Music is much more meaningful to the Latino — it’s something that transcends catchy melodies, danceable tunes, or witty and charming lyrics. A song can become a place to return home, to connect with our identity, roots and history. It can have an intangible, revitalizing power that keeps us going with pride in knowing who we are.
When Latino communities celebrate, certain songs often produce profound experiences of bonding and love. Certain songs can synthesize all memories, family ties and customs that give meaning to our past, present and future lives. Here are some examples.
1. “Bésame mucho” by Consuelo Velázquez
When people think about a classic Latino song, they are probably thinking about “Bésame mucho”. Composed at age 16 by Consuelo Velázquez, a composer, singer and pianist from Jalisco (Mexico), it was once called the song of the 20th century. It became one of the most covered songs in the world, surpassing songs by Anglo artists like Frank Sinatra and The Beatles
Its promises of romance and endless love are sung with such intensity, skill and deep feeling that the song has weathered the passing of time like no other.
2. “La Bamba” by Ritchie Valens
Considered one of the pioneers of Latin American rock and roll, Mexican American guitarist Richard Steven Valenzuela Reyes, better known as Ritchie Valens, succeeded in breaking into the American star system at a time when the odds were stacked against minorities in the US.
His talent, energy and charisma turned “La Bamba”, the classic Mexican folk song, into a Top 40 radio hit. “La Bamba” dates back to 1683 and originated in the port city of Vera Cruz. It was typically performed with harps and jaranas, a relative of the guitar. Valens, who died prematurely in 1959 at the age of 17, earned a permanent place in Hispanic culture with this catchy and buoyant song that has endured through the ages.
3. “Oye cómo va” by Santana
The massive influx of Latin Americans to the United States during the 1940s and ‘50s produced some of the first musical crossovers, adaptations and local expressions that reflected what it was like to be a Latino in the US.
“Oye cómo va” is one of those classic songs that has spanned international borders to become a mainstay of Latin American music in its many versions. It was originally composed in 1963 as a mambo by the famous Puerto Rican percussionist, Tito Puente.
While Tito Puente’s original version was a popular hit in its own right, guitarist Carlos Santana launched it into the stratosphere seven years later with his psychedelic-rock arrangement. This song continues to sound fresh and powerful on the streets of California and in Latino communities all over the United States.
4. “Mestizo” by Joe Bataan
Considered more of a cult figure than a mainstream star compared to his peers at Fania Records (Willie Colón, Celia Cruz and Héctor Lavoe), the life and work of Joe Bataan (of Afro-American and Filipino descent) is an important reference point for understanding the boogaloo, Latin soul and salsa music that came out of New York in the late 1960s and throughout the ‘70s.
In 1980, the man who wrote “Gypsy Woman”, “Subway Joe” and “Linda mujer” released “Mestizo”, the international anthem that encapsulated the lively, broad and complex Latino community, so much so that it continues to be played on dance floors and DJs to this day. Its message? We are a melting pot, we are all over the world and we stand together, regardless of skin color or national origin: “Latino, taino, chicano, cubano. Dominicano, argentino, colombiano, moreno.”
5. “Sopa de caracol” by Banda Blanca
On the Atlantic coast of Honduras, they make an energy-boosting conch soup with aphrodisiacal powers. That soup is the simple, naughty and spicy inspiration for “Sopa de caracol” (“Conch Soup”), a song composed in 1986 by Juan Pompilio “Pilo” Tejeda, lead vocalist for Banda Blanca.
The foundation for the infectious song is the famous Honduran punta beat. By 1990, the song had become famous and was covered by the likes of Elvis Crespo and Pitbull, who refreshed the song and turned it into a standard at Latino parties. When the horns start blowing, everyone knows it’s time to loosen up the hips and start dancing punta. Sabor!
6. “Mi tierra” by Gloria Estefan
Since the mid-1970s, Gloria Estefan has been a towering figure in the Latin music industry and one of the most successful Cuban artists in the United States. But she has also worked tirelessly as a producer, advocate and promoter of Latin American culture in the US.
“Mi tierra” (“My Country”) is the title of the single and third solo studio album by Estefan who had embarked on a solo career after her time with the pop group, Miami Sound Machine. It was also Estefan’s first song with all-Spanish lyrics. Full of percussion and highly danceable, “Mi tierra” speaks eloquently about our history, where we come from, and our music’s origins in Cuban son.
7. “Latinos” by Proyecto Uno
During much of the 1990s, Latin music’s often naughty and captivating lyrics were mixed into merengue, techno and rap beats. Some called it hip hop merengue, and although its time in the spotlight was brief, it laid the groundwork for the explosion of reggaeton that would rule the world years later.
Artists such as Ilegales, Sandy & Papo, El General and Proyecto Uno, set dance floors on fire all over the US. Tell me they’re not Latinos!
8. “Oye mi canto” by Daddy Yankee
Besides being one of the first international reggaeton hits in 2004, the song’s lyrics clearly trumpet the cause of Hispanic unity, so much so that it was used as a radio promo by Barack Obama’s presidential campaign to win the Hispanic vote in the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiUAYN3UYdA
9. “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi
Although this song by Luis Fonsi (Puerto Rican) and Daddy Yankee does not really speak to Hispanic identity or roots, its international success was a key factor in launching the reign of reggaeton in the industry. The remix version by Canadian Justin Bieber, released in April 2017, took the song to the top of the charts around the world. Today, “Despacito” is an undisputed Hispanic anthem of the modern era.
10. “I Like it” by Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin
A classic from the birth years of the Hispanic boom at the end of the sixties, the boogaloo transformed and reinvented to enhance the days of pop and trap that conquered the charts in the world.
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