Accent on Spanish: Artists woo Latin listeners

updated 4:33 p.m. ET April 2, 2007

MIAMI - Wyclef Jean has sold millions of records as a solo artist and as a founding member of the hip-hop group the Fugees. Still, few in the mainly Latin crowd seemed to recognize the Grammy-winner when he leaped onto the stage at a recent sold-out concert.

That is, until Colombian superstar Shakira shimmied onto the floor, and the two traded Spanish and English rhymes from her smash hit “Hips Don’t Lie.” At that point, the crowd roared for both.

A few years ago, the big Latin crossover involved Spanish-speaking performers making it big by singing in English — including sensations like Ricky Martin, Shakira and Marc Anthony. Nowadays, stars like Jean, Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez are kicking it the other way — singing and rapping in Spanish for the hemisphere’s Hispanic market.

It’s not hard to see why.

32 million Spanish-speakers in U.S.
Salsa, boleros, cumbia, alt-rock, reggaeton — Latin music offers a little something for everyone. Then there’s the state of the declining music industry. As more fans illegally download music and selectively purchase singles instead of entire albums, record labels are desperate for new listeners. The estimated 32 million Spanish-speakers in the United States, not to mention another roughly 400 million Spanish-speakers in Spain and Latin America, are markets screaming to be tapped.

“It’s hard to ignore when 11 million people watch the Latin Grammys,” said Jose Cancela, author of the book, “The Power of Business en Espanol,” and a 25-year veteran of Spanish-language radio and television.

“What more and more artists are seeing is that the growth of Spanish-language media, especially in the top 25 markets in the country, is having real impact on airplay and on viewership,” he added.

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This week, Beyonce is reissuing her multiplatinum, Grammy-winning album “B’Day” with seven tracks in Spanish, including a duet with Shakira. The idea for the Spanish side of the album was born with a duet her group, Destiny’s Child, recorded with Spanish pop singer Alejandro Sanz four years ago.

“A lot of my Latin fans said, ‘Oh, you should do more songs in Spanish,’ ” Beyonce said during a recent news conference in her hometown of Houston.

Beyonce took them to heart, recording Spanish versions of hits like “Irreplaceable” and “Listen” from the film “Dreamgirls.”

J. Lo en Espanol on ‘American Idol’
Jennifer Lopez, who was born in New York's the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents, also just released her first complete Spanish album, “Como Ama una Mujer,” or “How a Woman Loves.” Lopez has said she did her first demo in Spanish, but back then the labels weren’t interested. Now she’ll likely sing one of her Spanish songs when she appears in an upcoming episode of TV’s “American Idol.”

Even kiddie crooner Dan Zanes, who happily acknowledges “I am such an Anglo,” is working on an entire CD in Spanish due early next year.

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