Spanish Translation Blog

Spanglish in Reggaeton

We may like or hate it, but this phenomenon is among us. And I’m not refering to Spanglish, but specifically to Reggaeton. The truth is that this musical style is strongly associated with not just one country’s or region’s culture, but throughout Latin America. Whether it “represents” us or not, or whether all Latin Americans feel its lyrics represent us or not, is up for debate. And, in fact, it’s already being debated.

The site Reggaeton in Cuba (which includes a dictionary of terms to help understand the lyrics) argues: “Reggaeton became, initially, well known in Panama and in particular in Puerto Rico. But its popularity moved rapidly to other countries such as the Dominican Republic, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Nicaragua and parts of Cuba. In recent times, it has surfaced in the United States, particularly in urban areas, like New York and Miami, that have large concentrations of Latinos. Currently, Reggaeton is known in almost all Hispanic countries, including, of course, Spain. There it entered the music market with great force, even fusing with flamenco. The tremendous popularity it has reached in Latin urban centers has prompted some to consider the possibility that this new genre will quickly replace Salsa or Merengue, among others. ”

The author of the blog  Indie.cl argues that “Reggaeton is inevitable, uncontrollable, unstoppable and contagious. Its sound is expansive. It’s invading radios around the world and breaking down cultural barriers with its bold rhymes in Spanglish. Then she adds: “It increasingly surprises us by looking for novelty and variety, and delivers lyrics that are completely provocative, talkative and humorous, of undoubted Latin character.

In these examples we can see some of that:

There are also many people who don’t like the content of the lyrics in Reggaeton. Several websites, from different parts of Latin America, have comments like these:

“The reaggeton denigrates WOMEN, treats them as sexual objects and subordinates men to the fullest. And of course there’s a mega dose of sickly and ridiculous Latin machismo (…) ”

“(…) something so insulting or abusive, even verbally, directed to a man or woman, doesn’t have my respect: I’m a musician, (…) and I’ve never gotten into this kind of music, by its lack of respect for poetry and music. ”

Even on Facebook you can join “L.A.C.E.R. (Latinos Together Against Reggaeton) and say (against, of course).

It’s easy to find a site to download audio and video files and lyrics, even in English translated into Spanish (although with many spelling mistakes), or other languages. While doing research for this article, I found clear examples of this striking mixture of English and Spanish, or the direct use of  Spanglish in lyrics (copied unedited):

As they say in the Cuban site, “You can say that Reggaeton is ‘fashionable’.” Someone in a forum said: “I believe that Reggaeton is a good musical style and that it makes many people, who have limited resources and live in poor areas throughout Latin America, happy. I like becuase it represents us as Latinos in the European countries and North America.” It’s one opinion.

Source: Spanglish en el Reggaeton