Review: Rauw Alejandro's 'Saturno World Tour'

According to Billboard, Latin music consumption in the United States grew by a whopping 55% between 2020 and 2022, and no discussion about Latin music's rapidly growing influence would be complete without mentioning Rauw Alejandro, the Puerto Rican heartthrob who is currently touring the world in support of his new album "Saturno." With 57 shows in 14 countries, his "Saturno World Tour" – which is currently selling out just about everywhere – is his largest to date, proof that the "King of Modern Reggaeton" is poised for world domination.

Alejandro is part of an elite group of younger Latin musicians who are at the forefront of the genre's U.S. takeover, joining the likes of Bad Bunny, Karol G, Eslabon Armado, Farruko, Jhayco, Anuel AA, Maluma, and Rosalia, who has been dating Alejandro for the last several years. Together, they're Latin music's biggest stars that are all redefining what it means to have crossover success in an industry whose airwaves have long been dominated by English-language artists.

Alejandro's first two albums, "Afrodisiaco" and "Vice Versa," were sexy works of art, the latter of which featured his biggest single to date, "Todo de Ti," which topped the charts in 18 countries. "Saturno," which was released in November, hasn't achieved the same level of success that his first two albums did, and that has a lot to do with the underwhelming nature of the album's songs, which sound slightly more progressive and experimental than his best material. While it's fitting that his "Saturno World Tour" is his biggest tour to date given the massive success of his first two albums, his setlist features 14 tracks from his underwhelming new album, which are not the most memorable songs from which to build a setlist.

Similarly frustrating is the whiplash-inducing speed at which he cycled through a 40-song setlist, often glossing right over some of his biggest hits, which would have been better performed in their entirety – songs like "Nostálgico," "La Old Skul," "Te Felicito," "Party," "2/Catorce," and "Todo De Ti." Still, Alejandro – flanked by a slew of backup dancers – was a hunky force during the show, showcasing both his alluring dance skills and solid live vocals, even if his use of autotune often veered into overkill. (It's worth noting, however, that his use of autotune is a stylistic choice rather than a necessity). But, despite Alejandro's raw talent, the show itself needs some refining: His dancing often feels like it gets interrupted by his singing, yet at other times his singing seems to take a backseat to his dancing, rarely delivering a fully satisfying song. His live shows would undoubtedly level up if there was more seamlessness between his singing and his dancing.

There is an awful lot of machismo in Latin music, and Alejandro doesn't shy away from perpetuating that, including the shameless objectification of women both in his songs and during his live shows, encouraging the female members of the audience to toss their bras and panties up on the stage, which – of course – they did gladly. But after a certain point it felt kind of gross, and was pretty alienating for his scores of gay fans.

While Alejandro has earned his place on the top shelf of Latin music tastemakers, is it likely that his "Saturno" era will not go down as one of the defining eras of his career. Still, with or without "Saturno," there's a hell of a lot to love.