FYI

This is my post for the edification of all my non-Latino-music-listening readers. (Ahem, Lindsay--Selena, really.) So here's my list of the best Latino singers/groups.

1) Juanes - if you haven't heard of Juanes, you need to youtube him now. I think he's won 17 Latin Grammys, a lot anyway. He's from Colombia (ok, so I'm biased). It's mostly rock music with a heavy influence of traditional Colombian folk music. I own three of his albums. The most of any artist I have. Just as a warning, his videos are always weird. Here's two of his songs, I can't really say favorite, because I could never narrow it down to two. I love them all!




2) Juan Luis Guerra - He's from the Dominican Republic. His music blends about anything you can think of together. Love it, for the most part, although sometimes it gets repetitive. This is one of my favorites.

This is MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE of his (and Maná). I wish I could have found the actual music video, it's sweet.

3) Aterciopelados--this was Leo's favorite as a teen, and I'm fast becoming a fan. Another Colombian band, blends rock and Colombian folk. I love the singer's vocals.



4) Maná -- a Mexican rock/reggae band. Classic.


5)Los Fabulosos Cadillacs- another of Leo's teenage bands from Argentina. Brilliant though.


6)Bacilos-- based out of Miami (one of their members is Colombian) I really like quite a few of their songs, but unfortunately they're disbanded.


7) Carlos Vives -- so another Colombian, but his songs are fun. Try to ignore his dorky videos and hairstyle. He sings very Colombian styled songs. Usually about how much he loves Colombia. They're fun to dance to anyway.


I suppose most people know Shakira and Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias. I don't really consider Jennifer Lopez as making Latino music. Thalia has one or two good songs, I don't really like her music overall. That goes for Alejandro Sanz too. Luis Miguel is like the Frank Sinatra of Latin music right now. It makes me fall asleep. And of course, Gloria Estefan is classic. And other than that, I don't really know that many bands or singers. Under no circumstances listen to Tejano, Norteño, or Reggaeton genres. Ugh. Although it is funny to hear a Tejano song with rap in the middle. And I tell Leo all the time that my favorite band is Los Tigres del Norte and can we please put a decal of the Virgin of Guadalupe on the back of our van, please? So in honor of that, here's a Los Tigres song.
Of course it's about drug running from Colombia to Chicago!

Now consider yourself educated on the best of Latino music. And just so you know, I didn't watch all of these videos all of the way through, so I can't guarantee the content. Lo siento.