Translation (album)

Translation
Studio album by
Black Eyed Peas
ReleasedJune 19, 2020 (2020-06-19)
Genre
Length56:30
Language
Label
Producer
Black Eyed Peas chronology
Masters of the Sun Vol. 1
(2018) 		Translation
(2020) 		Elevation
(2022)
Singles from Translation
  1. "Ritmo"
    Released: October 11, 2019
  2. "Mamacita"
    Released: April 10, 2020
  3. "No Mañana"
    Released: June 13, 2020
  4. "Feel the Beat"
    Released: June 19, 2020
  5. "Action"
    Released: August 7, 2020
  6. "Vida Loca"
    Released: August 21, 2020
  7. "Girl Like Me"
    Released: December 4, 2020

Translation is the eighth studio album by American 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.

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]

Commercial performance

The album 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 (2010).

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic63/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Belfast Telegraph6/10[10]
laut.de[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Tom Hull – on the WebB+ ((3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention))[13]

Translation was met with generally favorable 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.[12] In Variety, A. D. Amorosi believed songs such as "I Woke Up" and "Get Loose Now" sound as if they were focus grouped for Latin audiences, but said of the album overall, "BEP have found a new sense of adventure, inventiveness and contagion through the modern Latin music prism."[14] Ingrid Angulo from Hot Press was more impressed, applauding their foray into reggaeton and saying, "The collaborations are seamless and the tracks as catchy as ever, cementing the modern global success of Latin-inspired dance music."[15] 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'."[13]

Track listing

Translation track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Ritmo (Bad Boys For Life)" (with J Balvin)
3:34
2."Feel the Beat" (with Maluma)
3:57
3."Mamacita" (with Ozuna and J. Rey Soul)
  • will.i.am
  • Goldstein[a]
4:11
4."Girl Like Me" (with Shakira)
  • Adams
  • Pineda
  • J. Gomez
  • Shakira
  • Goldstein
  • Brendan Buckley
  • Albert Menendez
  • Tim Mitchell
  • will.i.am
  • Shakira[a]
  • Goldstein[a]
3:42
5."Vida Loca" (with Nicky Jam and Tyga)
will.i.am3:54
6."No Mañana" (with El Alfa)
  • will.i.am
  • Goldstein[a]
3:39
7."Tonta Love" (with 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" (with Piso 21)
3:50
10."Duro Hard" (with Becky G)
3:25
11."Mabuti" (with French Montana)
  • Goldstein
  • will.i.am[a]
4:16
12."I Woke Up"
Rvssian3:30
13."Get Loose Now"
  • Adams
  • Goldstein
  • will.i.am
  • Goldstein[a]
2:27
14."Action"
DJ Snake4:12
15."News Today"
Goldstein4:16
Total length:56:24
Target and Japanese bonus tracks[16][17]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
16."Ritmo Remix" (with J Balvin and Jaden)
  • Adams
  • Pineda
  • Harris
  • Balvin
  • Bontempi
  • Gaffey
  • Glenister
  • Gordon
  • Spagner
  • will.i.am
  • Harris[a]
3:49
17."Ritmo Remix" (with 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

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 16 (Japanese edition)
  • Taboo – vocals on all tracks except 1, 7, 11, 13, 16, and 17 (Japanese edition)
  • J. Rey Soul – vocals on tracks 3, 5, 7–8, and 11–12

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Translation
Region Certification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[41] Platinum 100,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[42] Platinum 50,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[43] Platinum 20,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Rashed, Ayana (June 15, 2020). "Black Eyed Peas Announce New Album 'Translation' Out June 19". Respect. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  2. ^ Gayler, Max (June 19, 2020). "Nine Songs: The Black Eyed Peas". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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. ^ Jimeno, Johannes (2020). "Der bizarre musikalische Suizid einer Band" (in German). laut.de. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  12. ^ a b Suarez, Gary (June 22, 2020). "Review: Black Eyed Peas' 'Translation'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  13. ^ a b Hull, Tom (June 22, 2020). "Music Week". Tom Hull – On the Web. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  14. ^ Amorosi, A.D. (June 19, 2020). "Black Eyed Peas' 'Translation': Album Review". Variety. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  15. ^ Angulo, Ingrid (June 22, 2020). "Album Review: Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hot Press. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  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. ^ "Translation on Billboard Japan Hot Albums". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  28. ^ "ブラック・アイド・ピーズの作品" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  29. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  30. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  31. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  32. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  33. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Black Eyed Peas – Translation". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  34. ^ "The Black Eyed Peas Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  35. ^ "The Black Eyed Peas Chart History (Top Latin Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  36. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2020" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  37. ^ "Top Of The Music 2020: 'Persona' Di Marracash È L'album Piú Venduto" (Download the attachment and open the albums file) (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  38. ^ "Top Latin Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  39. ^ "Top de l'année Top Albums 2021" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  40. ^ "Top Latin Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  41. ^ "French album certifications – Black Eyed Peas – Translation" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  42. ^ "Italian album certifications – Black Eyed Peas – Translation" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved December 5, 2022. Select "2022" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Translation" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
  43. ^ "OLiS - oficjalna lista wyróżnień" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 20, 2023. Click "TYTUŁ" and enter Translation in the search box.