Enrique Iglesias, who was rejected by several major labels at the start of his career but who has since sold more than 3 million CDs worldwide, recently got a call at home from actor Will Smith asking him to contribute a song to Smith's upcoming film Wild Wild West. Iglesias' English-language song Bailamos will be on the Wild sound track, and he is now considering recording a CD in English. But he says he will never leave Spanish behind. "I gotta remember something--what got me here was Spanish," says the 24-year-old Iglesias, son of crooner Julio Iglesias. "If it wasn't for my Spanish record sales, I wouldn't have these record companies after me."
Still, some longtime aficionados fear that the new Latin pop wave could wash away important cultural connections. Esmerelda Santiago, author of the memoir When I Was Puerto Rican, says the current crop of singers being pushed by the major labels could use some skin-tone diversity. She feels the artists who are being promoted to superstardom mostly look Anglo, leaving the darker performers behind. "It's fascinating to me, and a little upsetting, that this is still the white face of the Caribbean," says Santiago. "I'm sure that there are equally talented and gifted artists out there whose facial features don't conform as much to the European ideal."
In a studio in Manhattan, Marc Anthony is working on his new English-language album. He is dressed simply in jeans and a white T shirt, and his voice is ringing out, pure and direct. Sony chief Mottola sits in the control booth, listening, looking, betting on a hit. These are good days for Anthony: he recently completed work on a featured role in Martin Scorsese's film Bringing Out the Dead, co-starring Nicolas Cage. In a few weeks he'll begin recording a duet with neo-soul singer Maxwell. And Anthony's duet with Lopez, No Me Ames, is already a hit on Spanish-language radio.
Yet he is unsatisfied. Although Anthony knows Martin well and is good friends with Lopez, he is wary of media stories lumping them into a single group. "I don't know what they're talking about with this Latino crossover thing," he says. "I could see it if I was doing a salsa album in English. But you know what? We're not doing Latin music on our English stuff. Latin-tinged, yes."
ANTHONY'S OWN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ALBUM, judging from an early listen, sounds extremely promising. What makes him great is his commitment to make vocal art, not simply trendy entertainment. Martin, of course, succeeds by doing the opposite. His new CD is not high art, but it is the kind of relentlessly affable confection that transcends radio formats, crosses generations and sells like crazy. Lopez, too, is well positioned. Her voice is slight, but then again, so is Madonna's. Lopez's talent lies in its diversity--she sings, she can act, and, as a former In Living Color "Fly Girl," she can dance. VH1 is already panting over her first video.
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THIS WEEK'S TABLE OF CONTENTS
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June 28, 1999
Latin Music POPS!
We've seen the future. It looks like Ricky Martin, sings like Marc Anthony, dances like Jennifer Lopez. And Asians love it
Godfather of the Miami Sound
When Emilio Estefan makes a prediction, industry moguls listen
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Photo Essay
El Mundo Loves Ricky
Get Ready for Ricky
Latin pop's hot new star has gone from Menudo to mainstream, with a stop at a soap. What's not to like? (TIME, May 10, 1999)
Spicing The Mix
Latin pop prepares to take on America (TIME, March 15, 1999)
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