Inside The Credits 044: La Paciencia y Mag
The Triangle Offense Behind “Nuevayol”: La Paciencia, Mag, y Bad Bunny
Best song of the year so far alert! “Nuevayol” by Bad Bunny, the intro track from his latest album Debí Tirar Más Fotos, has beat switches that I can only describe as “All Of The Lights” tier. That massive 2010 single by Kanye has a drum drop that will forever live in the stratosphere. “Nuevayol” is slightly less surprising and has more of a steady build, yet procures the same dynamism that makes your chest obtain a feverish rush. I was intrigued to find out that the producers responsible for this level of expertise have both been with Bad Bunny for some time and both have reached their peak powers with him on this instrumental—La Paciencia y Mag.
Mag’s career spans a bit further back than La Paciencia and began in an interesting and unexpected place, Pop. From 2014 through 2018 you could hear Mag behind the boards for EDM-laced Pop tracks for the likes of major acts like Colbie Caillat, Flo Rida, Jason Derulo and more. One thing that stood out about his early work was pulse and pocket mastery. His beat transitions were as pristine as a newly cleaned and waxed marble countertop.
Next came La Paciencia who made his mark almost immediately with Bad Bunny. He only had one major credit pre-Bunny on “Entre Tantas” by Eladio Carrion. That song was a sign of the dominance to come. It’s as quintessential a Puerto Rican reggaeton bop as exists and sets up Carrion to float. Bunny’s 2018 major debut album X100PRE, which had a Drake feature off-rip, was produced almost entirely by Paciencia. Their chemistry is palpable on impact. The guttural brightness of Paciencia’s reggaeton-trap soundscape made Bunny sound like he was Muhammad Ali bouncing off the ropes and landing jabs and left hooks.
After a few tracks in 2019 for Mag, which remained entirely in his Pop lane, he, for the first time, existed in the Bad Bunny sphere. In 2020, Mag produced on nine tracks for Bad Bunny’s album El Último Tour Del Mundo, while Paciencia only produced on a single song, “Dákiti.”
Sidenote: Bad Bunny’s sophomore effort YHLQMDLG (released earlier in the same year 2020) had zero production from either La Paciencia or Mag, but instead marked the beginning of Bunny’s essential track record with producer Tainy. Tainy, did not produce on “Nuevayol,” thus is not featured here. However, he may be overdue for a piece of his own soon…
While Bad Bunny definitely still had clear reggaeton centrality to his sound on El Último Tour Del Mundo, you can also distinctly hear his first attempts to make more traditional western Pop songs. You can hear Mag’s prior work specifically come into play on track’s like “Maldita Pobreza” which sounds like a beat Rihanna could’ve flourished on in 2007 or “Yo Visto Asi” which sounds like something Flo Rida may have passed on. This feels like a transitional album for Bad Bunny because while cookie cutter Pop is definitely not where his superpower lies, you can still hear interesting moments of discovery throughout. He must’ve known something was special about Mag that needed further exploration, because what happened next is where it all came together.
What I deduce will forever remain as Bad Bunny’s most celebrated work is his fourth album, Un Verano Sin Ti. La Paciencia and Mag co-produced 14 of the album’s 23 total songs. Bringing the two producers together was lightning in a bottle from jump. The beginning of the album features four straight tracks with both La Paciencia and Mag in the production credits and displays the breadth of their ability together. The sequence feels like a triangle offense with Bad Bunny at the point guard like MJ, Mag at the wing like Scottie Pippen, and La Paciencia in the post like Dennis Rodman. You get the pulsating sunnyness of La Paciencia juxtaposed against the saccharine chord structures and melodies of Mag, and when Bunny dishes them the rock to support his delivery, he can either drain a three or dunk at will.
The Bad Bunny triangle offense, however, has not been exactly like the 90s Bulls. Winning back to back championships (let alone three-peating) is difficult to do. It may be even more difficult in music than in sports because it requires a deft balance of not losing your listening audience while also progressing in your sound significantly. Sometimes you have to train more in different ways in order to get back to a championship winning organization. This is exactly what happened with the dynamic trio between Un Verano Sin Ti and Debí Tirar Más Fotos. It began with a bunch of non-Bunny work for Mag for the rest of 2022 into 2023. His Bunny prowess opened up a world where he could work with many more Latin reggaeton artists like Arcangel, Bad Gyal, Grupo Frontera, El Jean, Mora, and Karol G. He also forayed into Afrobeats and even baked internet rap for the likes of Burna Boy and Nettspend.
This shift into a more hard-nosed sound allowed for Mag and La Paciencia to make a hard shift with Bad Bunny to his more trap laden roots on his next album, nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana in 2023. This album reminds me most of El Último Tour Del Mundo because it had such a specific focus on a sound that wasn’t completely rooted in Bad Bunny’s core strength, reggaeton. That said, there are some impeccably standout moments like the vivacious “Monaco.” La Paciencia and Mag produced together on even more tracks together here and the album would act as a bootcamp for what would come next.
After “trap-training” both La Paciencia and Mag would take their skills to even more Latin artists' sounds and bring back an expanded palette to Bad Bunny. Their work with Angelito, Saiko, Mikael Joaquin, Young Miko, rebwca, Jhayco, Martuca, Golducci, and Rauw Alejandro would garner them proficiency in tones from Brazil, Spain, and Argentina which would lead to Bunny’s rounded sound on Debí Tirar Más Fotos.
“Nuevayol” brings the trap fervor into reggaeton and collides it with a kaleidoscopic Latin sound. The rest of Debí Tirar Más Fotos uses a lot of salsa and folk influence, but never lets go of that now quintessential Bad Bunny reggaeton pulse. You could say that the triangle offense is back at a championship level. Some have said the 2010s Golden State Warriors used elements of the triangle offense as their coach Steve Kerr was a part of Phil Jackson’s 90s Bulls and borrowed some sauce. Perhaps, Bad Bunny is actually Steph Curry, Mag is Klay Thompson, and La Paciencia is Draymond Green because they won the championship in 2015, lost in 2016, but came back and won in 2017. They also won in 2018 so I can’t wait to hear what’s next.
Playlists: ITC 044 La Paciencia y Mag