"The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" () is the debut single by Spanish pop group

Las Ketchup Las Ketchup is a Spanish girl group founded by flamenco record producer Manuel "Queco" Ruiz. The group, which consists of sisters Lucía, Lola, and Pilar Muñoz (later to be joined by a fourth sister Rocío), is best known for the 2002 hit sing ...

, taken from their debut studio album '' Hijas del Tomate'' (2002). The song is about a young man who enters a nightclub while singing and dancing. In addition to the original Spanish version, the song exists in a form with

Spanglish Spanglish (a blend of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mostly u ...

verses, although the

nonsensical Nonsense is a form of communication, via speech, writing, or any other formal logic system, that lacks any coherent meaning. In ordinary usage, nonsense is sometimes synonymous with absurdity or the ridiculous. Many poets, novelists and songwrit ...

chorus is identical in both versions. "The Ketchup Song" was released on 10 June 2002 and became an international hit the same year. It reached number one in at least 20 European countries and became the best-selling hit of 2002 in eight of them. It also topped the music charts of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand but stalled at number 54 in the United States. In Central and South America, the song became a number-one airplay hit. As of 2006, the song had sold over seven million copies worldwide. The song's dance routine was a popular

novelty dance Novelty and fad dances are dances which are typically characterized by a short burst of popularity. Some of them, like the Twist, Y.M.C.A. and the Hokey Pokey, have shown much longer-lasting lives. They are also called dance fads or dance cr ...

in the early 2000s.

Background

Las Ketchup was first introduced to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

through Shaketown Music, a small record label in Córdoba, Andalusia, who sent out the group's demo to a number of different record companies. The demo featured the songs "Aserejé" and "Kusha Las Payas". When A&R Javier Portugués and Columbia director Raúl López listened to the demo, they stared at each other in delight exclaiming, "Wow, this is fantastic!" At first the intention was to arrange a distribution deal with ShakeTown Music but upon hearing the song they realised its international potential and so negotiated for Las Ketchup to sign with Sony.

Composition

"The Ketchup Song" is about a young man named Diego who enters a nightclub. The DJ, a friend of Diego's, plays Diego's favorite song, "

Rapper's Delight "Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 rap song that serves as the debut single of American hip-hop trio the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's " King Tim III (Personality Jock)", "Rapper ...

" by

the Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop group formed in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1979. Their hit " Rapper's Delight", released the same year they were formed, was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, rea ...

, and Diego dances and sings along to the song, imitating its chorus with Spanish gibberish. "Aserejé" is, therefore, a meaningless word, with the chorus "" being a somewhat incorrect imitation of the Rapper's Delight's "I said a hip-hop, the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop ..." The song is written in the key of E♭ minor and has a tempo of 94 beats per minute, in

cut time ''Alla breve'' also known as cut time or cut common timeis a musical meter notated by the time signature symbol (a C) with a vertical line through it, which is the equivalent of . The term is Italian for "on the breve", originally meaning tha ...

. It follows the chord progression of E♭m–D♭–C♭–A♭m–B♭7 in the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

. The pre-chorus uses an

altered chord An altered chord is a chord that replaces one or more notes from the diatonic scale with a neighboring pitch from the chromatic scale. By the broadest definition, any chord with a non-diatonic chord tone is an altered chord. The simplest examp ...

(

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: Changes need ...

), or a modal interchange, as the

cadence In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...

. According to '' Pandora.com'', the song features "mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, humorous lyrics, and electric guitar riffs".

Dance routine

For the first dance move, the hands must be held open facing down and continuously waving them over another two times for six beats. The second involves tossing the thumb over the shoulder twice, right before spinning one's arm around each other while raising from the waistline to face level. The last move of the dance involves placing the back of one's hand on the

forehead In human anatomy, the forehead is an area of the head bounded by three features, two of the skull and one of the scalp. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the fo ...

and the palm of the other hand on the back of the head while knocking one's

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

s together a couple of times.

Critical reception

Andy Thomas from ''Drowned in Sound'' gave the song a 9 out of 10, stating, "The Ketchup Song is better than the

Macarena "Macarena" is a song by Spanish pop duo Los del Río, originally recorded for their 1993 album '' A mí me gusta''. A dance remix by the electropop group Fangoria was a success in Spain, and a soundalike cover version by Los del Mar became ...

...", while acknowledging that the song is "not smart, it's not clever, and it's not going to get a single positive review outside of the teeny bop press." Thomas described the song's band members (Las Ketchup) as "three slightly odd-looking women from Spain who are the proud exponents of this year's Macarena. It's got dance moves (wiggle your hands, thumb a lift, raise your arms, knock your knees together) and a sunny video where the trio serve drinks in a beach bar."

Commercial performance

The song reached number one in every country it charted except for the United States and Croatia, where it peaked at number 54 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and 10, respectively. In France, the song reached number one for 11 weeks and eventually sold 1,310,000 copies, making it the best-selling single of 2002, and the second-best-selling of the 21st century in the country, behind " Un Monde parfait" by Ilona Mitrecey. Furthermore, the song was the 50th best-selling single of the 2000s in the UK. The song was a radio hit in Central and South America, topping the airplay charts of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

Music video

The music video was shot at Palm Beach,

Estepona Estepona () is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its district covers an area of 137 square kilometers in a fertile ...

in Spain, at Chiringuito bar. Two other music videos were also produced for the song. The main video starts with the female band members laying out a carpet on the ground and putting the bar stools on display to set up their musical show. They then serve people exotic beverages at the beach bar. A male bar attendant enthusiastically pours a drink in a glass and juggles a bottle around. Meanwhile, more and more beach-goers are shown drawn into the bar, to watch the trio's performance. In some shots of the video, the trio would be performing near wooden

window frame A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materi ...

s which are laid individually on the sandy beach. During the song's chorus, the band members perform their signature dance moves, alongside other visitors who also joyously participate. The band are helped up to a table, where they execute their ''Aserejé'' dance in front of a larger, jubilant crowd who gleefully jive in to the dance. By the end of the video, the crowd becomes jam-packed, with the young and old dancing to the song near the beach bar.

Controversy

Although the band has explained that "aserejé" is a meaningless word derived from "Rapper's Delight", rumors and

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

spread through e-mail, especially in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, that the gibberish lyrics included hidden demonic references that would lead the listener to

Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...

and

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

. The phrases from the Spanish lyrics which were claimed to be references to Satanism include: * "", which can be broken down into the Spanish phrase "", meaning "let's be

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

". * "" – "''Ja''" would here be the beginning of the

Tetragrammaton The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from ...

referring to Jehova (God). The phrase would therefore be "" ("Jehova (God), let go of your being"). * "" ("where there isn't room for a soul"), supposedly referring to

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

. * "" ("the DJ who knows him plays the midnight anthem"), supposedly referring to Satanic rituals which occur at midnight. A Dominican television station banned the song.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

Rouge version

The Brazilian pop

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

Rouge covered "The Ketchup Song". The song was adapted into Portuguese by

Rick Bonadio Ricardo "Rick" Bonadio (born June 21, 1969) is a Brazilian music producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer, owner of Midas Studio and record companies Arsenal Music and Midas Music. Career He began his career in the 80's as a ...

as "Ragatanga" and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

and

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

released it on 31 August 2002, as the second single from their eponymous debut studio album (2002). It was one of the most successful songs in Brazil in 2002 and is Rouge's most successful single. According to the media the song was played over 15 times a day on Brazilian radio stations.

Background and composition

When selecting tracks for the group's debut album, Liminha, in a meeting with Sony representatives from around the world, expressed the need for a repertoire tailored for a Brazilian release. This led to the inclusion of the song "Asereje" from Spain, though it nearly didn't make the cut. According to Alexandre Schiavo, marketing's vice president for Sony Music Brasil, the album's song list was finalized until the last minute when "Aserejé" caught their attention.

then crafted a version transforming it into "Ragatanga," featuring a chorus— "Aserehe ra de re De hebe tu de hebere seibiunouba mahabi"—that, according to Schiavo, holds no specific meaning, akin to the gibberish sung by those unfamiliar with English. Bonadio emphasized the importance of fidelity to the original song rather than attempting to reinvent it. The Brazilian rendition blends Spanish and Portuguese, with the participation of Las Ketchup.

Commercial performance

"Ragatanga" became a viral success in Brazil, winning the charts quickly. The song reached the longest-reigning number one on the Brazilian Charts with 11 weeks.

Legacy

"Ragatanga" was a resounding hit in Brazil, making Rouge not only popular in the country, but in some other parts of the world. The single was taken as the song that boosted sales of the band's debut album. After only two months of hitting the stores, the album reached the mark of 730,000 sold copies and became favorite to the title of commercial champion of 2002. Besides, the song did not leave the top of the charts. The song was also considered as the reason for the tickets for the group's debut concert on 14 November 2002, at ATL Hall in Rio de Janeiro, to be sold out. By that time, the album had already reached the mark of 950,000 copies. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine ran a photo story of Rouge in the October 2002 issue. The report showed production details, a crossover of hits on the radio, and talks a little about the first tour they did for Brazil. In addition to talking about the hits "Ragatanga" and "Não Dá pra Resistir", they also spoke about their international career, with Rouge performing in Argentina with great success, and the intention to launch the group's CD in Chile and Peru.

Music video

On 31 August 2002, the music video for "Ragatanga" premiered. The video is simple, it shows the group performs a choreographed dance at a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

, while the lyrics of the chorus are displayed in the video. The Las Ketchup make cameo appearances in the video, singing the chorus. The choreography was also imported from Spain, but according to the Rouge's members: "We added a new movement, which is the sign of asking for a ride."

Track listing

CD single # "Ragatanga (Aserejé)" (Album Version) # "Ragatanga (Aserejé)" (Radio Edit) # "Ragatanga (Aserejé)" (Memê's Da Carnival Beat Remix) # "Ragatanga (Aserejé)" (Cuca Rnb Mix) CD single (Remixes) # "Ragatanga (Aserejé)" (Memê's Summer Heat Mix) – 4:09 # "Ragatanga (Aserejé)" (Da Carnival Beat Mix) – 4:09

Charts

Covers and other versions

In 2012, Brazilian singer Kelly Key made a cover of the song, for the collection ''Festa Kids'' (2012). The re-recording was harshly criticized by Internet users for making the song "bland". In 2013, in a concert held in a nightclub in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, singer Wanessa summoned Li Martins to sing some songs, among them "Ragatanga". Still in 2013, the song "Ramón" by girl band Girls (formed and produced by the same producer of Rouge, Rick Bonadio), included in the band's first studio album, was compared to "Ragatanga" due to its Latin rhythm and the protagonist of the song, which was considered the new Diego at the time. The song was also covered in Japanese by the girl group Soltomatina. Wiggy by Young Miko samples the song in 2024 can be heard in NBA 2k24.

References

Background

Composition

Dance routine

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Music video

Other music videos

Controversy

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

Rouge version

Background and composition

Commercial performance

Legacy

Music video

Track listing

Charts

Covers and other versions

See also

References