For Puerto Rican artist Anuel AA, Spain is anything but the promised land. After his eventful participation in La sera dell’anno 4, by streamers Ibai Llanos, in July 2024 at the Santiago Bernabéu, where he arrived two hours late, cut his performance short and sang in dead languages due to autotune problems, returns with Real hasta la muerte tour. A tour that bears the title of his 2018 debut album, a promise to the road released during his stay in prison. His current dates were probably reserved for the presentation of his fifth studio album – with the same name but with the acronym RHLM 2 -, which he had proposed for this year but, for now, has fallen into oblivion.
Of the eight dates agreed on the peninsula, four have caused confusion. He canceled his visit to La Coruña, postponed appointments in Seville and Valencia and began his show in Pamplona several hours later. This didn’t stop him from selling out tickets for this first date at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, and he agreed to do a second one on November 26, his 33rd birthday. Seeing him on stage seems like a matter of faith. This is how Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago (Puerto Rico, 1992) sees it, arriving at the concert more than an hour late. Meanwhile, the kiss cam It projects images of the public, particularly of the cleavage, onto a predominantly under-age audience. Once again generating confusion between the explicit sexuality of the perreo and the context-free objectification of bodies, which is not always the same thing, but here it is mixed.
When Anuel AA finally sets foot on stage, he looks like a Las Vegas preacher, with a neon cross-shaped microphone, flashing and changing pitch. The best thing is that he convinces, when he runs out of battery with the 30 hits chosen from his last decade of career. Most of them don’t belong to any album, they are the single and his collaborations that earned him the virality. Singers of this genre usually sign remixes with an infinite list of participations, to conquer the public and earn first place in the rankings graphs. Many start with trap and continue with reggaeton, one style gives them credibility in the neighborhood and the other allows them to make it in the clubs. This dynamic is relentlessly pursued by Anuel, who begins the ladder with some songs by enchantingAS 47 OR Jellyfish -a reference to Versace- and ends it with the warm rhythms of He wants to drink OR Child.
The lights of the Palau Sant Jordi come on 20 minutes before the end of the concert, warning that time has run out and predicting clashes between the technical and management teams, who work behind the stage. Anuel asks for the lights to be dimmed, to no avail, and the sound is cut off just before midnight. Leaving the audience booing and ending the song a cappella. Another incident for this tour that puts him in a position to become more professional if he wants to do another one. However, he defended a good interpretation of the urban, with very recognizable musical references that allow its musical traceability. From Chinaa tribute to it wasn’t me by Shaggy, which takes us to its origins in Jamaica, a the last time which refers to Justin Bieber’s pop, or I was infectedSpanish version of the famous rap by Eminem and Dido, also adapted nationally by Yung Beef with Jony. Everything has its own interest, if you know how to read well. And although this new visit of Anuel AA to Spain followed a catastrophic trend, he had a dedicated audience that answered his question “true until when?” with his indisputable “until death”.
