In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Billboard gathered 20 music that finest recap the Rock en Español style evolution.
The Latin Rock scene has blessed us with timeless items that make us sing our lungs out at live shows, soar up and down with a bunch of buddies at golf equipment, or just transport us to a different frame of mind.
Many Latinos, myself included, will all the time really feel a particular reference to songs which have transcended generations comparable to “La Ingrata,” “Musica Ligera,” and “Clavado en un Bar,” because after all, they get the party lit. But before the Manas and Cafe Tacvbas of today, “Rock en Español” was a whole world ready to be found within the late ‘50s and early ‘60s.
One of the primary pioneers of the style was Chicano rock artist Ritchie Valens, who tailored a Mexican folks music and fused it with rock melodies, releasing “La Bamba” in 1958. Due to the music’s success, Mexico turned one of many first nations to introduce the brand new wave of Latin American rockers, comparable to Teen Tops. We can even owe a part of the style’s start to The Beatles, who with their rock-and-roll songs impressed many aspiring bands in nations comparable to Argentina, Spain, Peru, and Brazil.
Meanwhile, within the U.S., Mexican-American guitarist Carlos Santana shaped Santana, bringing to the forefront not solely their music fashion that fused Latin American and Caribbean rhythms but additionally the Chicano Rock motion. It was then, within the ‘70s, that the style was coined as “Latin Rock.” During that very same decade, Argentines Charly Garcia and Luis Alberto Spinetta turned two of the important thing artists that shaped the “Rock en Español” motion, opening the doorways to many widespread acts at present.
Experimenting with pop, new wave, heavy metallic, and punk, the style boomed within the ‘80s with the formation of bands comparable to Heroes del Silencio (Spain), Hombres G (Spain), Los Prisioneros (Chile), Soda Stereo (Argentina), Caifanes (Mexico), and Enanitos Verdes (Argentina). Rock en Español started to get worldwide discover in the direction of the top of the ‘80s and early ‘90s when bands comparable to Aterciopelados (Colombia), Cafe Tacvba (Mexico), La Ley (Chile), Bersuit Vergarabat (Argentina), and Mana (Mexico) got here out to play.
Although the style was at its peak throughout this decade, a brand new wave of rock artists continued to revolutionize the style whereas altering the game. This is across the time that Molotov (Mexico) launched us to their unapologetic rap rock, Los Amigos Invisibles (Venezuela) started to make us dance with their “pura gozadera,” Illya Kuryaki and the Valderrama (Argentina) blessed us with their cool funk, Maldita Vecindad (Mexico) made us kick and soar to their ska punk, and Robi Draco Rosa (Puerto Rico) offered us to his soulful indie jams.
Fast ahead to at present, in a world that’s primarily dominated by reggaeton and Latin Trap, artists comparable to Shakira, Juanes, Julieta Venegas Bomba Estereo, Bacilos, Moderatto, Zoe, Kinky, and Natalia Lafourcade proceed to maintain Rock en Español alive with their very own distinctive twists.
Check out 20 timeless songs that finest sum up the Rock en Español style evolution.
1. Ritchie Valens – “La Bamba”
2. Santana – “Black Magic Woman”
3. Luis Alberto Spinetta – “Muchacha Ojos de Papel”
4. Alaska y Dinarama – “Ni Tu Ni Nadie”
5. Soda Stereo – “Cuando Pase El Temblor”
6. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – “Matador”
7. Los Prisioneros – “Tren Al Sur”
8. Heroes del Silencio – “Maldito Duende”
9. Mana – “Oye Mi Amor”
10. Enanitos Verdes – “Lamento Boliviano”
11. Cafe Tacvba – “La Ingrata”
12. Aterciopelados – “Florecita Rokera“
13. La Ley ft. Ely Guerra – “El Duelo”
14. Pedro Suarez Vertiz – “Globos del Cielo”
15. Molotov – “Puto”
16. Shakira – “Inevitable”
17. Juanes – “A Dios Le Pido”
18. Robi Draco Rosa – “Mas y Mas”
19. Los Amigos Invisibles – “Mentiras”
20. Natalia Lafourcade – “Hasta La Raiz”
