You might also be interested in listening to the songs and seeing the videos that held the top spots on the Billboard Latin Music charts during the last year.
Updated: 8/27/09
Bebel Gilberto - "Chica Chica Boom Chic"
Bebel Gilberto has a new album due out on Sept. 29, 2009 titled All in One. This is the first single from the album and the infectious arrangement comes courtesy of pal Carlinhos Brown.
Marc Anthony /Quinta Estacion - "Recuerdame"
I loved this duet when I saw Marc Anthony and La Quinta Estacion perform it at Premios Juventud. Here's the official video, but I have to admit that, while the duet is still just as lovely, it took me awhile to figure out that it was Mother Nature and not domestic violence separating this pair.
Gustavo Cerati - "Deja Vu"
Gustavo Cerati left Soda Stero to persue a very successful solo career. His new album, Fuerza Natural has a Sept. 1, 2009 release date but in the meantime, here's the first single from the album. Scroll down a little to listen; if you're a Cerati fan, you'll find a lot of other things worth exploring on his website.
Bannakumbi "Mala Nena" (featuring Voltio)
Once you've heard the steamy salsa/hip hop fusion performed by Bannakumbi, you'll be surprised to hear the group is from Philadelphia. Julio Voltio guest stars in "Mala Nena".
Olga Tanon - "Pasion Morena"
Olga Tanon's new single comes in 3 versions. Two of them are merengue, one is sung as a ballad. I've selected a merengue version with a live performance by Tanon.
Jenni Rivera - "Ovarios"
Jenni Rivera's new song deals with a theme that's universal but could only come from the straight-talking banda diva.
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs - "La Luz del Ritmo"
La Luz Del Ritmo is the first studio album by this iconic Argentine rock band in almost 10 years. The album is a mix of new original songs and some of the Cadillacs' classics. Here's the videoclip from the song by the same name.
Natalia Lafourcade - "Ella Es Bonita"
There is no doubt you're listening to an album by Mexico's Natalia Lafourcade because no one else mixes an orchestra and interesting lyrics with a mega pop sound. Lafourcade has said that her new album Hu Hu Hu is a companion piece to her 2008 album Las 4 Estaciones del Amor but,if you don't look closely, it sounds like a children't album. Check out "Ella Es Bonita" and see if you don't agree.
Nelly Furtado - "Manos Al Aire"
Nelly Furtado may be of Portuguese descent but she's made her name singing in English, with a few Portuguese tunes thrown in. She did sing a duet, "Tu Fotografia" with Juanes on his 2002 album Un Dia Normal; Juanes returned the favor by appearing with her on "Te Busque" from Furtado's 2006 Loose.
Always popular in the Latin music market, Furtado has just announced an all-Spanish language album Mi Plan scheduled to be released on Sept. 26th, 2009.
Listen to "Manos Al Aire"
Shakira - "Loba"
Colombian pop diva Shakira has just released the first single from her new album, currently scheduled for release September 25th, 2009.
The single is called "La Loba Ataca De Nuevo" or simply "Loba." Although the album will be a mix of both English and Spanish, Shakira decided to release the Spanish-language single first as a tribute to the fans that first embraced her music and helped her rise to super-stardom. The English-language version of the song, entitled "She-Wolf" should be out in a couple of weeks.
