Do you ever start to like Latin music?

[JasonA]

Just kind of a random question...  I was watching an episode of Modern Family the other day. Jay got in the car and made the comment, "no latin music the whole way, ok?"  Of course later they show them driving along and latin music is playing.
 
So, does it start to grow on you at some point? I like rock and hard rock, but find most latin music very annoying. Just wondering...

[Jeff S]

No - It's just as irritating after you've been listening to it for years as the first time. I could get into some Brazilian music, or some Santana-ish music, but Cumbia, Banda and Norteño make me want to do a Van Gogh just as much today as it did in the 1960s.

[Calipro]

Just kind of a random question...  I was watching an episode of Modern Family the other day. Jay got in the car and made the comment, "no latin music the whole way, ok?"  Of course later they show them driving along and latin music is playing.
 
So, does it start to grow on you at some point? I like rock and hard rock, but find most latin music very annoying. Just wondering...

American as well as Spanish Rock is fairly popular in Cali Colombia.


Never acquired a taste for Latin music until I learned how to dance to it and of course having your hot girlfriend singing it to you helps a lot. jajaja

[whitey]

I like salsa and merengue better than most of the crap that passes as music on radio stations today in North America.


I doubt I'll ever like vallenato, cumbia, or some of the other genres though ...

[Ricardo1]

My first trip was Cali and I was just overwhelmed with the latin/colombian culture.  I already liked salsa and meremgue and bachata....
Later I visited Barranquilla. Of course heard a lot of vallenato, cumbia, and champeta....
I grew to like vallenato a lot, and it's great fun with sing with friends you meet there.  (Btw, it helped me understand the language and become more versatile speaker,  the more I listened).  It grew on me, and I must admit that I still like salsa, vallenato, merengue, bachata a lot and can tolerate other genres is small amounts...

[Zon]

What kind of question is THAT!  HELL YEAH. 


IMHO - don't just "visit"1  Exchange and suck in the culture until you $hit sopa and dance like a devil.

To ask a question like that tells me you are not trying hard enough.  STOP being an "observer" and drink some [snip]ing Aquaridiente.  JESUS MAN - you only live once!

[benjio]

I gotta agree with Zonny. Plus, its kind of hard not to gain an appreciation for a genre of music when you've walked into a disco and there are hundreds of gorgeous women shaking their asses to it.

After spending so much time along the coast of Colombia I've become quite fond of Vallenato. While most Latin music embraces the unrealistic, Novela-like romance of relationships, many Vallenato songs focus more on the "for the moment" nature of relationships in Latin America and the inevitable heartbreak that follows when that moment has passed...usually at the fault of the woman. He he.

[SkyNorth]

What's up Zon.   I see you are keeping your opinions to yourself as always.  You need to let go and tell us how you really feel.  LOL.
 
Are you still attached?

[Zon]

"Are you still attached?"


I am "fouled up," actually.   My Ukrainian girl is beautiful and complicated, or maybe, or maybe not (it is inconclusive at this time).  In itself a "red flag" of sorts.  But, with this woman I have not choices but to continue.  I find myself with no interest in any other.  I think she broke me!   


I find myself in an odd position of wanting to follow-through no matter what.  If this girls is true to me, I would walk through hell for her.  There is much that remains to be seen.  I am working hard and trying to get a more "Zon-Like" perspective on the whole affair. 


vamous a ver  - AMAZINGLY, my Spanish seems to be mproving as I am studying Russian WTF?!?!?

[V_Man]

Dude!! Wash your mouth out with soap!
I am a rock, blues and hard rock sort of guy from way back.
However a romance with a Cali girl got me into Salsa so I became an intermediate level salsa dancer. It's pretty cool to be able to dance at that level. I must admit I really enjoy dancing linear salsa but Colombian salsa is a little ordinary to be honest. I also discovered bachata and for some reason I love it. It think it is the clear beat. Maybe I just like to dance super close to women. Maybe it is both.
I don't know how anyone could hate merrengue in small doses. It simply sounds like fun to me. I don't know much samba but same thing IMHO. They are simply fun to music. In small doses at least.
I think Mariachi is hilarious. How anyone can take this seriously I have no idea.
My current girl is a Vallenata. However so far I struggle to take vallentano seriously. It sounds so folksy. So many Colombianas love it completely. To my ear there is always an under current of a joke about it somehow. My girl has promised to help me dance to vallentano properly. It is just starting to grow on me a little because I am starting to understand the lyrics. The lyrics are often quite funny in a tragic way:

Diomedes Diaz – El Jean
"A woman who doesn’t love a man goes to bed with jeans on
 But a woman who loves a man doesn’t want to get dressed
 I don’t know why that is, I don’t know why that is.
When a woman loves a man, she waits for him in lingerie
 But if she doesn’t love him she wears pants
 And goes to bed with her face down pretending something hurts."
Jajajaja!
I still can't take it seriously. Maybe that is the attraction.
I think us white anglo saxon folk take music too seriously. Latin music is more light hearted and in the moment in general.

I don't know what you would clarify this as but it is 'our song' and I like it:
http://youtu.be/azYcDY7mnco

[benjio]

VMan, I know exactly what you mean about that "folksy" sound a lot of Vallenato has, although I've grown to appreciate it as well. Try listening to Silvestre Dangond's three latest albums. The music is very well produced, layered, melodic arrangements with infectious hooks and climactic bridges. MUCH different from the accordion driven Vallenato from days passed.

[dtibbet]

yes, i like it, how can you  not when you liver here:}}}}

[fathertime]

Just kind of a random question...  I was watching an episode of Modern Family the other day. Jay got in the car and made the comment, "no latin music the whole way, ok?"  Of course later they show them driving along and latin music is playing.
 
So, does it start to grow on you at some point? I like rock and hard rock, but find most latin music very annoying. Just wondering...

Hello JasonA


I’m not interested in Latin music and have been exposed quite a bit for several years now.  The music doesn’t bother me, but I also rarely really listen to closely to it.  As a married man, it is NOT very important for us. There are many more important things and I’d place it near the bottom of the priority list.   If you enjoy it that is great, if you are indifferent that is fine too, it is best to try to not dislike it though.   


Fathertime! 

[SkyNorth]

Zon...my advice is simply relax and ease into it.  These things have a way of working themselves out.
 
What's the worse thing that can happen?  It's not like she's gonna harvest your organs and sell them on the Russian Black Market.  Is she?
 
VMan...Props for being a sensitive 80's man.  Plus, having the guts to share that you and your's have a song.  It's feelings like that - which put Vman on the top of the list.
 
 

[Ray]

 
I only listen to it when I am constipated.
 
 
It makes me shyt...
 
 
 
 
 
 

[JasonA]

I only listen to it when I am constipated.
 
 
It makes me shyt...
 
 
 

Hahaha....   My sentiments exactly!

[braziliangirl]

No - It's just as irritating after you've been listening to it for years as the first time. I could get into some Brazilian music, or some Santana-ish music, but Cumbia, Banda and Norteño make me want to do a Van Gogh just as much today as it did in the 1960s.

Brazilian music is very different from music from other countries in Latin America. I'd say it's one of the most noticeable difference, besides the language. If you like jazz, you'll like bossa nova and mpb. Old style samba, sounds a lot like soul music.

Of course, there's also some styles that would make you want to vomit, like axé, forró, technobrega, funk carioca, sertanejo universitário etc... So I wonder if they make good quality in other countries. I like Luis Miguel for example. Is that bad? (Here we call it bolero and they way we dance it is so beautiful!)

[CeeTeeEnn]

One of the first things that attracted me to Latin culture way back was the music. This was at a time when the native rock i grew up with headed downhill in the 90s and mainstream music became polluted with influences from the "urban" and "dance" scenes. Here was a rich musical heritage based on European folk melodies and West African rhythms, played live by skilled and tight musicians, often living on a pittance, and produced without resorting to sampling, drum machines, merchandising or histrionics. I enjoyed it then and still enjoy it now as i find it a worthy compliment to the harder stuff i have played all my adult life.

I did begin to wonder why so few latinas I met subsequently were as interested in embracing western rock and metal as I was in embracing Latin music, but i realised in time that this applied to pretty much all aspects of Westen culture and not just music. Nevertheless, I have since noticed a burgeoning rock and metal scene springing up in just about all of the latin world (with, perhaps, the exception of the carribbean) including Colombia and so I no longer feel the urge to wander into someone else's musical territory in order to bridge cultural differences when enough people are becoming interested in wandering into mine.

That said, i enjoy still Vallenato, heavy Salsa, Paisa Tango and even Brazilian C&W just as much as I ever did, despite my interest in meeting latinas having waned over the years, and feel absolutely no need or desire to dance in order to enjoy it. However, I do not regard reggaeton or its brazilian equivalents as music anymore than i regard dogshyte as fit for human consumption.

[Kiltboy1]

I like the Tropical Vallenato( Carlos Vives, Fonseca) and Rock IE MANA, but the rest of it I can only tolerate in small doses and that Mexican Tajano and Ranchero just makes you want to take a gun to your head and end it all  .I am lucky that like FT, we do not have time to listen to much music . My wife does however love the top 40 Pop music. I am like VMan in that Blues and Rock and Sinatra/Mel Torme are my music of choice.

[benjio]

Latinas that don't make time for music and/or dancing?! I tell ya'll what...I learn about the existence of a new kind of woman everyday on this board. I had no idea there were Latin American Women that weren't fervent fans of at least one genre of music. I have honestly never met one.
 
CeeTeeEnn, you sound like the old men in the U.S. talking about rap. But perhaps you think the same about rap and hip hop music as well. Take it from someone that has been heavily involved in the production and recording of rap and reggaeton for years. It is very much so music in its truest and rawest form. The problem with most of the popular songs is they are the worse ones. They are for zombie, teeny bopper tweens that will mindlessly beg their parents to buy them the album for Christmas or their birthdays. These songs aren't meant to inspire, invoke deep thought, or make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. This kind of music has two purposes: Dancing and Selling. You'll never ever hear the best reggaeton or rap on the radio. There aren't videos made for this music so you'll never see it on TV either. The artist that make this music will never sell out an arena.
 
People that let the media and pop culture be the key indicators of a genre of music's quality and depth will never realize there's so much more to be heard out there. I'm just making an assumption here though. You may have heard just as much Reggaeton as I have and still think it's shyt. In which case you are definitely entitled to that opinion. 

[utopiacowboy]

I can't believe this post. Latin music contains so many different varieties of music that it's like saying you don't like American music. There are types of Latin music that I can't stand like norteno but there are many that I love.


I like Latin pop music like Mana, Shakira (in Spanish), Juanes. I love bachata like Aventura and reggaeton like Don Omar, Pitbull, Daddy Yankee. I love merengue like Elvis Crespo.


One of the best things about having a relationship with a real Latina from SOTB is getting your eyes opened to a whole world of music that you never knew existed. I feel sorry for gringos who have to live in their English-only world.

[braziliangirl]

I like Latin pop music like Mana, Shakira (in Spanish), Juanes. I love bachata like Aventura and reggaeton like Don Omar, Pitbull, Daddy Yankee. I love merengue like Elvis Crespo.

I liked Shakira's first album, in Spanish and with some songs in Portuguese. Now she went all U.S. commercial and I can't stand. Juanes is nice too. Bachata sounds a little corny, but maybe be the sexiest rhythm to dance in this world. It's so beautiful! Do you dance it with your wife, Utopia?

[utopiacowboy]

I liked Shakira's first album, in Spanish and with some songs in Portuguese. Now she went all U.S. commercial and I can't stand. Juanes is nice too. Bachata sounds a little corny, but maybe be the sexiest rhythm to dance in this world. It's so beautiful! Do you dance it with your wife, Utopia?

When you hear bachata you have to dance! Even if you can't dance! My wife and I always go to a club in San Antonio that has live Latin music (salsa, meregue, reggaeton, bachata). Shakira's first album is my favorite too.

[V_Man]

When you hear bachata you have to dance! Even if you can't dance! My wife and I always go to a club in San Antonio that has live Latin music (salsa, meregue, reggaeton, bachata). [snip]

When I first saw people dancing bachata, I thought, no way am I going to dance that, i'll get into all sorts of trouble. However I like the beat and so I did a class. After a few classes I found how much I enjoy dancing to it. 

[JasonA]

This is our song...   Seriously.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYG_rApU_l8&feature=related