Today, when one turns on the radio, Pandora, or any type music streaming company, we will most likely hear artists singing songs that do not sound like their ‘usual sound.’ Today they are known as crossover artists, and some of the most widely know to this day are Taylor Swift from country to pop, Enrique Iglesias and Gloria Estefan both coming from Latin fan bases to the American pop culture. Latin artists almost always start off with fan base in Spanish speaking countries, but once they are able to crossover into the American mainstream music it is a completely different story, it leads to instant fame. They are recognized around the world, even if it is for one hit. Yet this is where most Latin artists struggle, because in order to become more popular they need to break the barrier between …show more content…
In the late 1980’s to early 1990’s one women was able to break this barrier and lead the way for many other artists to come, her name; Selena Quintanilla. Though her life and career that ended sooner than expected there were qualities she possessed to be remembered and memorialized decades after her death. To this day Selena is recognized as one of the first cross over Latin artist in …show more content…
Youngest of three, Selena, her brother A.B and sister Suzette were all influenced by their father when it came to music, who initially created the band Selena y los Dinos. The band began recording. In the mid 1980’s but it was not until 1989 that signed with EMI Latin Records.. Selena reached fame with 1992 after the release of their album and in 1994 after winning her first and only Grammy in 1993 . Selena tragically died on March 31, 1995 after an argument with Yolanada Saldivar, her fan club manager, yet her life was captured through the Hollywood film Selena which stared Latin artist Jennifer
Can you imagine how much courage and strength it takes to fight your way through a world where being a Tejano singer as a woman is unfathomable? Selena Quintanilla did just that, struggling through her hero’s journey fighting sexism, discrimination, and camouflaged betrayal to rise to stardom and persevere, paving a path of hope for the millions of women she inspired and becoming a beacon in the evolution of the female industry. Selena’s Ordinary world was with her family in her hometown of Lake Jackson, Texas right next to Houston where she was born on April 16, 1971 to her parents, Abraham Jr. and Marcella Quintanilla (“Selena Biography - life, family, children, parents, story, death, school, old, information, born, movie”). One of her father’s passions, music, led him to have created a band in the 1950s and 1960s (“Los Dinos | Discography”), which played traditional Mexican music mixed with early rock and roll songs and other themes such as western or country, the style
The exotification of Dolores del Rio is evident in an article published by a Photoplay issue in 1934, as she is described as possessing “golden skin, smooth as mellowed ivory and her dark, flashing eyes bespoke the lue of those maidenly ‘senoritas’ who peep at life from behind cloistered shutters… When the young man comes to call on a senorita in Mexico… he brings his guitar” (38). Through the exotification of Dolores del Rio, Hollywood found great success in the United States and in Latin America, one of the most profitable film markets in the cinematic industry. As a white-passing Latinx woman, del Rio was “more easily able to move in and out of ethnic roles” (33). Because Dolores del Rio was a Latinx woman that held “upper-class roles” and a Eurocentric standard of beauty while nonetheless, identifying with her Mexican heritage, she not only appealed to the white American public, but to Latin American audiences as well (Hershfield
Jenni Rivera Biography: Dolores Janney “Jenni” Rivera Saavedra was born on July 2nd, 1969 in Long Beach, California to Pedro Rivera and Rosa Saavedra. Her teen years weren’t easy, she got pregnant at the age of 15 by her boyfriend Trino Marin. Her parents kicked her out of their house so she went on to live with Trino. She married Trino in 1984 and had two more children with him. She described these 8 years she was married to Trino as a mentally and physically abusive marriage.
Margaret Dorsey, author of the journal article, Borderland Music as Symbolic Forms of Nationalisms: The Best of the Texas Tornados, Partners, and ¡Viva Luckenbach!, has described the origin of borderland music, in this case, Tejano music as, “Borderland music is an expressive form affiliated with Anglo and Mexicano on both sides of the U.S. border” (Dorsey, 23). In other words, Dorsey asserts that Tejano music is much more complex than simply saying that it combines American and Mexican culture into one and makes it music. “I explore borderland music as a nexus for interpreting issues of Mexicano and Anglo identity formation” (23). Rather she is saying that it combines the ethnicities and the musical characteristics of each to make a statement about identities. Dorsey, happens to be a feminist, thus, viewing Tejano music through a feminist perspective and declaring that there is a complexity when combining national identity from different cultures into a music genre.
Selena also became the first Hispanic singer to have an album sung mostly in Spanish to reach number one. She also became the first female to place five albums at the same time on the Billboard 200 chart. The only other artists to have done this were Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Garth Brooks. Billboard wrote that the release of Dreaming of You was "a historic day in Latin music history". The album helped Selena to become the second-fastest selling female artist that year, behind Janet Jackson.
Dolores Clara Fernandez Huerta was born on April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico. Huerta is an American labor leader, civil rights activists, and was the co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association. Huerta’s father, Juan Fernandez, was a miner and a farm worker and later became the State Assemblyman of New Mexico. At an early age her parents divorced. Huerta lived most of her years with her mother, Alicia Chavez, and two brothers in Stockton, California.
The year 1930 was not an easy time to be a woman or a minority, but that never stopped Dolores Huerta. Born on April 10 in Dawson, New Mexico, Dolores is the daughter of Juan and Alicia, who worked as farmers and miners. After moving to Stockton, CA with her mother and siblings, Dolores worked hard to get a degree from the University of the Pacific. Soon after her career as an activist truly began when she “co-founded the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization, which led voter registration drives and fought for economic improvements for Hispanics” (Michals, 2015). Since she has founded the Agriculture Workers Association, co-founded the National Farmers Workers Association with Casér Chávez, helped organize the 1965 Delano strike of over 5000 grape workers, and served as the Vice President of the United Farm Workers Union.
The legend of the Virgen de Guadalupe has become a common symbol of hope to many incoming immigrants of Latin American countries. Due to U.S. governmental and economic interventions in Latin American countries, it has caused many people to migrate as refuges and flee unstable environments. These mass migrations have been followed by torturous trails and stories that many times end in death or abuse, however, other times it has allowed refugees to move away and live stable lives in the U.S. However, once in the U.S., these immigrants are faced with discriminatory policy based on false accusations that makes their lives unsafe and unprotected. Therefore, Latinx religious faith becomes a strong component of community for these groups.
Selena Quintanilla-Perez was a talented Mexican-American singer, songwriter, spokesperson, and fashion designer. On top of her career, she had respect, and was admired as a great role model by Mexican Americans. The “Queen of Tejano” music, her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of the late 20th century. Billboard magazine named her the “Top Latin Artist of the 90s” and then “Best Selling Latin Artist of the decade”. Selena ranks among the most influential Latin artists of all time and is credited for catapulting a music genre into the mainstream market.
Selena Quintanilla is a famous singer and dancer. She is loved by her fans and was the “Queen of the Tejano Music.” Her death and life sure is worthy of being remembered by her fans. She was killed at a young age but she also started her career so young. Selena Quintanilla should be remembered because she was loved by all her fans.
Carmen Miranda is a Portuguese-Brazilian beauty who rose to fame in the 1930s and 1940s as a South American cultural icon. Her journey into show business is a fascinating and exhilarating one of struggle, success, and stardom. Carmen Miranda’s charm, distinctive fruit headpiece, and flamboyant costumes captivated audiences, and her life had both accomplishments and disappointments, making her a diverse and distinctive character in entertainment history. My intent with this essay is to prove Carmen Miranda's impact on Latin America by introducing the world to samba, culture, and other Latin American rhythms. This essay will also look at how Carmen Miranda challenged preconceptions of Latina women in cinema and campaigned for better opportunities
With these achievements, this made Selena the first women to achieve huge success in Tejano and the first Tejano artist to win a Grammy award and have albums go gold. After achieving so much success in Tejano music Selena wanted to crossover to American music. She started recording the album “Dreaming of you” but sadly she did live to see her album success. Selena was murder on March 31, 1995. Even though Selena died the album “Dreaming of you” was released.
However, Selena stuck to her roots and implemented her culture into her music, making her indeed a success. A big part of her culture, dancing, helped her even become more famous. She was the first to introduce “charisma and choreography into Texas-Mexican music”(Joseph 329). While most Latin artists just sung on stage, Selena made Tejano performances entertaining by dancing, twisting, and creating steps to dance to (López 15). A role that made her exceptionally influential was how she introduced “pop, rock, rap, dance and mariachi concepts into Tejano music”(Joseph 330).
Selena Quintanilla’s father once said, “We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans.” In today’s society, many have encountered the challenge of not being able to be who they really are because they fear not being accepted by others, more specifically their culture. But, what happens when an individual is part of two worlds that have just as many rules? Gloria E. Anzaldúa was a Mexican-American writer and poet who made a major contribution to the fields of cultural, feminist, and queer theory. Anzaldúa identifies as a Chicana and speaks different variations of Spanish, some of which she exhibits in her works.
Fuentes stated that this shaded my childhood and shaped my sense of Mexicanness” (theguardian.com). Along with being a tal-ented novelist Fuentes was a powerful political voice for Latin America. He made it clear that they intended to demonstrate commonalties shared within the nations, instead of showcasing the differences. As the leader of the group Fuentes was really pushing the writers’ publications be-tween the US and Europe, he also brought the writers