Gran City Pop

Gran City Pop
Studio album by Paulina Rubio
Released	23 June 2009
Recorded	2008—2009
Genre	Latin pop, dance-pop
Length	35:14 (Standard 10-track Edition)46:49 (U.S. Deluxe Edition)
Label	Universal Music Latino
Producer	Cachorro López, Lester Mendez, Chris Rodriguez, Fernando Montesinos
Paulina Rubio chronology
Ananda (2006) Gran City Pop (2009) Brava! (2011)
Singles from Gran City Pop
"Causa y Efecto" Released: 26 March 2009 "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes" Released: 17 August 2009 "Algo De Ti" Released: 20 April 2010

Gran City Pop (English: Great Pop City) is the ninth studio album by Mexican singer Paulina Rubio released by Universal Music Group on 23 June 2009. The album's first single "Causa y Efecto" became Rubio's first number one single on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs since Ni Una Sola Palabra in 2006. It was also Rubio's fourth number one single in her career to reach number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs; and her 3rd consecutive album to come out with a number one single on the Hot Latin tracks chart.

On 2 December, Gran City Pop received a Grammy nomination for "Best Latin Pop Album".

Background

Production

The production features compositions by Estéfano, Los Rabanes, Jeremías, Noel Schjris (Sin Bandera), Gian Marco Zignago, Lester Méndez, and Mario Domm. Paulina prepared her album with her own songs with the help Coti Sorokin, who played a big influence in the writing of the album. Speaking to a Mexican radio program, the "Golden Girl" said that the new material presented many changes, "but at the same time I remain very loyal to my music; my rancheras, boleros, and simple rhythms like the songs we used to listen to as children". She also added, "This new production will have songs by Mario Domm, the leader of Camila, and Estéfano, but there are some songs of mine with Coti; is a disc to get the child within us," she said.

Content

According to her web site, the idea of Gran City Pop is "an imaginary and enormous city where Paulina groups in one vision, some of the vitals and musicals experiences, lived during the last years in many cities of the world, experiences that have marked her life forever and now she wants to share in ten songs with influences that enrich this new stage of her career. In the album collaborates Estéfano, Chris Rodríguez, Cachorro López, Léster Méndez and Coti".^[1]

Rubio started working on Gran City Pop in her Miami house studio in 2008 as a follow-up to her eighth album, Ananda, released in 2006. The album includes a variety of styles, which took months of recording.

On iTunes, those that pre-ordered the album got two bonus tracks: an acoustic version of "Causa y Efecto" and a bonus song called "El Tren de La Vida."

First confirmed by Amazon, a special edition including a DVD was available to pre-order.^[2] Both versions, the special edition and the normal edition, were released on June 23, 2009.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]

The album received positive reviews from the critics, stating that the album is a great pop album.

• Phil Freeman, from Allmusic, gave a positive review, giving it 4 out of 5 stars, saying:
  "Paulina Rubio's giddy, silly personality bubbles forth all over this album; she sounds like she's having a blast on every song, even the ones that are about the pitfalls of love...Arrangements run the gamut from the acoustic guitar and organ of "Amanecí Sin Ti" to the big sampled Gary Glitter beat of first single "Causa y Efecto," the New Order-style pulsing bassline of "Enséñame," and "Algo de Ti," with sampled strings rubbing against hard synth lines...one of its definite high points, is the hip-hop/ranchero fusion "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes,"it's exactly the kind of culture-blending, boundary-dissolving sound that encapsulates modern Latin pop, and it's brilliant. Almost miraculously, this album's style-hopping, from electro to pop/rock (sometimes sounding like Electronic, as on "A Contraluz") to indefinable blends of whatever works, never becomes tiresome. That's a tribute not only to Rubio's producers, but to her own force of personality. She's one of the most vibrant performers in Latin pop".^[3]

• Rachel Devitt, from Rhapsody.com, gave a positive, though not rated, review saying:
  "An imaginary utopia inspired by Miami, Madrid and Mexico City, Paulina Rubio's Gran City effortlessly blends the sounds of those scenes, jumping from Mexican regional-infused pop (don't miss the bonus banda version of "Causa Y Efecto") to Latin alt to almost ABBA-esque Euro-disco (the dramatic "Algo de Ti"). Rubio's flexible voice and diva charisma allow her to carry off each style with attitude and flair. It's a potent reminder of why she is such a mega-star in the Latin pop world, and poses the question of when the English-speaking pop world is going to wake up and take notice."^[4]

Promotion

Paulina's big come back took place in the month of April at the 2009 Billboard Latin Music Awards where Rubio performed her lead single Causa y Efecto for the first time.

Paulina also performed live at Univision's Premios Juventud.

Rubio made a private concert at Gotham Hall in New York City on 11 May 2009 to promote Gran City Pop. The concert was presented by Univision Radio.^[5]

During her stay in New York, she visited the MTV Tr3s Studios, she taped the show ESL, and presented fans the single Causa y Efecto. The performance was aired on 14 May.^[6]

Paulina appeared at Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2009 on 15 October along with Cobra Starship performing Good Girls Go Bad and Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes. Shere was the female performer with the most nominations (and second most overall): Video of the Year, Mejor Artista, Mejor Artista Pop, Mejor Solista y Artista del Ano, winning Mejor Solista becoming her first award. Rubio and Cobra Starship won an MTV Award for "Best Performance", as voted by the public, beating artist such as Shakira, Nelly Furtado, and Wisin & Yandel.

On 1 November, Paulina performed Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes on ¡Viva el Sueño!, a reality competition show similar to American Idol.

On 12 November, Paulina performed at the 2009 Premios Telehit which take place in Mexico and was given the award for being the Mexican female artist with most international fame.

Paulina performed at the Miss Colombia 2009 ceremony on November 16.

Paulina performed at Premios OYE! and won the award for "Premio del Publico" given to her by her mother Susana Dosamantes.

On 5 February, Paulina performed at the 2010 Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam.

On 18 February, Paulina performed at the 2010 "Premios Lo Nuestro".

Paulina performed "Algo De Ti" for the first time at the "2010 Billboard Latin Music Awards" on April 29 as a duet with rapper/singer Wyclef Jean.

Tour

In September 2009, Rubio started her the third solo concert tour Gran City Pop Tour in support of this album.

Singles

• "Causa y Efecto", the first single from Gran City Pop was released to U.S. radio on 30 March and worldwide 1 April. The song was well received by critics and fans. The music video for this song was released on 6 May by Universal Music Spain. Causa y Efecto has been successful reaching #1 on the Hot Latin Songs becoming Rubio's fourth #1 on the chart. It peaked at #7 on Spain.

• "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes" was released as the second single from Gran City Pop.^[7] The music video was directed by Jessy Terrero on August 26 on New York; The video premiered on 8 October.^[8] Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes has so far peaked at number 9 on the Hot Latin Songs, becoming her second top ten hit from the album and number 5 on the Latin Pop Songs. On 21 October it entered the Spanish Top 50 Songs at number 37 and has so far peaked at number 3, becoming her first top five hit from the album in Spain and second top ten hit from the album overall.^[9]

• "Algo De Ti" was released as the third single from Gran City Pop. Paulina filmed the music video on February 26 in Miami. The director was Steven Oritt and was produced by Jessy Terrero who filmed both video versions of "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes".^[10] The video premiered April 30. "Algo De Ti" debuted at number 50 in Spain on the issue of week 17.

Credits

• Executive Producer: Paulina Rubio
• Art Direction: Eli Tersse
• Design: Pon un Diseñador Gráfico en tu Vida (www.ponlo.es)^[11]
• Photography: Gustavo López-Mañas (www.glm-studio.com)
• Hairstyling: Tony Lucha
• Stylist: Cristina Cellini
• Makeup: Jennifer Daranyi using Dior
• Engineer: Enrique Larreal

Tracklisting

Bonus DVD

• Días De Trabajo En Gran City Pop - 16:33 (Making Of Video)
• "Causa y Efecto" - 3:23 (Music Video)
• Behind the Scenes - 3:29 (Photoshoot)
• Photo Gallery

Special Edition

• Causa y Efecto (Angel & Khriz Remix)
• Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes ft Pitbull (Mr. 305 Remix)
• Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes (Juan Magan Remix)

Chart performance

The album sold 9,400 copies in its first week of release debuting at #44 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. It debuted at #2 on the Latin Albums and #1 on the Latin Pop Albums charts. Gran City Pop has been awarded a platinum award for shipments of over 300,000 copies in Europe, Latin America and the United States combined.^[12]

The album debuted at #2 on the Mexican Album Chart where it has been certified Gold for sales of over 30,000. On the Spain Album Chart, the album debuted at #3, while debuting at #11 on the Argentine Album Chart. In Colombia, the album reached the #1 position and reached a gold certification for over 10,000 copies sold.

Charts and certifications

Awards and nominations

References