With only two more weeks left before the new year, the latest Latin-meets-K-pop collaboration is here. Released yesterday, Colombian sensation Sebastián Yatra and Korean boy band phenomenon Monsta X dropped the bilingual track “Magnetic” after meeting this summer in Los Angeles.
The song marks Monsta X’s latest venture into reaching a wider, global audience after working with a string of Western artists. And Yatra, who has been on a collab spree for the last couple of years with everyone in the Latin market, is also expanding his reach by working with an artist in the Korean music industry for the first time, also becoming the first Colombian artist to feature on a K-pop song.
Blending Yatra’s balladeer flow and Monsta X’s EDM presence, “Magnetic” is the perfect mix of pop-reggaeton that dominates the airwaves in Latin America with a K-pop spin. The lyrics talk about the laws of attraction between two people, with the “Robarte Un Beso” singer taking on the Spanish verses of the song and the Monsta X guys singing exclusively in English. Well, except for I.M’s line “Lo nuestro es fuego,” which set off a frenzy on social media. Notably missing from the song were any lines or verses in Korean.
The stop motion animated music video features both acts in origami form singing in their respective home countries, with Yatra driving a car surrounded by palm trees and Monsta X singing by the famous Korean attraction, the Seoul Tower. The plot follows the song’s theme of being magnetically attracted physically, both the protagonists and the actual continents are drawn together throughout the video. It features the original seven members of Monsta X, which dates the video at least a month back.
Monsta X is now a six member act that garnered a strong fan base with their roaring EDM-pop bangers mixed with hard hitting rap verses. For the last couple of years, Hyungwon, Kihyun, I.M, Minhyuk, Joohoney, and Shownu have been heavily focusing on the Western market, releasing English language songs like the Top 40 hit featuring French Montana “Who Do You Love?” and “Play It Cool” with Steve Aoki. They became the first K-pop group to perform at the Teen Choice Awards this year and they recently wrapped up their performances on three Jingle Ball dates.
“We love the music that comes from Colombia and the Latin world in general. This is natural for us, and we always like to explore new things with our music,” Monsta X tells Remezcla.
For his part, Yatra rose to fame with his signature romantic reggaeton-pop tracks like “Traicionera” and “Por Perro.” The five time Latin Grammy nominee has teamed up with multiple Latinx artists over the years, from Nicky Jam to Juanes to Becky G. This summer he released his first bilingual track “Runaway” featuring the Jonas Brothers, Natti Natasha and Daddy Yankee. Though he generally only sings in Spanish, for “Magnetic – now his second bilingual track – he sang some verses in English as well.
“I’m passionate about global cultures and specifically love the aesthetics of K-pop, and Monsta X is one of the greatest in the genre,” Yatra tells Remezcla about why he hopped on a song with the group. “There’s nothing more beautiful than crossing borders and being able to take my voice to new horizons.”
“Magnetic” follows a growing trend of cross-cultural collaborations between artists in the Latin and K-pop fields that mirrors what’s currently happening with mainstream acts here in the West. Last year, veteran group Super Junior, Dominican-American singer Leslie Grace and the Argentinian-Venezuelan sibling duo Play-N-Skillz released “Lo Siento.” The K-pop act also released “One More Time (Otra Vez)” with Mexican trio Reik later on that year. In 2015, Mexican boy band CD9 teamed up with girl group Crayon Pop on “Get Dumb,” and Puerto Rican singer De La Ghetto and Play-N-Skillz worked on “Give Me More” with boy group VAV back in July.
Watch the video here: