Grade: 4.5/5.0

When Kali Uchis and Rico Nasty bring out their stiletto heels and brass knuckles for a music video, you already know the song means business. 

This cutthroat attitude remains constant throughout the pair’s latest single, “Aquí Yo Mando,” which dropped Aug. 7. A partnership of shoulder-padded suits and avant-garde-sculpted hair peppers the video, Uchis and Nasty creating a luxe landscape of vanity and power with the words and visuals.

Empowering sentiments permeate the track, challenging ideas of what it means to exude strong female energy. With this collaboration, Uchis and Nasty offer a personal interpretation of the girl boss character. 

Instead of helping the girl boss mentality rise through the corporate ranks, the duo instead chooses to dismantle the system completely. The partnership doesn’t offer an alternative — they both present an option and inherently say “Take it or leave it.”

Refusing to work within normative bounds, Uchis and Nasty show that they know their worth and what they want. There is no compromise sown into the lyrics — the ball is completely in their court.

The two proclaim their power to a controlling beat; it hammers in with hi-hat rhythms against a techno development. This accent pairs well with the singers’ lines and sly, dismissive side comments. “Aquí Yo Mando” offers dynamic movement with its alternating cadence, matching the versatility of Uchis’ and Nasty’s own transitions.

The two trade off passages of rapping and singing to shape a diverse palette of talent. Uchis and Nasty nail in their points with aggression, even through more amusing one-liners mixed into the song. 

Nasty’s lines are texturally less intense on “Aquí Yo Mando” than on her solo material, but the style accommodates to Uchis’ signature breathy tone. Nasty adds a punchiness to this track, which amps up the overall energy, but her vocals would have been more impactful with her usual fierceness. 

Most of the track is sung in Spanish, even Nasty occasionally switching over to the romance language in the last few lines of her verse. “Aquí Yo Mando” roughly translates to “Here I command,” and the two undoubtedly establish their domination throughout the whole song.

With lines such as “Yo tomo las decisiones, yo escojo las posiciones/ Puedes tener los cojones, pero yo los pantalones,” translated in English to “I make the decisions, I choose the positions/ You can have the balls, but I have the pants,” their blunt attitudes toward the relationship’s power dynamic are stated without question.

Uchis took on a larger role with the video as she co-directed her and Nasty’s badass heist narrative. Part “Blade Runner,” part telenovela, the two pair together in almost perfect sequence to take over a pig-themed corporation, climaxing to smash a piggy bank.

No one knew they needed this collaboration until it happened, and now listeners are yearning for more from the two artists. Uchis and Nasty come together well as they seamlessly hand off the spotlight between each other. 

“Aquí Yo Mando” is a bold, assertive demonstration of domination. The combo of Uchis and Nasty commands attention in the best of ways, challenging what it truly means to be your own boss and revel in the power that comes with it.