Before it was Capitol Latin, EMI Latin’s founding in 1989 heralded not so much a change in music, as an acknowledgement of the artistic and financial value of the Latin community. At the forefront of elevating the genre of Tejano music to worldwide (especially in the otherwise white-centric United States) appreciation was Selena (who we must now, for some reason, Google as Selena Quintanilla to make the distinction between her and that hack Gomez). Before her, all the public really knew of was Gloria Estefan, whose 1985 album, Primitive Love, featuring “Conga” forced the Caucasians all to dance just a little bit more wildly than they would to Huey Lewis and the News.
With José Behar heading up the then brand new division of EMI, his eyes were immediately set on signing Selena after seeing her perform at the Tejano Music Awards the same year her debut album, Selena, would come out (October 17, 1989) and “regular” EMI a.k.a. the pop sector balked at his pitch of a crossover album. And now, here we are twenty-eight years later with crossovers even applying to white folks like Taylor Swift. That Selena’s tautly produced (it was, as usual, a family affair with her brother, A.B. Quintanilla III in charge of production) album was churned out so quickly was a testament to how seasoned she already was–releasing a total of six albums, including Mis Primeras Grabaciones, Alpha, Munequito De Trapo, And The Winner Is…, Preciosa and Dulce Amor, prior to Selena under the Selena y los Dinos moniker.
The melding of sounds from the Mexican and pop sensibilities combined to propel the album to number seven on the U.S. Billboard chart category for Regional Mexican Albums, with the single “Contigo Quiero Estar” reaching the number eight spot on Hot Latin Tracks.
From the 80s wedding reception opening of “Tu Eres” to the Gloria Estefan-sounding, English-spoken “My Love,” Selena is filled with pop gold nugget after pop gold nugget. Concluding with her own frenetic version of “La Bamba,” Selena showed her natural belonging to the genre of mainstream dance/pop music while also remaining faithful to the heritage that influenced so much of her talent.
With the undeniable success of Selena, the music industry that for so long guffawed at the notion of Latin tracks even in a crossover capacity suddenly had to snap to attention. After all, what’s wrong with a little “spick” music when it’s making the white man the dollar?
As Selena coos suggestively on “My Love,” “We could have an everlasting love/(Think about it)/I want to be/All that you want me to be.” And she still is, as evidenced by the continued relevance of this record. In laymen’s terms, let’s just say that without the Selena album to pave the way for the acceptance of the blanco ear to receive Spanish in song form, there might not be a “Despacito.” Though one definitely could do without “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” But hey, we take the good with the bad when a Pandora’s box is opened.
