“Danza Kuduro” (Dance Kuduro) is a Spanish/Portuguese song by Puerto Rican recording artist Don Omar and Portuguese–French singer Lucenzo from Don Omar’s collaborative album Meet The Orphans. The song is an adaptation of Lucenzo’s “Vem Dancar Kuduro”, a Portuguese/English song. “Danza Kuduro” was released as the lead single from the album in August 2010. It […]
Music of The World (17)
“Mas, Que Nada!” is a song written and originally recorded in 1963 by Jorge Ben on his debut album Samba Esquema Novo, which was covered in 1966 by Sergio Mendes, becoming one of the latter’s signature songs. In 2006, Mendes again re-recorded the song, this time with American musical group the Black Eyed Peas and […]
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“La Tortura” (“The Torture”) is a song by Colombian singer Shakira, featuring Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz, from Shakira’s sixth studio album Filacion Oral, Vol. 1 (2005). It was released in April 2005, by Epic Records as the lead single from the album. The song was written and produced by Shakira, with additional writing and production […]
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“The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)” is the debut single by Spanish pop group Las Ketchup, taken from their debut studio album Hijas del Tomate (2002). The song is about a man who enters a nightclub while singing and dancing. In addition to the original Spanish version, the song exists in a form with Spanglish verses, although […]
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“Expo 2000” is a song by Kraftwerk. It was originally an a cappella jingle commissioned for the Hannover Expo 2000 World’s Fair in Germany, which was subsequently developed into longer pieces with music and additional lyrics. The original Expo theme was a typically Kraftwerk vocoder-voice singing the phrase “Expo 2000” in six languages. In total, […]
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“No Tengo Dinero” (“I Have No Money”) is the debut single of Danish musical group Los Umbrellos, considered to be their signature song. It was released in May 1997. Based on the theme of 1960 film Never on A Sunday by Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis, the lyrics were written by Jay and Richie Balmorian and […]
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“Oye Cómo Va” (“Listen to how”) is a 1962 cha-cha-cha by Tito Puente, originally released on El Rey Bravo. The block chord ostinato pattern that repeats throughout the song was most likely borrowed by Puente from Cachao’s 1957 mambo “Chanchullo”, which was recorded by Puente in 1959. The song achieved worldwide popularity in 1970, when […]
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“Mi Tierra” (My Homeland) is a 1993 song by Cuban American singer and songwriter Gloria Estefan, released as the first single from her first Spanish language album, Mi Tierra (1993). It is written by her with Estefano, based on inspirations by Estefan. The song is a tribute to Gloria’s homeland Cuba—the principal reason for the […]
Music of The World (10)
“Mas, que Nada!” (Brazilians use Mas que nada (in a literal translation: just nothing) colloquially to disagree with someone. A fitting English translation might be a sarcastic “Yeah, right!” or “No way!”) It is a song written and originally recorded in 1963 by Jorge Ben on his debut album Sambo Esquema Novo. Sergio Mendes covered […]
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“Voyage, voyage” is a song by French singer Desireless, released as the first single from her debut studio album, Francois (1989). It was written by Jean-Michel Rivat and Dominique Dubois, and produced by the former. Since “Voyage, voyage” is sung exclusively in French, its chart success came as a surprise as it managed the rare […]