Gloria Estefan - Hotel Nacional (Remixes)

This is the latest club single off of her Miss Little Havana concept album. The uptempo number is sort of a throwback with the Milk & Sugar vs. Vaya Con Dios "Hey Nah Nah Nah" samples. It is a sassy, fun song. The lyrics are very campy and novelty-ish, but they're enjoyable.

Gloria Estefan - Wepa (Remixes)

The highly anticipated remix package for the Pharrell Williams-produced song has finally arrived! Gloria's song is reworked by long-time collaborators Pablo Flores and Rosabel. This release marks the return of Pablo Flores to remixing after nearly a decade away. There are many, many remixes by Ralphi Rosario, Rosabel, Pablo Flores, R3hab, Gustavo Scorpio, DJ Africa, Keisha Mai Ash & Tony Mardini, and Emilio Estefan & Tony Mardini so far.

Ralphi's solo mixes are straightforward circuit/tribal. The dub works a lot better here. Rosabel's mixes are the hard-hitting circuit anthem that this song is screaming for. Pablo Flores shows us that he's still got it with his Latin House mixes. They are in a similar tempo as the original and add a frenzied carnival feel. He delivers both an English and Spanish version. R3hab's gritty electro treatments leave much to be desired as it is a mostly instrumental take. Gustavo Scorpio offers up a chunky Latin-ized big room mix. The Klubjumpers electro/house mix also doesn't go very far. DJ Africa's simple tribal/electro mix is effective as well. The Keisha Mai Ash & Tony Mardini mix is a festive, drummy one. Emilio Estefan & Tony Mardini's tribal/electro mix has some well-timed electro breaks, but it just lacks cohesiveness.

Overall, the Rosabel, Pablo Flores, and Gustavo Scorpio mixes are outstanding with the Klubjumpers and R3hab ones being the weakest.

Purchase the digital EP featuring a few of the mixes here (iTunes)

Grade: A

Gloria Estefan - Wepa

This is the brand new single from Gloria's new English language album Little Miss Havana. She has teamed up with producer Pharrell Williams (of The Neptunes and N.E.R.D.) for this album. "Wepa" is not the usual Hip Hop or Electro song that Pharrell is usually known for creating. Frenetic and moving with its rapid-fire lyrics, the song is in a merengue style. Vocally, Gloria sounds amazing. The song will be quite the floorfiller in the clubs. It is a tad too fast for mainstream radio. This will of course smash on the Latin stations. There's no word on remixes yet, but hopefully, there will be some.

Listen to the song here (YouTube)

Grade: A-