Today is "reggaeton" time. Yes, you read correctly, reggaeton. Surprised? Yes, I was too!
I had a really hard time accepting reggaeton. I already had my preferences like everybody else, and when I started to get familiar with it I thought it was horrible. The rhythm was repetitive and boring, the lyrics vulgar and ordinary, and the singers, to me, were trying to imitate rap singers, and the result was very bad.
But still, I was struggling with my conscience telling myself I should find something that I could share with the students, because as an "Expression of culture" it was valid.
I struggle and struggle looking for something I could share. It was hard. I'm not going to lie. The main problem was not only the lyrics, but also the videos. In order to be able to show them to the students they had to be appropriate.
Oh well. Then... after hours... it appeared. David Bisbal from Spain featuring Wisin and Yandel from Puerto Rico. They were singing a song with a strong message. It was shocking. But it didn't end there. I liked it! I couldn't believe it.
"Torre de Babel" is a collaboration that has elements from the reggaeton style and the flamenco pop style. It was a nice combination. The video was very interesting. It kept the spirit of "social criticism" of the beginning of rap music, and added the magic of Hispanic History and good vocals. Also it brings so many opportunities to talk about culture.
You can talk about the music, raggeeton being born from the influences of African American music and puerto rican rhythms like "bomba" and "plena". The mix is made by the puerto rican immigrants in New York who adopted the African American music when they came because of their common roots. The African heritage. These same puerto ricans influence their country back and the songs become really popular making the movement of reggaeton explode about 10 years ago. I moved to the United States about that time, so I never experience reggaeton in Colombia. It hit me when I got here.
The video of the song shows medieval Spain, castles, and difficult times. War, bad people taking advantage of good people, suffering. It mixes words from different languages. You can talk about the seven hundred years of the Moors ruling in Spain, the "Reconquista", and also compare this situation with difficult times people face in different places nowadays.
Video
The message of the song could be summarized in the last spoken part by Wisin.
Lyrics
Besides the reggaeton influences, the lyrics, the history portrayed, you can also see in the video the flamenco style. In the middle of the song David Bisbal dedicates sometime to presenting traditional flamenco singing, and there is also a traditional flamenco guitar solo.
All those different rhythms are mixed with Arabic music as well. The music of the video shows the Hispanic world is very complex and all connected: Puerto Rico and Latin America to the history of Spain, which includes the Arabs, and their long presence and profound influence in the culture of southern Spain.
Lately some of the reggaeton musicians have been making their compositions broader and more diverse, they realized that if they wanted the style to last and be more popular they had to attract more people to it. Now there is reggaeton for many different tastes, including mine.
This song has open my mind to a new style of music and I am working on preparing more reggaeton songs to be shared in forthcoming posts.
I hope you find this music interesting. And I recommend you watch the PBS show "When the Moors ruled in Spain", it is a great documentary that will give you and insight into this very interesting time in the history of Europe.
Thank you!
Paola
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