alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confor ...
band Calle 13. It was released on September 27, 2011 as the fifth single from their fourth studio album, ''
Entren Los Que Quieran
''Entren Los Que Quieran'' (English: ''Enter Those Who Want to'') is the fourth studio album by Puerto Rican hip hop band Calle 13, released on November 22, 2010. Recorded in the wake of controversial events surrounding the group, the album co ...
'' (2010). It was written and produced by Rafael Arcaute and Calle 13, and features additional vocals from other Latinoamerican recording artists. These artists include Peruvian
Susana Baca Susana may refer to:
* Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), a network of organizations active in the field of sustainable sanitation
* Susana (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name)
* ''Susana'' (magazine) ...
, Colombian
Totó la Momposina
Sonia Bazanta Vides (born 1 August 1940), better known as Totó la Momposina, is a Colombian singer of Afro-Colombian and Indigenous descent. She reached international attention with the release of her 1993 album ''La Candela Viva'' on Peter Gab ...
and Brazilian
Maria Rita
Maria Rita (; born 9 September 1977, São Paulo) is a Brazilian singer. Born Maria Rita Camargo Mariano, she is the daughter of famed pianist/arranger César Camargo Mariano and the late Brazilian singing legend Elis Regina and sister to Ped ...
. The song won Record of the Year and Song of the Year in the
Latin Grammy Awards of 2011
The 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards was held on Thursday, November 10, 2011, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and was hosted by Lucero and Cristián de la Fuente. The eligibility period for recordings to be nominated is July 1, 20 ...
. The song is important in that it touches on many underlying historical, social, and political themes present throughout
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
.
Background
Calle 13 is well known for their creation of music with strong themes and agendas, particularly music focused on
social consciousness
Social consciousness or social awareness, is collective consciousness shared by individuals within a society.
Perú
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy fo ...
. It was directed by Jorge Carmona and Milovan Radovic. In addition to the new footage shot throughout Latin America, the music video incorporates previously unused footage shot by the brothers from their pivotal trip captured in ''Sin Mapa''. The video opens to a striking landscape of Peruvian mountains, as the silhouettes of Residente and Visitante are seen crossing the frame.
The stepbrothers make their way up dirt roads, to a radio station in the Peruvian mountains, where they are presented to a
Quechua
Quechua may refer to:
*Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru
*Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language
**So ...
-speaking DJ.
As the video continues, additional symbolism becomes apparent. The start of the song’s
instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...
music contains
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
reminiscent of the sound of heartbeats. The audio image of heartbeats is then synchronized to a large visual image of a beating heart.
In the remainder of "Latinoamérica"'s music video there is a wide variety of interesting symbols that play off the song’s lyrics. Nevertheless, for the most part these symbols ultimately tie back to the themes of unity and knowledge.Calle 13 estrena clip Latinoamérica producido y dirigido por peruanos /ref>
Musical composition
The song primarily incorporates the Argentine chacarera, which is a style with 6/8 meter and syncopated drum patterns.
Critical reception
Calle 13 was nominated for 10
Latin Grammys
The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...
in 2011, two of which – Song of the Year and Record of the Year – were for "Latinoamérica". The group won both awards for "Latinoamérica" as well as seven others, which makes them the current record-holders for the group with the most Latin Grammy wins.