Dance pop keeps sliding toward the club, and the records that stick are the ones that still sound like a person in the middle of the beat. Raluka’s Queen in Puerto Rico already had that. The Valentino Indy remix, out 25 September 2026 on Roton Music and Ghost Records, pushes it further: a 124 BPM club pulse, bright electronic production, and a strong rhythmic drive, with the vocal still sitting in the center.
The original is a cover and adaptation of Puerto Rico, written by D.M.J. Schoovaerts, M. François and D. Schoufs, and published by Universal Music Publishing. Raluka’s version landed with an official video earlier in 2026 and picked up a string of remix treatments, including a Sonny Wern cut and a modish. and INAMEIT version. This one is the nightlife cut. The pitch around it is straightforward: keep the vocal identity, then move the track into a more energetic, party-ready space that fits dance, party and electronic-pop playlists.
That matters, because Raluka’s voice is the reason the song works. Alexandra Raluca Nistor was born in Deva, Romania, on 14 November 1989, and trained at the Sigismund Toduță High School of Music and Fine Arts. In 2008 she won the Grand Trophy at the George Grigoriu International Light Music Festival and placed second in the interpretation section at the Mamaia Festival. The same year she joined Pepper Girls on Megastar and finished second again. Mainstream attention arrived in 2009 through a run of singles with DJ Sava. September was named Hit of the Year 2010. I Like (The Trumpet) went to number 1 nationally and internationally. Ieri erai later sat in YouTube’s trending tab for two weeks. Dance, house and pop have been the lane ever since, with later work alongside Connect-R, Alina Eremia, Speak and Faydee. 2026 has already been busy: Body On Me with Faydee, a Motzu and Cristi Nitzu remix of that record, and now this Puerto Rico package.
Valentino Indy is a useful partner for that kind of record. The Finnish producer, more than twelve years in, builds EDM and pop around catchy hooks, with Middle Eastern-inspired melodies set against a 2010s nostalgia. Tracks such as I Still Think of You, Boy Bye and Back To Blue put him in front of a large streaming audience, and he has talked about wanting both festival stages and a wider path for artists coming out of Finland. On Queen in Puerto Rico he does not bury the singer. The remix keeps her at the front and builds a sleek, modern frame around her: a four-on-the-floor club tempo, bright electronic color, and the kind of rhythmic push that tribal and Afro house playlists have been living on.
That blend is the trend worth watching. Dance pop used to stop at the radio edit. In 2026 the useful version is often the one that can open a set. 124 BPM sits in the pocket between commercial dance and Afro-house programming, fast enough for a peak-time warm-up, open enough for a vocal that people already know. Tribal percussion and Afro house rhythm have spent the last few seasons moving from specialist rooms into playlist culture, and a Romanian dance vocal over that pulse is a clean fit. The single also arrives with an extended mix, which is the practical tell: this was built for DJs as well as for streaming.
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What do you think of this remix’s sound? Drop it in the comments.
