multicultural
does not describe me fully
it is where to start



Saturday, July 17, 2010

Prince Royce, Shakira, and Blended Cultural Identity


My car radio had just finished playing Prince Royce’s version of “Stand by Me” when Shakira came on with “NO,” and I thought, what a great way to portray the multicultural reality of most Latin Americans. These two artists demonstrate how racially and culturally we are a powerful amalgam of centuries-old forces which have created a daily reality of intrinsic crossover.

Prince Royce is a young Dominican who grew up in New York. Shakira is Colombian-Lebanese. Prince Royce, by featuring Dominican bachata and interweaving Spanish and English, transformed a classic song. Shakira, while singing entirely in Spanish, created a unique sound by incorporating hints of Middle Eastern intonations.

Because this blog focuses frequently on the blended culture of most Latin Americans, I wanted to share these songs with you. Enjoy.






6 comments:

Mayowa said...

Judith,

Talk about a blend indeed! I think this version of stand by me is some kinda genius, honest.

Shakira sounded great too, just wish I could understand the words :)

Thanks for sharing.

A Cuban In London said...

That's what makes me proud to be a Latin American. Cuban, Latin American, Caribbean, those are identity markers I carry with me wherever I go.

Thanks for such a great post.

Greetings from London.

Judith Mercado said...

Mayowa, Cuban, Lloyd, I'm glad you enjoyed this post. As for me, I can't seem to stop listening to Prince Royce's Stand by Me. I suppose at some point I will tire of it, but it hasn't happened yet. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your thoughts.

A Cuban In London said...

That's the price one pays for blogging. :-)

The same happened to me. At some point I withdrew a couple of posts because I thought the other bloggers would believe I was copying them. But it was just twice that I did that.

When people share so many common interests there will always be this type of coincidences.

I look forward to your post tomorrow.

Greetings from London.

Libby Lu said...

I had not heard of Prince Royce. Pleasant surprise. Loving his version.

Thank you :)

Judith Mercado said...

Libby Lu, welcome to my blog. Glad you liked the Prince Royce version.