In “Mamacita,” the three musically-inclined amigos hone into their slick native tongue and gangsta appeal. Rather than making the music video an average watch, they cranked up the heat by creating a cinematic-ally pleasing short film. Granted that “Mamacita” was co-directed by Arrad of RIVETING ENTERTAINMENT, the visual captured its true essence.
In the beginning, viewers automatically break a sweat and see Tyga taking a night cruise on his motorcycle. In the background, those watching can see some South American architecture. And from there, they begin to get the gist of things. Later, the visual transitions to Carlos Santana, who is wearing all-black. Here, he’s jamming out on his guitar and does so with passion. Surprisingly enough, the guitar progression ends up controlling most of “Mamacita’s” soundscape. But it doesn’t allow the subtle hi-hats and bellowing base to go off track. Instead, the guitar progressions enhance the listen from start to finish. Ultimately, “Mamacita” is a crossover between refined hip-hop and Latin. YouTube user, Itzi Bitsy even implies that everyone wants a piece of the Spanish pie right now! And from the looks of it, I couldn’t agree more.
By the next scene, viewers see Tyga dripped out in silver chains and diamond earrings. To match, he throws on a brown button-up with specks of yellow and stunner-shades. From the outside looking in, spectators see Mr. T-Raw having a very important conversation while he’s in a phone booth. Vocally, Tyga draws from the West Coast and adds in a little bounce when spitting rhymes. But when Tyga raps mid-chorus “Where you at? I’ve been tryna reach ya (Pull up),” he holds the telephone in his hand and waits for an answer. Additionally, the rapper starts his verse off with a laid-back cadence to show that he isn’t pressed about finding a wife.
For a minute, “Mamacita” shows Tyga’s next stop: The Cantina bar. The sign in the front reads “Cerveza” which means “beer.” Moreover, this word hints that too much booze could impair someone’s thinking. At the 0:48 mark, Tyga looks over his shoulder and is left in awe. Despite being in a room full of gorgeous women, one catches his eye at the 0:54 mark. His soon-to-be lover can be seen walking through the door, wearing a white floral dress and translucent hoops. And as a result, Tyga takes off his shades to do a double-take. Pretty soon, things get muy caliente between the two once Tyga gives her the ‘sup’ nod. Then, all eyes shift to YG who raps his verse while he’s sitting on a motorcycle. Between the 1:06 mark, “Mamacita” changes scenes just like Tyga and his lovers assemble. Once his love mouths the phrase “T-Raww, boy, you got everything,” Tyga comes with a witty comeback, “Not everything, ’cause it’s you that I need.” For this reason, the two lean in for a steamy kiss.
Next, Tyga sways his rhymes in front of a beautiful painting of Frida Kahlo (1:25). In this very scene, he’s wearing a cowboy hat and the same button-up shirt as before. Finally, the two lovebirds smooch away at the 1:30 mark. Without missing a beat, the scene backtracks to Tyga and the Frida Kahlo painting. In the same way, YG’s moment of stardom allows him to go bar-for-bar. Speaking with his sly Spanish tongue, he says some not-so-nice words towards every bastard that talked down on him. And as he gives a toast, YG wavers into English and Spanish to speak about a woman who is “bad in real life with no makeup on” and his loyal eses.
Consequently, the icon Danny Trejo drives to the bar with his fellow bikers as YG’s verse continues. At the 2:09 mark, viewers begin to line up shocking emojis in the comment section because it turns out that Tyga’s love interest is Trejo’s daughter. Enraged, Trejo says “What are you doing here? Go home!” Granted that Tyga has a big heart, he asks Trejo if he has a problem. But that doesn’t sit well with the icon! He then questions Tyga, “Do you know who I am?” But in midst of this, the two have a posse behind them for support. Meanwhile, viewers see the scene cut to YG once again, who is wearing red and rapping while he’s sitting on a couch. At any rate, those watching go on standby to see YG get off his feet. And they don’t end up waiting too long because, by the 2:43 mark, YG gets up and begins dancing with a woman who matches his fly.
Last but not least, the visual for “Mamacita” focuses on a brawl between Tyga’s and Trejo’s crew. People are swinging bottles, getting body-slammed, throwing punches and Tyga ends up hitting Trejo in his back with a chair! Still, everything ends up in flames (literally.) Once the visual makes its three-minute mark, Santana has his moment to shine and he lets his guitar burst out crazy progressions for its solo. As the building burns down, Tyga closes the video by driving off with his Mamacita. Hey, we can imagine it’s still a sunset right?
The lyric platform, Genius says “MAMACITA” serves as the follow-up to YG’s and Tyga’s May 2019 highly popular collaboration “Go Loko.” The song is produced by dancehall producer Russian, who uses a melody composed by Mexican guitarist Carlos Santana, who also plays a guitar solo by way of verse.
“From the very beginning, we took a narrative approach for this project and treated it like a film instead of a conventional video. Tyga and YG alone are already an iconic duo, but adding the Hispanic icons Carlos Santana and Danny Trejo into the mix made this the most gratifying experience for me as a director,” says Arrad.
If you haven’t already, watch “Mamacita” above.