Learning a foreign language is much easier when you are having fun. And one of the most fun ways to learn Spanish is to listen to music in Spanish.
However, listening to music will allow you to practice listening in a casual manner – you will learn without even noticing that you are learning.
Listening to Spanish music offers many expected and unexpected advantages to your learning, such as:
• It helps you practice listening
• It helps you expand and consolidate vocabulary
• It adds variety to your learning
• It is a way to get acquainted with the culture
• It is fun
• And, as a bonus point, it often makes you get up and dance – we all need a little exercise from time to time.
Let’s take a look at some Spanish and Latin-American singers and bands of different genres that you should check out if you are learning Spanish.
Shakira – Suerte
Chances are, you have probably heard about this Columbian singer before. She is famous all over the world, and her unique voice is easy to recognize. She sings in both English and Spanish, and Shakira’s songs range from soulful ballads to catchy dance hits, like, for example, this song.
Daddy Yankee & Snow – Con Calma
Genre: reggaeton, hip-hop
Reggaeton is a style of Spanish-language music that originated in Puerto-Rico and is a mixture of dancehall, hip-hop, and Latin-American music.
Daddy Yankee is one of the vivid representatives of this genre. His songs are catchy and they make you want to immediately hit the floor. They are also a good source of modern Spanish and slang-words, but be careful: some of the songs are very adult-oriented (+18).
Mägo de Oz- Fiesta pagana 2.0
Mago de Oz is a Spanish folk-metal band, with a slightly Celtic tone to their music. Their music has a unique sound due to the use of such instruments as flutes, violins, and accordions. The songs of the band – or should I day, ballads? – often tell exciting stories and epic tales
Ska-P – Mis Colegas
Ska-punk is a mixture of ska, reggae and punk music, that originated in the UK and US in the 1970s. Ska-P is a ska-pink band from Madrid. While their songs sometimes have quite a political and antiestablishment tone, the music is cheerful and fun to listen to and the texts provide great listening and vocabulary practice.
Enrique Iglesias – Bailando
No list of Spanish-language music would be complete without Enrique Iglesias, who is still considered to be the Kind of Latin pop and one of the best Spanish-speaking artists in the world. Enrique sings in English and in Spanish, about dancing, love, and passion, and his songs are great for practicing Spanish, as well as dancing and falling in love.
Manu Chao – Me Gustas Tu
Manu Chao is a versatile artist who sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek and occasionally in other languages. Manu Chao’s songs are an exciting mix of genres, mediums, instruments, and languages. They are fun to listen to, but they often carry deep meaning as well.
Mecano – Hijo de la Luna
Mecano is an 80s pop band from Spain. The group is not active at the moment, but their albums are still worth listening: they offer beautiful music, which each song telling a thoughtful story, often with a sad ending. Hijo de la Luna is arguably their most popular song.
Bebe – Malo
Bebe is a Spanish singer-songwriter who followed the footsteps of her parents and has been writing songs and singing since an early age.
Bebe has become a loud voice for women’s rights, gender equality and LGBTQ communities in Spain. Her lyrics address topics such as domestic violence, self-esteem and starting again after a dark period in life. Malo, a song touching upon the topic of abusive relationships, is one of her most famous songs.
Orishas – Muévelow
Orishas is a hip-hop and rap band from Havana, Cuba. Their songs draw inspiration from the Cuban culture and are very hard not to dance to. If you enjoy infectious dance rhythms and the Spanish language, you should definitely check out this band
Molotov – Rastaman-Dita
Genre: rock, rap
Like the Molotov cocktail, this Mexican band is an explosive mix of English and Spanish, of rock, rap, and metal, of various instruments. Listen at your own discretion: the band’s songs often feature controversial topics as well as some heavy language – you will not enjoy it if that’s not your cup of tea, but if you like heavier music and are not afraid of some rude language – this Mexican band may be just the thing for you.
Juanes – A Dios Le Pido
Genre: pop, rock
Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez is a Columbian musician. He has been planning the guitar since the age of five, and first started playing in a band when he was 17. Juanes has a powerful stage presence and his beautiful ballads also have deep meaning. Take, for instance, A Dios le pido, which is all about a prayer to God to protect his friends and family.
This is just a small selection of Spanish-speaking singers and bands from Spain and Latin America. Spanish and Latin music is much richer than that. No matter what genre you prefer – pop, rock, hip-hop – you are likely to find a Spanish language band or musician to your liking.
This way, you will not only enjoy listening to some great music but also learn a bit of Spanish and practice your listening without making too much effort and having a lot of fun. If you don’t believe me that having fun is important for learning Spanish, check out this post with tips for learning Spanish and see for yourself!