Japanese bonus tracks[16][17]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Ritmo (Remix)" (featuring J Balvin and Jaden Smith)	Adams Pineda Harris Balvin Bontempi Gaffey Glenister Gordon Spagner	will.i.am Harris^[a]	3:49
17.	"Ritmo (Remix)" (featuring Steve Aoki and J Balvin)	Adams Pineda Harris Balvin Bontempi Gaffey Glenister Gordon Spagner	will.i.am Harris^[a]	3:52
Total length:				64:05

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^b} signifies an additional producer
• "Ritmo" is listed as "Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life)" on digital versions of the album.
• All tracks are stylized in all caps on streaming services, for example, "Mamacita" is stylized as "MAMACITA".
• "Ritmo" contains a sample of "The Rhythm of the Night" by Corona.
• "Feel the Beat" contains a sample of "Can You Feel the Beat" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam.
• "Mamacita" contains a sample of "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna.
• "Vida Loca" contains interpolations of "Super Freak" by Rick James and "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer.
• "Celebrate" contains a sample of "Conga" by the Miami Sound Machine.
• "Mabuti" contains a sample of "I Don't Know What It Is, But It Sure Is Funky" by Ripple and "Sweet Dreams" by La Bouche.

Personnel

Black Eyed Peas

• will.i.am – vocals on all tracks except 7, piano, keyboards, drum programming, programming
• apl.de.ap – vocals on all tracks except 7, 10, 13, and 17 [Japan Edition]
• Taboo – vocals on all tracks except 1, 7, and 13, 16, and 17 [Japan Edition]
• J Rey Soul – vocals on tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, and 12

Charts

Chart performance for Translation

Chart (2020)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18]	45
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19]	43
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20]	37
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[21]	8
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22]	18
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[23]	13
French Albums (SNEP)[24]	13
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25]	57
Italian Albums (FIMI)[26]	8
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[27]	38
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[28]	33
Scottish Albums (OCC)[29]	97
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[30]	42
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31]	11
US Billboard 200[32]	52
US Top Latin Albums (Billboard)[33]	3

References

1. Rashed, Ayana (June 15, 2020). "Black Eyed Peas Announce New Album 'Translation' Out June 19". Respect. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
2. http://radiodate.it/radio-date/black-eyed-peas-maluma-feel-the-beat-210814-17-07-2020-radiodate/
3. Wass, Mike (June 11, 2020). "Black Eyed Peas' New LP Features Shakira, Maluma & Becky G". Idolator. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
4. "Black Eyed Peas announce new album 'Translation'". NME. June 13, 2020.
5. "Black Eyed Peas' 'Translation' Album Track List". Billboard. June 12, 2020.
6. Bustios, Pamela (July 1, 2020). "The Black Eyed Peas Debut at No. 3 on Top Latin Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
7. "The Black Eyed Peas - Hot Latin Songs". Billboard. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
8. "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
9. Yeung, Neil Z. (June 2020). "Translation - The Black Eyed Peas". AllMusic. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
10. Green, Alex (June 26, 2020). "Albums of the week - from Black Eyed Peas to Haim: Black Eyed Peas - Translation". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
11. Suarez, Gary (June 22, 2020). "Review: Black Eyed Peas' 'Translation'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
12. Hull, Tom (June 22, 2020). "Music Week". Tom Hull – On the Web. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
13. Amorosi, A.D. (June 19, 2020). "Black Eyed Peas' 'Translation': Album Review". Variety. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
14. Angulo, Ingrid (June 22, 2020). "Album Review: Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hot Press. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
15. "Black Eyed Peas". www.blackeyedpeas.com.
16. "Black Eyed Peas - Translation (Target Exclusive, CD)". www.target.com.
17. "Translation Black Eyed Peas CD Album". CDJapan.
18. "Austriancharts.at – Black Eyed Peas – Translation" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
19. "Ultratop.be – Black Eyed Peas – Translation" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
20. "Ultratop.be – Black Eyed Peas – Translation" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
21. "The Black Eyed Peas Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
22. "Dutchcharts.nl – Black Eyed Peas – Translation" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
23. "Black Eyed Peas: Translation" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
24. "Lescharts.com – Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
25. "Offiziellecharts.de – Black Eyed Peas – Translation" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
26. "Italiancharts.com – Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
27. "Norwegiancharts.com – Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
28. "Portuguesecharts.com – Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
29. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
30. "Swedishcharts.com – Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
31. "Swisscharts.com – Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
32. "The Black Eyed Peas Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
33. "The Black Eyed Peas Chart History (Top Latin Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 2, 2020.