Rue Melo is a true world citizen. Born in Paris, raised by a French mother and Uruguayan father, and now living in California, she is a melting pot of cultures and colours. This is reflected on "Enamorada", a latin-flavoured R&B ballad in which Rue sings in Spanish, English and French. Her brother plays the acoustic guitar part, which - in combination with all those sexy languages - gives the song a sultry summer atmosphere. Rue's voice shifts between the poppy glitter of Alicia Keys and the naughty exoticism of Rihanna, a bold comparison, but if she works a little on the lyrics I'm sure she has a great future ahead. Her self-titled debut album has four more Spanish-language songs, check it out.
Sometimes we just have to give in to the acts being pushed by the music business. And a lot of crossing-over is going on between the Anglo and Latino industry lately. An overview:
R&B meets Pop Latino Beyoncé is pretty serious about marketing herself into the latino audience (as we reported earlier). Not only has she recorded a (stale and uninspired) r&b song with that other pop queen of the moment, Shakira - it's called "Beautiful Liar", check out the videos below. She also realized that, if you're an artist that wants to get to the heart of latin pop culture, there's only one thing to do: record a theme song to a telenovela. On "Amor Gitano" she joins Mexican pop idol Alejandro Fernandez on a gypsy/flamenco influenced ballad. I'd say her accent is improving (however, ayayayayaaaay sounds the same in every language). The novela is about Zorro, by the way :)
Reggaeton meets Hiphop Don Omar is announcing his breakthrough into the English-language market. For the 10th time, that is. "Calm My Nerves" is still mainly in Spanish, but at least he's is trying. The Jamaican dancehall influence is undeniable on this song, another move to appeal to a more international public? Anyway, both El Don and guest rapper Rell do a really good job rhyming over the (suprisingly fast) reggaeton beat. A dancefloor topper, and sure to stick on the radio too:
Baila como diosa sobre la luna Y en una bola, vuelta tu cabeza
Baby-faced reggaetonero Zion is dropping his first album without companion Lennox soon, it will be called "The Perfect Melody". That's right, in English! He's even got a track with the Anglo r&b star of the moment, Akon. "The Way She Moves" is smooth and overproduced like any other r&b song, but Zion was part of my former favorite reggaeton duo so I'll cut him some slack ;)
And last but not least - here's the first single of Daddy Yankee's 8th album El Cartel. "Impacto" features Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, and I must say I like how it sounds, even though I can't stand either one of them. Maybe it's the excellent work of reknowed producer Scott Storch?
(PS: Watch this blog closely the next few days... a special feature is coming up very soon!)
Don Omar ft. Rell - Calm My Nerves mp3buy@iTunesbuy@Amazon Daddy Yankee ft. Fergie - Impacto mp3 Beyoncé & Alejandro Fernandez - Amor Gitano mp3buy@iTunesbuy@Amazon Beyonce & Shakira - Beautiful Liar:
Beyonce - Bello Embustero (Beautiful Liar Solo Spanish Version):
You don't see latin R&B artists that often (probably because in Latin America the "usual" romantic songs, without hiphop influence, still work). So when you only hear the eternally recycling black R&B on the radio, a little bit of latin flavor should come as a big relief. Puertorican singer-songwriter Jean debuts with "On" next week, not a complete success but it has a few nice tracks. In Spanish, English or mixed, the album surely sets a mood (mellow and relaxed, lots of girls dancing in the swimming pool, piña colada within reach... i.e. your average Nelly or R. Kelly videoclip). But I wouldn't say his songs are special or new, it's just a Spanish version of the same afro-american R&B songs. Especially the 'slow' ballad songs are horribly cliché.
Big exception is "Juegas Con Fuego (Playing With Fire)". The violin intro, the guitar sample and the bongo rhythm are definetly something different. Sadly lyrics are still uninspired, both in Spanish and English, though I can imagine you won't notice that while you're sweating on the dancefloor.
Welcome to La Onda Tropical, an mp3 blog about good latin music. Culture-defining or eclectic, mainstream or alternative, exotic or popular, but always interesting and tropical. We try to broaden your horizon with album reviews, track samples, music-related news and concert info.
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