From Dusk Till Dawn, Fuego Sets a Seductive Mood With 'Nightshift'

A talented música urbana practitioner with a catalog 15 years deep, Fuego rarely disappoints. Since linking with Universal Music a couple of years back, the enduring Dominican American singer-rapper has seen his already strong sound evolve into something even more polished and enticing. That approach served him well on 2019’s You’re Welcome, but it does wonders for his loverman tendencies on the R&B-tinged reggaeton of the newly released Nightshift.

Pivoting toward the provocative promises of the after hours rather than reveling in peak perreo, the seven-song EP owes much of its sultry vibes to Breakfast N Vegas, the production duo who presciently brought Bad Bunny, Messiah El Artista, and Tory Lanez together way back in 2017. In contrast with the sun-soaked Trapical project from last year, the duo’s work with Fuego here takes more of a slow and y tack, with the sonics of “Asesina” and the title track matching the evocative erotic escapades of his lyrics.

Never one to settle on a particular style, Fuego tinkers around with genre here and there on Nightshift. Marrying his twin loves for the tropical and urban once again, he adds another track to his thrilling trapchata discography with “La Loca.” Elsewhere, the dubby haze of “La Otra” reaches back to the Jamaican roots of música urbana in a way that feels far less gimmicky than when some of his peers attempt that kind of crossover.