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Having previously worked with Pedro Artola on videos like “Cairo” and “Provenza,” Karol G reteams with the director to bring us the surreal stylings of the “S91” video. Starting from the image of Karol G sitting in the desert next to a cross formed by speakers in lieu of pinewood, it’s clear that the singer wants to establish a religious motif from the outset. And considering that the title of the song is a reference to “Psalm 91,” that should come as no surprise.
Sporting pink hair (perhaps a residual look from her “Watati” video for the Barbie Soundtrack) as she stares with a knowing glance into the camera, things are serene enough until the tension starts to mount as a crowd of people in the desert begin to approach her. They then abruptly run toward her in a manner that suggests a threat is at play, until we see another scene of an animated panther also about to pounce on her…or so we’re led to believe. In the next moment, the crowd has gone from ostensibly chasing her down to following right behind her as she leads the pack—even if being hotly pursued by it. That said, the people behind her suddenly turn into animated wolves that still happen to be out for Karol G’s blood.
As she approaches the aforementioned panther—her apparent protector/“guardian angel”—it launches into attack mode against the lead wolf, both of them jumping into the air to give their best shot at taking the other down. And, just when you think the wolf might have the upper hand in the fight, the panther bitch slaps him across the cheek, leading us instantly to the next scene, wherein Karol G reminds us it’s always Bichota Season, with that phrase displayed on the black car she’s now driving. Gripping the wheel tightly, Karol G proceeds to drag race against the yellow car next to her. As the two go mano a mano in the desert, a random smattering of onlookers (including one tit flasher) cheers her on. But really, there’s no need. For, soon after starting the race, Karol G is coasting easily. So easily, in fact, that she’s riding on top of her car, straight chillin’ as she makes her way through the desert without a care in the world. A look that makes sense when taking into account how “S91” is a rumination on how she’s cut out the proverbial haters from her life. As such, Karol G assures, “I no longer have people who envy me/What I have is apprentices.” A polite word, perhaps, for “minions.” But surely Karol G is less diabolical than Blair Waldorf, so we’ll give her the benefit of the doubt on the kindness of a word like “apprentice” (which needed to be “reappropriated” from Donald Trump anyway).
In the next scenario, Karol G is floating peacefully in a body of water, a close-up on her tattoo reading, “HOPE.” Something she might want to hold on to as animated sharks circle her in the water. All while she remains tranquilly in her lifebuoy at the center. For, as she’s already noted of the “sharks” out there thirsting for her blood, “From afar you can see that they want to be like me, I already saw them/But the flow is not for sale I’m sorry, but the flow is not for sale.” Would that Britney Spears told a few people that before it was too late. And in the concluding moment to this scene, a massive shark just barely visible beneath her suddenly shows not only the extent of its largeness, but how its entire mouth might just be about to swallow her whole.
Before we can see if it actually does, Artola cuts to Karol G safely walking through a field before a barrage of religious imagery inside a church appears to emphasize the spiritual overtones of a song that speaks to how Karol G has reached a point in her life where she feels protected by some sort of “higher power.” Maybe that’s “arrogance,” or maybe it’s simply what the L.A. girls call “manifesting”—finding the confidence one needs to battle outside malignant forces by using “the strength within” (or “the voice within,” as Christina Aguilera would call it).
Karol G’s confidence and self-assurance on this single ties into the psalm she refers to in the title via the lyrics, “Pues mil caerán a tu derecha, y diez mil a tu izquierda, pero a ti nada te pasará.” A.k.a.: “For a thousand shall fall at thy right hand, and ten thousand at thy left, but nothing shall befall thee.” In other words, she knows how to stay calm amid the noise and the flaccid attempts at “taking her down.” After all, how can any girl be taken down once she’s collaborated with Shakira? The concluding part of that psalm (“Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked”) alludes to how all one needs to do is sit back and let “karma” do its job.
That’s the tip Karol G seems to be on as she makes the sign of the cross inside the church before another cut takes us to Paris at nighttime, where Karol G lets her inner basic bitch run wild as she poses and cavorts in front of the sparkling Eiffel Tower as though possessed by a jubilance she can’t control. For that’s what it is to give no credence to negativity or one’s detractors.
After already releasing the optimistically titled album Mañana Será Bonito earlier this year, a title card at the end of the video promises “Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season) Coming Soon” before one last scene of Karol G relaxing with the protective animated panther we saw earlier in the narrative. Whether that means Karol G is releasing some kind of deluxe edition of the record (à la Tove Lo with Dirt Femme) is left up to the viewer. But, either way, it’s clear that Karol G is not about suffering fools or letting her happiness be affected by others any longer.
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Genna Rivieccio
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