Reggaeton Roundup 2011

I’ve written about Peruvian cumbia, salsa, and reggaeton. Iinstead of the one piece I did on reggaeton, I’m going to highlight annually my favorite radio hits of the year and any other old ones that caught my attention.

“Junto al Amanecer” by J Alvarez

http://youtu.be/xk-zsQ9JmBg
(Parts of this video filmed in Colombia)

This song is sexy. ‘Together until sunrise’. It captures the feeling of anticipating sex. Rarely does a song embody an emotion as well as this one does. You’re at the club, paired off on the dance floor. Roaming hands, lower assets rubbing, kissing. You both know what’s coming, you both want it, you’re both excited. That’s what this song’s about.

This song isn’t about sex with your girlfriend or wife. It’s first time sex (the best sex). Among the best excitement in life comes before having sex with someone you haven’t been with. In my life skydiving and fighting in front of over 500 paying spectators rank as my top, non-sexual adrenaline rushes, but if you give most people a choice they’d take sex with someone new.

A wise American saying: “Ain’t no pussy like new pussy.”

Not only is the song NOT about sex with your main squeeze, it implies one night stands and CHEATING. Selected lyrics translated:

Si tú no crees en el amor, al igual que yo, toda la noche será pasajera.

If you don’t believe in love, like me, the whole night will be just for tonight.

Y ver el sol saliendo junto al amanecer, mientras la brisa caricia tu pelo, yo te haré mi mujer.

And watch the sun come up to sunrise, while the breeze caresses your hair, I’ll make you my woman.

Todo a lo natural sin que nadie nos vea, si te suena el celu y es tu jevo lo picheas, si quieres beber prende pide lo que sea.

All natural without anyone seeing us, if your phone rings and it’s your man ignore him, if you want to drink get buzzed we’ll get whatever.

I have an apartment, but most Latinos live with their parents or spouses so these affairs happen at sex hotels. Get liquor, weed, or whatever your pleasure for sex and cariño till dawn with no strings attached. This song makes your sinning feel guilt-free. Latin America can do that.

I never played any instruments or sang, I have zero experience in music production. I can dance and I have good taste. I also think I can tell when somebody is competent at music production. This song’s lyrics seem difficult to string together. I don’t know if the singer wrote this song, but whoever did is a star. Extra credit in using that talent for sex sin compromiso.

If you haven’t, read All Colombian Women Cheat 🙂

“Madre” by Sandy y Papo

I got turned on to this track at a gangsters and strippers party. I suspected most men had knives and most girls worked in the sex industry. Drugs everywhere. The DJ played this song and the place lit up. Guys and girls alike were nodding their heads HARD and singing along, a bona fide underworld anthem. I asked the DJ the track name and looked it up, surprised to see it’s a song dedicated to mothers. The crowd got hype because it was Mother’s Day weekend. The song’s like a Mother’s Day song from bad kids. I can relate.

This is an old track from 1995. Sandy and Papo were Dominicans living in Venezuela. Unfortunately Papo was killed in a car accident in 1999.

“Cripy Cripy” by Yandar y Yostin ft. Shako
(song starts at 0:17)

This was among the top 2 or 3 reggaeton radio hits of the last year, in no small part because the artists are paisas from Medellin. It’s catchy as hell. The hook:

La niña quiere cripy, cripy, cripy porque la pone happy, happy, happy.

TRANSLATION: The girl wants cripy cripy cripy because it makes her happy happy happy.

Cripy is Colombian slang for expensive, high-end weed (“kind bud” in America).

There are plenty of smoking weed anthems in American music, especially rap, but none enjoyed mainstream success and radio play like The Luniz’ 1995 smash hit I Got 5 On It. Still, that was mostly popular among people who smoked weed. Cripy Cripy is a dance track played in the clubs and lots of people love it.

I like this song because it incorporates women with smoking. For me, marijuana is the ultimate aphrodisiac. I love smoking and having sex. It relaxes me and also makes me more sensitive to touch. And it tunes me in to the girl’s feelings more. Finally, I’m not in as much of a rush when I smoke. I take my time. I recommend smoking while naked in bed, just before starting.

The video is bad ass as well. Black and white, a bicycle, a dude in suspenders (suspenders kick ass), a dime smoking a blunt, and the dime popping balloons with the blunt. No le gusta la mari porque muy barata!

“Por Qué Te Demoras” by Plan B

When I said “Cripy Cripy” was among the top 2 or 3 radio hits in Colombia, Plan B’s “Porque Te Demoras” would’ve been in contention for top spot. Nothing especially noteworthy about the track, except how established Plan B is in putting out hits. I also like how they say “Sé que quieres, se te nota …” – I know what you want, it’s obvious.

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“RX” by Don Omar ft. Kendo Kaponi and Syko

Nowhere near as popular as the last two, RX still lights the club up. The key is the catchy way they repeat “TU QUIERES.” But for me I like how they say at the start and the end, “má whiky” – more whiskey. Don Omar and most reggaeton artists are Puerto Rican, but Colombian costeños talk like that. They can’t pronounce the S. And of course whiskey’s cool.

“Return of los Tres” by Delinquent Habits

In the last reggaeton piece I had a shoutout to the Mexican-American community, so this one I will too. I learned Mexican Spanish in the US. I’m from St. Louis but I’ve lived in Tucson, AZ; Denver, CO; and Anaheim, CA – all heavily Mexican cities. They’re a huge part of my country and I gotta represent.

I heard this track in the gym and got amped. I like the Mexican horns with the hip hop beat. Back in the 90s I’d heard of Delinquent Habits, their CD in other people’s books was always located with the Cypress Hill. Sen Dog is member and producer, but I never listened to them. This track was actually their comeback hit after that 90s fame.

“Te imagino (con ropa haciendo amor)” by Alberto Stylee

I like songs that girls sing along to in the club, las que prenden las chicas. This one is one of them that get the girls hype and moving. I imagine you with clothes making love.

“Llamada de emergencia” by Daddy Yankee

Daddy Yankee always has a hit in radio rotation lighting up the dance floor. This one currently.

If you think I’m missing one or two leave the artist and title in the comments. Turn me or other readers on to what you’re listening to. Thanks!

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