Cardi B’s ‘I Like It’ Is the Song of the Summer
The perfect song of the summer doesn’t always identify itself on first listen. It can evade recognition when played through headphones, avoid detection amid the vast wilderness of desktop playlists. There is no foolproof algorithm for discovery.
But one barometer never lies: the distinct boom of the speakers outfitted onto the cars driving down your block with windows open and stereo blaring. Administering the test is simple: Step outside on any balmy Saturday afternoon in June. The pulse of that year’s song of the summer will course its way to you as quickly as the humidity assails those of us in the swampy dredges of New York.
By that metric, there’s one clear, takes to outdoor speakers like it was meant to metastasize in summer air. The buoyant, horn-driven track interpolates “,” the 1967 classic from fellow Bronx native Pete Rodriguez, with reggaeton heavyweights Bad Bunny and J. Balvin each lending a verse to Cardi’s rendition.
