Translation (album) explained

Translation
Type:studio
Artist:Black Eyed Peas
Cover:Black Eyed Peas - Translation.png
Genre:
Length:56:30
Label:
Producer:
Prev Title:Masters of the Sun Vol. 1
Prev Year:2018
Next Title:Elevation
Next Year:2022

Translation (stylized in all caps) 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.

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)" and "Mamacita".[6]

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.[7] The album is their first to enter the Billboard 200 chart since The Beginning (2010).

Critical reception

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.

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.[8] 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."[9] 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."[10] 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'."[11]

Track listing

Notes

Personnel

Black Eyed Peas

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Translation
Chart (2020)Peak
position
Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[12] 71
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13] 62

Year-end charts

Chart (2020)! scope="col"
Position
French Albums (SNEP)[14] 99
Italian Albums (FIMI)[15] 78
US Top Latin Albums (Billboard)[16] 23
Chart (2021)! scope="col"
Position
French Albums (SNEP)[17] 96
US Top Latin Albums (Billboard)[18] 19

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Black Eyed Peas Announce New Album 'Translation' Out June 19. Respect. Rashed. Ayana. June 15, 2020. June 18, 2020.
  2. Web site: Nine Songs: The Black Eyed Peas. The Line of Best Fit. Gayler, Max. June 19, 2020. December 7, 2020.
  3. Web site: Black Eyed Peas' New LP Features Shakira, Maluma & Becky G. Wass. Mike. Idolator. June 11, 2020. June 12, 2020.
  4. Web site: Black Eyed Peas announce new album 'Translation'. NME. June 13, 2020.
  5. Black Eyed Peas' 'Translation' Album Track List. June 12, 2020. Billboard.
  6. The Black Eyed Peas - Hot Latin Songs. Billboard. August 15, 2020.
  7. Bustios. Pamela. July 1, 2020. The Black Eyed Peas Debut at No. 3 on Top Latin Albums Chart. Billboard. July 2, 2020.
  8. Suarez. Gary. June 22, 2020. Review: Black Eyed Peas' 'Translation'. Rolling Stone. June 23, 2020.
  9. Amorosi. A.D.. June 19, 2020. Black Eyed Peas' 'Translation': Album Review. Variety. June 23, 2020.
  10. Angulo. Ingrid. June 22, 2020. Album Review: Black Eyed Peas – Translation. Hot Press. June 23, 2020.
  11. Web site: Hull. Tom. Tom Hull (critic). June 22, 2020. Music Week. Tom Hull – On the Web. June 23, 2020.
  12. Web site: Translation on Billboard Japan Hot Albums. Billboard Japan. September 22, 2020. ja.
  13. Web site: ブラック・アイド・ピーズの作品. Ja. Oricon. August 8, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20201009230733/https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/144588/products/. dead. October 9, 2020.
  14. Web site: Top de l'année Top Albums 2020. SNEP. fr. February 3, 2021.
  15. Web site: Top Of The Music 2020: 'Persona' Di Marracash È L'album Piú Venduto. it. Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. January 7, 2021. January 11, 2021. Download the attachment and open the albums file.
  16. Top Latin Albums – Year-End 2020. Billboard. December 16, 2020.
  17. Web site: Top de l'année Top Albums 2021. SNEP. fr. April 15, 2022.
  18. Top Latin Albums – Year-End 2021. Billboard. January 19, 2022.