Music Monday June 5: I don’t understand the words but it doesn’t matter, does it?

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Music Monday June 5: I don’t understand the words but it doesn’t matter, does it?

There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.

CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music

Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it. Maybe you will find a new favorite.

Music Monday

Ricky Martin. Enrique Iglesias. Gloria Estevan, Elvis Crespo, Shakira, Mark Anthony, and Pitbull. All pioneers of Spanish/Latin American pop. But go back farther and you find artists like Richie Valens, Santana, and Ruben Blades to name a few, who brought a different language to American music.

Enter Reggaeton. Reggaeton, also known as reggaetón and reguetón, is a style of popular and electronic music that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, Latin American, and Caribbean music.

So, since they sing in Spanish, I have know idea what they are saying, although, with my remedial knowledge of the language, I can pick up a word or two. I know it’s a beautiful thing to say mi corazon, meaning “my heart”, or more eloquently, “my love.”

I elected to give you the audio only because I am not a fan of the overt sexuality portrayed in many of the videos, so I don’t want that to detract from the music I find very entertaining.

Renewed interest in Latin pop soared with this song featuring Justin Bieber, but I’ll share the original because … well, because.

But, far from jumping on the bandwagon, I actually was introduced to the style to Latin pop when the Sirius satellite radio came on unexpectedly, tuned to the channel, Caliente, and I heard Daddy Yankee for the first time.

This came on shortly after and is way too catchy:

Sound familiar? You might have heard that in one of the Fast and Furious movies (#4? #3? #6? Who knows.)

Like Pitbull in the 2000s, Daddy Yankee started showing up in almost every Reggaetón song.

Not Reggaetón, but this Colombian singer is worth a listen.

Along the same line would be the Mexican band Mana.

That’s all for this week.

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/