Selena

Selena was a Mexican American singer-songwriter who was one of the top Latin Artists of the 1990's and was one of the best selling Latin artists of the decade. Her most successful music was made towards her death in 1995. Known as the Mexican equivalent of Madonna, Selena was undoubtedly the Queen of Tejano Music.
Unfortunately Selena was assassinated on March 31, 1995 at the age of 23 by the president of her fan club. Shortly after her death, a movie about her life starring Jennifer Lopez was released.


Here are some examples of her music:

Salsaton (2005)

This album was released at the height of the reggaeton craze in the mid-2000's. It is a compilation of salsa songs remixed to include popular reggaeton artists of the time to generate a genre known as Salsaton. Check it out for yourselves:

Reggaeton and Spanish Pop

This popular song from 2006 by David Bisbal was remixed to include a popular Reggaeton group, Rakim Y Ken-Y. This song is an example of the music industry's response to the rising popularity of reggaeton music. As a result, a movement shortly followed that involved fusing other genres with reggaeton.

Bachata - New York School

I have decided to post up some other examples of the Bachata New York School. Since Aventura, other artists have emerged and are taking the School to a whole other level.

This is just a recap of how Aventura has influenced bachata in New York City. Notice the instruments used by the group.

These next songs have come after Aventura's influential takeover of Bachata in America. Note that the lyrics still depict times of sadness and depression.

Besame Mucho

Mexican songwriter/performer Consuelo Velazquez created this tune during the late 1940s. Many worldwide listeners of the song don't realize of its Mexican origin. This is one of the first examples of Mexican music being integrated all over the world. The Beatles were known for covering this song, which is featured on their Anthology Boxset. Here is the link if you want to give it a listen.

The Beatles "Besame Mucho" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzfUDt_5L-s

Rio Funk vs. American Electronic

I have two videos showing the dancing environments for each genre of music. When doing my paper, I realized just how similar both environments are.

Rio Funk - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeKcqLjPN38

American Electronic - http://www.youtube.com/profile?annotation_id=annotation_761994&feature=iv&src_vid=HLq931lOMR4&user=officialtiesto

While they aren't totally the same, both genres have attracted large amounts of youth. They both are usually held in crowded environments and promote a lot of sexual dancing and drug use. Take a look at the videos for yourself. What do you see?

The Evolution of Rock in Cuba

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOOKItPmiiM

I came across a video of a statue of John Lennon located on a park bench in Havana, Cuba. After initially banning his music from the country, Fidel Castro made a speech in 2004 honoring the former Beatle and solo artist. Its interesting to see how time can change a person's outlook on something. In the midst of the Cold War and International Counterculture Movement, Castro banned the music in fear of revolution. With those events behind him, Castro was able to recognize the talent that Lennon had and honored him. Go to 0:27 mark to see the statue right away!