Every year around the holidays, my mom’s side of the family would gather at my Abuela and Abuelo’s house for food and drinks and to make fun of each other (meaning well, of course). Occasionally, once the drinks had really started flowing, my Abuelo would turn on some old salsa (or depending on how long it had been since dinner, classic merengue), snatch my mom up, and dance way faster than a 75-year-old man should be able to. They wouldn’t do this often, but I can vividly remember the one time I was clapping along and trying to follow the steps in my head before getting horribly lost in all of their spins.
My first exposure to Spanish music was at my Abuelito’s house, though I don’t remember being a huge fan of salsa. I don’t speak or even really understand Spanish, and I didn’t have much rhythm as a seven-year-old, so it’s understandable that I may not have even liked the music at all, especially if you consider how far into the KIDZ BOP hole I had fallen (real deep). It would be another couple of years before I listened to anything in Spanish again, though I can remember the exact day during sixth grade my eyes and ears were opened. Since then, I’ve built a whole playlist that helps to remind me that any small way I can connect to my culture is important. So, in no particular order, here are 10 songs in Spanish I really enjoy.
Disclaimer: There are so many songs I enjoy (my playlist is literally almost eight hours long) but since I limited myself to 10, I tried to keep it diverse instead of just listing my top 10 favorite bachata songs.
no. 1: “CORAzón sin cara” by prince royce
I realized very early on (pretty much once I heard this song) that bachata was going to be my sweet spot. There’s something about the rhythm and how easy it is to dance to that never fails to lighten my mood and surprisingly, help me focus. My mom isn’t a big bachata dancer, but I’ve been to numerous dances and events where this song or something similar has been played, and picking up the steps is pretty easy!
No. 2: “OBSESION” BY AVENTURA AND JUDY SANTOS
Another bachata song, yes, but it’s a classic! There is nothing that will get my car shaking more than the initial “Hello? Shh solo escucha,” followed by the even more renowned line, “Son las cinco en la mañana,” as the beat drops. It’s literally the musical equivalent of a chef’s kiss.
no. 3: “reloj” by rauw alejandro and anuel aa
A little different from the other songs on the list so far, “Reloj” is reggaeton instead of bachata, which is a very popular type of Latin music often played in clubs and heard pretty much everywhere on the streets of Kissimmee, Florida.
no. 4: “Moscow mule” by bad bunny
Bad Bunny is beach-coded as it is, but Un Verano Sin Ti took it to the next level. This song screams going 80 down the highway at 8 a.m. with the windows down. I can verify it’s just as good blasting at 3 p.m. for all my night owls.
no. 5: “bidi bidi bom bom” by selena
It would be wrong to write up this list and leave Selena off it. My mom used to watch the movie they made about her, documenting her childhood, rise to stardom, marriage, and eventual death. I actually had a really hard time deciding which Selena song I wanted to include on this list, just because most of her songs have a similar vibe that I love. I went with “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” because it was my favorite when I was younger and listening to it now reminds me of my mom. I also really like “Como La Flor” and “Amor Prohibido” and her English songs “Dreaming of You” and “I Could Fall in Love.”
no. 6: “No te veo – (remix)” by casa de leones
This has also served very well as a beach song for me, both to wake up to on the way there and to help keep me awake on the drive back. The chorus is surprisingly easy to pick up on, so this is a good one to play if you’re trying to trick someone into thinking you speak Spanish. Not that I have ever done that, because tricking people is very wrong.
no. 7: “suavemente” by elvis crespo
Merengue! I think this is the first merengue song on the list. It’s yet another classic, and one my mother enjoys. She plays it on her phone sometimes, spinning herself through the kitchen at extremely alarming speeds. I asked her to teach me merengue when I was home over the summer, thinking she would show me an easy beginner routine, but she grabbed me and threw me right into it. Play this in the car with my mom and she’ll love you forever.
no. 8: “desesperados” by rauw alejandro and chenco corleone
I just really like the vocals and overall sound of this song. The general sounds of the words are pretty easy to pick up so this is another good one I like to use to pretend I speak Spanish. This is also reggaeton!
no. 9: “bailando – spanish version” by enrique iglesias, descemer bueno, and gente de zona
I actually don’t listen to this song very much anymore, but every time it comes up on my playlist, it takes me all the way back to sixth grade, when I was finally discovering Spanish music for myself and developing my own tastes.
no. 10: “corazón de seda” by klasico and ozuna
This is a song I’ve been listening to a lot more in the last couple of days, though it’s hard to pinpoint why it caught my attention this time. It’s classified under Latin Urbano, which is an umbrella term covering different types of Spanish music, including reggaeton and Latin hip hop. Ozuna in his Odisea era will rarely not be amazing.
Honorable classic Bachata mentions
“Eres Mia,” “Stand By Me,” “Te Extraño,” and “Imitadora.”
Even though I can’t understand more than half of what’s being said during any of these songs, just listening to them allows me to feel closer to my heritage and to that side of my family.
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