"Piel Morena" (English: "Brown Skin") is a song by Mexican singer

Thalía Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (; born 26 August 1971), known mononymously as Thalía, is a Mexican singer and actress. Referred to as the " Queen of Latin Pop", she is considered one of the most successful and influential Mexican artists. Havin ...

, from her fourth studio album ''

En éxtasis ''En éxtasis'' (English: ''In ecstasy'') is the fourth studio album by Mexican singer Thalía, released on 12 September 1995, by EMI Latin. The album became a huge success in Latin America and other countries. This is the first album Thalía reco ...

'' (1995), which was her international debut. It was released as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from the album in August 1995. The song was written by

Kike Santander Flavio Enrique "Kike" Santander Lora is a Colombian Americans, Colombian-American composer, record producer, arranger and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the principal Latino composers of the day, having worked with artists such as ...

and produced by

Emilio Estefan Emilio Estefan Gómez (born March 4, 1953) is a Cuban Americans, Cuban-born American musician and producer. Estefan has won 19 Grammy Awards. He first came to prominence as a member of the Miami Sound Machine. He is the husband of singer Gloria ...

. This is Thalía's first single under the label

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

and it is recognized as one of her

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

Background and promotion

After signing a multimillion dollar contract in 1994 with the company

, the singer joined to

to record the material in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, according to him the first time he saw Thalia was at an edition of the Acapulco Festival in which "he predicted that he would collaborate with her once". Finally, when Thalía was in Miami in 1994 to promote one of her

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s Estefan called her by phone to say, "Hey, life brought us together again ..

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...

and me we see Marimar every night and I have a perfect song for you ome to our studio. After that, the singer went to the famous Crescent Moon Studios to record some tracks for the album. She confessed that she "felt like the chosen one" since Estefan called her and that after hearing "Piel Morena" and commented that "it was exactly her style". The song was released as the lead single from the album.

Music video

To promote the song a music video was released. Directed by Daniel Gruener, most of its scenes were filmed in black and white, and the most characteristic part of it are the unique

bra A bra, short for brassiere or brassière (, or ; ), is a form-fitting undergarment that is primarily used to support and cover breasts. It can serve a range of other practical and aesthetic purposes, including enhancing or reducing the appear ...

s that Thalía wears, one made of

faucets A tap (also spigot or faucet: see usage variations) is a valve controlling the release of a liquid or gas. Nomenclature United Kingdom * Tap is used in the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth for any everyday type of valve, partic ...

and another one that holds

candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candles i ...

s, which received a lot of attention and turned her into a 90's style icon.

Commercial performance

The single became an international hit and also peaked at number seven on the Billboard's

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, rad ...

. It opened the door of her international career in Latin America and Europe and became a popularity phenomenon in the Latin which labeled Thalia as the "Latina

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

". "Piel morena" was remixed by The Hitmakers and by Emilio Estefan Jr. "Piel Morena" earned a nomination for Pop Song of the Year at the Lo Nuestro Awards of 1996. The song reached number 1 in Mexico City. Thanks to the success of the song the album ''En éxtasis'' sold half million copies months after its release . In 1996-1999 the song became more popular when Thalia was introduced to the Philippine Audience when the Soap Marimar and Maria La Del Barrio were a Primetime ratings success in 1996,and 1997 respectively with ABS-CBN sealing rights to air Maria Mercedes and Rosalinda in 1998 and 2000 respectively. She did a teo night concert and was a popular radio hit in 1996-1998

Official versions and remixes

* Album Version * Pablo Flores Remix (

En Éxtasis En or EN may refer to: Businesses * Bouygues (stock symbol EN) * Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway (reporting mark EN, but now known as Southern Railway of Vancouver Island) * Euronews, a news television and internet channel Language and writing * ...

) * Hitmakers Edit (Por Amor) * Hitmakers Club edit ( Thalia's Hits Remixed) * Banda Version ( Con Banda: Grandes Éxitos) * Emilio Mix ( Con Banda: Grandes Éxitos)

Charts

Weekly Charts

Year-end chart

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piel Morena Thalía songs 1995 singles Spanish-language songs Songs written by Kike Santander Song recordings produced by Emilio Estefan EMI Latin singles 1995 songs