Gran City Pop

Gran City Pop
Studio album by Paulina Rubio
Released	June 23, 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 Méndez, Chris Rodríguez, Fernando Montesinos
Paulina Rubio chronology
Paulina Remixes (2007) Gran City Pop (2009) Brava! (2011)
Singles from Gran City Pop
"Causa y Efecto" Released: March 26, 2009 "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes" Released: August 17, 2009 "Algo De Ti" Released: April 20, 2010

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

On December 2, 2009, Gran City Pop received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Album.

Background

Production

The production features compositions by Estéfano, Los Rabanes, Jeremías, Noel Schajris, Gian Marco Zignago, Lester Méndez, and Mario Domm. Paulina prepared her album with her own songs with the help of Coti, who had 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. She explained: "[...] 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; it's an album to get out the child within us".

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 life and musical 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 she collaborates with 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 regular edition and the special edition, were released on June 23, 2009.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]

The album received positive reviews from critics, who stated 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 comeback 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 May 11 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 May 14.^[6]

Paulina appeared at Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2009 on October 15 along with Cobra Starship performing "Good Girls Go Bad" and "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes". She was the female performer with the most nominations (and second most overall): "Video of the Year", "Best Artist", "Best Pop Artist", "Best Solo Artist" and "Artist of the Year". She won "Best Solo Artist", which became her first award. Rubio and Cobra Starship won an MTV Award for "Best Live Performance at Los Premios 2009", as voted by the public, beating artists such as Shakira, Nelly Furtado, and Wisin & Yandel.

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

On November 12, Paulina performed at the 2009 Premios Telehit 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 "Audience Award", given to her by her mother Susana Dosamantes.

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

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

Lastly, 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, the 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 March 30, 2009 and worldwide on April 1. The song was well received by critics and fans. The music video for this song was released on May 6 by Universal Music Spain. "Causa y Efecto" has been successful, reaching #1 on the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart, becoming Rubio's fourth #1 on the chart. It peaked at #7 in 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 in New York. The video premiered on October 8.^[8] "Ni Rosas Ni Juguetes" has so far peaked at number 9 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, becoming her second top ten hit from the album. The song also peaked at number 5 on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart. On October 21, it entered the Spanish Top 50 Songs at number 37 and 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, 2010 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 on April 30. "Algo De Ti" debuted at number 50 in Spain on the issue of week 17; the song later reached a peak of 48.

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

Track listing

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 US Billboard Latin Albums chart and #1 on the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart. 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 Albums Chart where it has been certified Gold for sales of over 30,000. On the Spain Albums Chart, the album debuted at #3 while debuting at #11 on the Argentine Albums 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