Cubanocast

On my seventeenth New Years Day with my cousin Myra and her mom in her car, I think, I heard my first Cuban-flavored song, Conga by Gloria Estefan on the KIIS FM count-down show. I remember thinking, "Hey, this is great. It's Cuban-like my parents," although I didn't get "into" Cuban music until a few years later.

Conga is surely one of the best Latino- American pop fusions-catchy as heck and with a great beat. It's definitely not a 1,2,3,...kick conga, however. Gloria Estefan deploys her lovely, clear, voice with beautiful tone and power in reserve, perfectly (certainly, she's one of the best ballad singers of the eithties and nineties). Emilio wrote a great song and arranged it well.

Follow up:

Almost as important is the group who sings it. Miami Sound Machine with Gloria and Emilio Estefan represent the best face of Cuban-America, grateful to and proud of the United States, but with an ethnic tinge that builds instead of competes. Thankfully, unlike other artists, they never overly-criticize the society that made them prosperous.

Gloria Estefan has been successful in both her personal life (married once and with children- scandal-free) and financially; and in contrast to the Britney Spears' and Madonna's, she's retained a sense of class and decency in both her life, her music, and in performances; Estefan is a pop star a mom can hold up to her daughter as a role-model.

Listen to Conga

Gloria Estefan - Greatest Hits

The video's funny. As if anybody-even the stuffiest ambassador- would find this song shocking. Nice hair styles.