Today, Latin Music has been taking another direction. Reggeaton, Latin Pop, and Trap Latino have been at the top of the Latin Billboards. These genres are becoming popular among the youth and are the songs you would hear at parties. However, this does not mean that traditional Latin music has faded away. Salsa and merengue, for example, continue to lift the spirits of Hispanic people. Just because newer genres are taking the stage, does not mean that the other genres have less influence now.

In the year 2013, Marc Anthony’s song “Vivir Mi Vida” hit the radios and became a sensation. “Vivir Mi Vida”  was released in his album 3.0. This Salsa song became very popular in the Latin community. The actual song lyrics are not actually original lyrics that Marc Anthony wrote.

Courtesy of Amazon

The Salsa song “Vivir Mi Vida” is actually a Spanish cover of the song “C’est La Vie” by Algerian singer Khaled. Marc Anthony conveniently wrote the lyrics during a time where Latin communities were feeling oppressed and losing joy. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring out a song that would bring joy back into the Latin community. The French lyrics of the song seemed inspirational and perfect so instead of creating something new, Marc Anthony essentially created the Spanish translate, Salsa remix version of the song.

Courtesy of Amazon

Once the Salsa song was released, it became number one on the Latin Billboards. The song even won an award for song of the year. Every party would play the song and it was bringing happiness to the Latin community. In Spanish classes across America, this song was played to give students an idea of the Latin culture and also gave students practice with translating. It was not long before this song became rather symbolic of Latin America.

The lyrics repeat “Voy a reír, voy a bailar, vivir mi vida la la la la, voy a reír, voy a gozar, vivir mi vida la la la la”. This roughly translates to “I’m gonna laugh, I’m gonna dance live my life, la la la la, I’m gonna laugh, I’m gonna enjoy live my life, la la la la”.

The message of the song is quite simple. It is to live your life in a happy way. The song was sensational and brought the Latin community together. The song helped bring unity, hope, and happiness to the people through its motivational words. Newer songs have come out since that have become the new symbols of Latin music. However, “Vivir Mi Vida” is still a popular song and can still be heard widely today and its influence still lives on.

This blog would not be complete without the music video. Check out the song that brought some joy and happiness to the Latin community.

La Rébellion is a Salsa classic in Colombia. When they put this song on in a party everyone starts dancing and cheering. The composer of this piece is Joe Arroyo, a famous Colombian salsa and tropical music producer. This song was released in the year 1995. The song can be found on his album “Joe Arroyo y La Verdad”. The song was one of his biggest hits. As explained by El Tiempo, the lyrics to the song actually come from an older song called “El Mulato” by Robert y Su Banda released in 1978. The lyrics were interestingly written by Joe Arroyo’s wife.

Courtesy of WordPress

Joe Arroyo’s version of the song is a musical masterpiece combining incredible percussion beats as well as a top quality Latin piano part played by Chelito De Castro. This falls under the typical Colombian Salsa song but also has a tropical feel to it.

The musical aspect of the song is amazing so it is no wonder it gets people on the dance floor, but it is the lyrics to the song that is very notable and worth understanding.

The song takes place in Cartagena during the 1600s. To understand the lyrics we need to understand what was happening in Cartagena during the time frame that the song describes. As described in an article on Atlanta Black Star, Cartagena was South America’s largest slave trading port. Most slaves that were distributed throughout South America had passed by Cartagena.

Courtesy of ICCB

The song tells the story of a slave who rebels against a Spanish slave owner who hit the slaves’ wife. The song repeats that in the streets to this day, you can still hear the slave shout “no le pegue a la Negra”, which roughly translates to “don’t hit the black woman”.

This song is iconic and is considered one of the most famous Salsa songs of all time. The song relives history and allows people to remember the African roots in the country and in South America. It also stands as a reminder of how the culture has evolved away from those times. But most notable is the representation of a perseverant slave who would take a lot as a slave, but he would never stand by and let his wife get hit by a Spanish slaveholder.

Courtesy of Pinterest

Joe Arroyo himself is an idol. His salsa and tropical music had a lot of influence and many were themed about the African influence in South America. His music lives on to this day and continues to keep parties going through the morning.

This blog would not be complete if I didn’t share the actual song with you. Now that you have read about the song you can listen to “La Rebellion” on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhtn3HROvgA

Growing up in a Latin household meant listening to Latin music. Both my parents were born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia. To this day, the majority of my family still lives there and it just my parents, brother, and I that live here in the United States. Despite being far from our roots, we still try to preserve our Latin traditions and our Latin culture. This includes listening to Latin music, dancing to Latin music, supporting the soccer team, celebrating holidays with Latin traditions, etc. Most notable of the list, however, is the music. This is because it is so different from American music and has been the music I have grown up listening to.

Source: Milenial Travel

The most famous and popular genre is Salsa. Salsa is a notable Latin genre that consists of African drum patterns with the accompaniment of European instruments. The genre flourished originally in Cuba but has spread to become dominant in Puerto Rico and the countries that surround the Caribbean. Colombia is famous for Salsa, and the capital of Salsa in the world is considered to be Cali, Colombia.

However, Latin music does not stop there. Merengue, Vallenato, and Cumbia are three other classic genres famous in Colombia that I have grown up listening to. Most of the different genres originated in smaller countries like Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. However, they have spread all over Latin America.

From: World Maps

Most recently, Reggaeton and Pop Latino have taken the stage and have been sensational at an international level. Such was seen in 2017 with the worldwide hit “Despacito”. This song received over 5 billion views on youtube, making the music video the most watched video on youtube.

Source: Billboard

Music is an important thing for each culture. It is the music the people listen to in order to either party or relax, it is the music that cultures have traditional dances to, it is the music that connects the people, and it is the music that tells a culture’s story.

Latin music has had huge influences in the Latin community. Latin music is also growing in popularity expanding into the United States as well as gaining a global presence. Since Latin music is expanding its influence, this blog will explore some of the songs that have shaped the genre and the impacts the music has had in the past and the impacts the Latin music is having now.

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