If you are in tune with the Latin music world at all, you have heard of Young Miko at this point. She has been sweeping the nation for the last year or so, slowly becoming a household name. One of the biggest reasons so many people have gravitated toward her music is due to her association with Bad Bunny, as he has had her featured on a couple of big songs over the last couple of years. Anyone who gets the stamp of approval from Bad Bunny is going to have their career get catapulted. Although Young Miko has just started to pop off recently, she has been honing her craft for quite a while. She first started putting music online back in 2018, rapping on beats she found on YouTube. Over the next several years, she continued to drop one-off singles on streaming services, slowly accumulating more and more fans who appreciated her for her ability to seamlessly mesh Latin Trap and Reggaeton music. In 2022, Young Miko released her first project, an EP called Trap Kitty. This project garnered her a ton of buzz and helped her get noticed by bigger artists in the industry. In 2023, Young Miko released multiple singles that ended up going viral. Songs like ‘CLASSY 101’ with Feid and ‘wiggy’ climbed music charts and asserted that she was one to watch. Young Miko is now trying to capitalize on this success, as she recently released her debut album, att. This album has been culminating in a decent amount of hype, as it feels like Young Miko has truly arrived. With that being said, here is how I feel about Young Miko’s att. Please let me know in the comments below what your favorite songs are on this new album from Young Miko, and also comment on how you feel about it as a whole!
Young Miko gets this album going on a light and fun note with ‘rookie of the year.’ This charming little track’s going viral right now; it is actually the reason I wanted to review this project. ‘rookie of the year’ has a feathery and breezy Pop Trap sound that is extremely catchy. The melody for this track is so inviting and atmospheric, and the beat is one that is tough not to move to when it comes on. Young Miko’s flow on this track is what makes it such an earworm. She rides this beat perfectly, and her raspy tone creates a cool juxtaposition with the bright sound of the track. ‘arcoíris’ is a song that immediately darkens things and speeds them up. This song has a sleek and dingy melody that is so reminiscent of R&B and Pop that was big in the Y2K era. The melody and beat for ‘arcoíris’ are a bit more synthetic and futuristic sounding than that kind of music, but it definitely feels inspired by the music that was big at the turn of the century. Young Miko’s vocals on ‘arcoíris’ are solid, but they do not do anything special to me. The thing that will draw people to ‘arcoíris’ is definitely its groovy instrumental. ‘tamagotchi’ is a song that really calms down the mood. This is a laid-back Reggaeton track with a very bright and bubbly sound. The melody for this one actually immediately makes me think of Doja Cat when I hear it. It also has a slight Emo music element to it through the guitar riff that comes in and out. Instead of being Pop-Trap, though, the Reggaeton beat gives this song a cool Latin Twist. Young Miko’s vocals on ‘tamagotchi’ are very soothing; they really fit the cozy and sweet feeling of the track. ‘ay mami,’ which features Dei V, honestly almost feels like a sped-up and more energetic version of the song that precedes it. The melody for this has a similar tone to ‘tamagotchi.’ Instead, have of having a laid-back Reggaeton sound, though, this one has an upbeat Pop-Trap one. To be honest, ‘ay mami’ does not grab me too much. It is definitely not necessarily bad, but nothing about it draws me in. I would rather just listen to ‘tamagotchi’ than this one.
‘fuck TMZ’ has a much simpler and smoother sound than anything that comes before it. This song is a palate cleanser, as it goes away from the more saturated sound we got to start the record. I like the groove that drives this melody; its old-school Funk sound shows a totally different side to Young Miko’s artistry. Her vocals on ‘fuck TMZ’ are just as smooth as the instrumental. She does a great job on this track at branching out on fuck TMZ’ and I appreciate it a lot. ‘offline,’ which features Young Miko’s frequent collaborator Feid, is a fun and charming Reggaeton track that is bound to get the dance floor jumping. Like ‘rookie of the year,’ this song has been blowing up, and it is easy to see why. The melody is so entertaining and catchy, and the beat is impossible to not move your hips too. Both Young Miko and Feid kill it on this track helping make it so memorable. ‘offline’ is a song that has song of the summer written all over it. Young Miko shows yet another completely different side to her sound in the song ‘princess peach.’ To be honest, I did not know this kind of track was in her bag at all. This is a Y2K and House music-infused Pop track with an ultramodern and sheeny sound. It is the kind of track I would expect from an artist like Ariana Grande or Dua Lipa. I have to say that Young Miko kills it on this one as well. Her singing voice is nice and makes ‘princess peach’ enjoyable and refreshing. ‘ID,’ which features Jowell and Randy, is one of the singles that was dropped in 2023 and started to amass Young Miko a pretty big following. This is a gritty and harsh Reggaeton track that shows the harder side of Young Miko. After how sweet ‘princess peach’ was, this is a hell of a switch-up. It is super easy to see why so many people were drawn to this one when it came out, though. Its raucous and intense sound gets the blood and gets the party popping. ‘ID’ sounds a little strange coming directly after ‘princess peach,’ but regardless, it is a very enthralling track.
‘en la pichi interlude’ is another song that completely switches up the energy. I feel like I am getting whiplash listening to this record because of how it is constantly pulling me in so many directions. To be frank, this one does not do much for me. It’s just kind of a bland Pop track where everything about it is just okay. ‘tres tristes tragos’ brings back the Y2K Pop theme we have been getting throughout the record. This song has a very shimmery and metallic sound that almost sounds robotic. There is almost a video game quality to the pitch beat and melody on this one that makes it feel super synthetic. I like the way Young Miko’s raspier voice contrasts the shiny sound of the instrumental for ‘tres tristes vagos.’ For me, the instrumental for this one is just okay but Young Miko really stands out. ‘no quiero pelear’ says that it features ELENA ROSE, but it almost feels like Young Miko is the feature. This is an ethereal and charming Latin Pop Trap with a bit of a Reggaeton tint to it. The melody for this one almost sounds like it is being played by a harp, giving it such an angelic feeling. As I mentioned, it does feel a bit like ELENA ROSE is the more dominant artist on ‘no quiero pelear.’ With that being said, both artists on this song sound great, and this chemistry is palpable. The way ELENA ROSE’s delicate vocals contrast the raspier tone of Young Miko gives this one a tone of texture and life. The aforementioned single ‘wiggy’ comes next on the record. This was actually one of my favorite songs of 2023, so I have already spoken quite a bit on this one(go read my write-up on the best songs of last year to see how much I was into this one when it came out). I will say that ‘wiggy’ has not lost its appeal at all, and it is just as awesome to listen to now as when it came out.
‘MADRE,’ which features Villano Antillano, is a song that once again completely turns the energy of the record on its head. To be concise, this is literally a spaced out, and futuristic House version of the iconic 1990’s song ‘Pump Up The Jam.’ This is a song that is meant for the runway. It has the kind of high key and racy energy that makes it feel perfect for an avant-garde fashion show. Both Young Miko and Villano Antillano completely match the exciting energy of the instrumental. They had to deliver larger-than-life performances because this instrumental is very huge, and they did what they had to do for sure. ‘oye ma’’ may be the nastiest and most intense song on the record. I could totally see this one becoming a sleeper hit just because of how tough and massive it is. There is almost something unsettling about the melody for ‘oye ma,’’ but it is also so captivating. Young Miko gives her best rap performance of the EP on ‘oye ma.’’ I dig how she demonstrates a variety of dynamic flows on this track and really makes it hit extra hard. After the dirtiest song of the record, we get one of the cleanest in ‘curita.’ I wish that ‘curita’ came a few songs earlier(in the vicinity of other songs with a similar sound) because it sounds very out of place after the last two tracks. With that being said, this is a very entertaining track. The highly saturated synths that drive the melody are luscious, and the bouncy beat is captivating. ‘curita’ is probably the best iteration of this kind of music on the album for me, but I feel like it is not going to get its shine because it almost gets lost in the sauce. Young Miko closes out this record on a very groovy and relaxing note with the song ‘pinot grigio.’ Although this song is not exciting by any means, it does wind the album down nicely. I enjoy the funky nature of this one a lot, and Young Miko slides over the melody and beat nicely. ‘pinot grigio’ does not close out the album in an exceptional way at all, but it is a pleasant and sweet sending out of att.
The first thing that is very apparent about Young Miko when listening to att. is that she is incredibly diverse musically. This was already apparent through the many singles she’s released and features she’s done, but it’s prevalent more than ever on this record. Young Miko goes in so many different directions on att. This album is a melting pot of genres and styles that has something for so many kinds of music fans. Unfortunately, though, the eclecticism of this album does hold it back a bit, mainly due to its sequencing. I do not get some of the sequencing on this record at all. If the songs were arranged more concisely, att. would flow a lot better. I do feel like there are some songs that get lost in the sauce because they just don’t fit in with the songs around them. Still, there is a ton to love about this record; att. is full of gems. Young Miko proves the hype around her is warranted on att., and it makes me certain she is here to stay.
EAST SIDE VIBES 