Spanglish Crossover
The musical landscape is once again seeing a Latin explosion similar to that of the late ‘90s with acts such as Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez. However, one key difference is that back then Latin artists were trying to break into the English market. While some had success, such as Marc Anthony and the aforementioned artists, others faded away. Thalia and Paulina Rubio both released English singles to moderate success but saw their albums and subsequent singles flop. Now English artists are looking to crossover into the Latin market.
More and more figures are released daily about the buying power and consumer behavior of Hispanics living in the United States. Markets across the US are devoting several radio stations to different genres in the Spanish language and MTV recently created MTVTres devoted entirely too Spanish music videos. iTunes also unveiled a section entitled iTunesLatino to make it easier for people to access Latin music. Record labels have taken notice and have taken their musical acts one step further. Although big name artists will find success in the Latin market regardless of the language, they realized that they could find even greater success if these acts would actually record in Spanish. A perfect example is Beyonce who has recorded a six song EP entirely in Spanish. Her Spanish rendition of her smash hit Irreplaceable, dubbed Irreemplazable, has been a huge hit in the Latin charts appearing as high as #4 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs. Other artists who have recorded Spanish versions of their singles include JoJo, Avril Lavigne, and Jennifer Lopez, who has a full-length Spanish album coming out in March.
As a Latino myself, and a big fan of the Hispanic music scene and culture, I find it admirable that these big-name artists are recording these songs phonetically. It puts a different flavor on these songs and allows Latinos to appreciate the music and lyrics even more.