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For those of us old enough to remember the '60s the media was
full of the then latest pop music phenomenon, the British Invasion.
Starting with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones,
a whole parade of British rock bands hit the American and international
pop charts with a vengeance. Groups like The Who, The
Yardbirds, the Animals, the Dave Clark 5, and
even Herman and his Hermits filled the air waves
with British accents and English rock. In addition, countless
American rock bands copied and built upon these Anglo music styles.
The resulting music made a major impact on pop music and is still
being felt today.
Now, as the century and millennium has turned, another invasion
is taking place, the Hispanic Invasion. Starting with Ricky
Martin, and continuing with Mark Anthony, Jennifer
Lopez, Christine Aguilara (who is half Ecuadorian,
and the traditional Cuban Buena Vista group, and capping the year
1999 with the return of Carlos Santana, Latin music has
become the latest rage on the pop scene. I recently attended the
Grammys as well as the yearly ASCAP meeting and
Latin artists dominated both programs. Why?
There are two main reasons for this Hispanic explosion;
One is the record industry's realization of the emerging Latino
market. As demographics have changed in the US, so has the potential
for recording sales to the vastly increasing Latino population.
Every major metropolitan center has a large Hispanic community
and even rural areas are seeing more and more Hispanic residents
in their midst. So, any businessperson who has more than tunnel
vision is bound to see the writing of future records sales on
the proverbial wall.
But even more important than demographics, I feel that the reason
for this invasion is the music itself. After two decades of self-involved
alternative and rap based recordings, most of which expressed
alienation and social rebellion, Latin music sounds incredibly
fresh. It has a vitality and vibrancy long missing on the charts.
The hot Latin lover as personified by Ricky Martin has
a strong appeal after a decade of gangstas and whiners. The fiery
positive energy of Latin up-tempo dance music echoes the sentiments
of a populace exhausted by the social, financial and health hardships
of the 90s. People want to party again, and get wild and
crazy albeit maybe not as unfettered as the excesses of the 60s
and 70s before AIDS, drugs and urban violence took their toll.
The economy has improved, and American audiences want to have
a good time once again.
This energetic new Latin dance music style has also greatly influenced
the new R&B coming out of the studio productions of younger
producers like Kevin "Shekspere Briggs" (Cat's
Alumni News No Scrubs and Bills, Bills, Bills)
and the team of David Frank and Steve Kipner (Genie In A Bottle).
These recording not only use Latin rhythms and instrumental
sounds but their chord progressions and melodies
are built out of the harmonic minor scale taken from Hispanic
styles. The combination of festive Latin grooves and this dark
gypsy-like 7-tone minor scale is a winning hybrid on todays's
charts. At the Grammys, several of the acts performed inside a
ring of fire, an apt image for this passionate dark but sexy music.
How does all this change affect us as songwriters?
Does this mean we all have to change our rhythms, scales, and
chords and pepper our lyrics with Spanish phrases and images?
For those of us who naturally like the passion and intensity of
this music it is a great opportunity to ride the wave. I personally
am glad the BPM (beats per minute has finally gotten faster than
the mellow 90 of hip-hop dance grooves. However, if you are not
particularly simpatico to this music, just remember that
fires have a way of burning themselves out, and that the next
wave is perhaps already on the horizon. Don't feel you have to
sell out to this trend. We've got a whole millennium's worth of
new music to look forward to.
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