In a statement that could raise some eyebrows this week, Felix Contreras boldly claims in this week’s episode: “If Bruce Springsteen were Mexican, he would have written Los Tigres del Norte’s iconic song ‘La Jaula de Oro.'”
The context is a conversation with Anamaria Sayre about Springsteen’s songwriting on an upcoming unreleased album by Springsteen called Inyo. It is a collection of songs with themes of immigration, Mexican culture, history and pride that was inspired by a motorcycle ride across the Southwest in the mid-1990s.
The album and its theme revive an Alt.Latino conversation about whether or not artists outside of a particular culture can write and sing songs about that culture.
Listen in to see how the question is resolved (at least for this week) and discover new music from Spain, Argentina and Dallas.
Featured artists and songs:
- Alleh & Yorghaki, “me late”
- Alleh & Yorghaki, “capaz (merengueton)”
- Louie TheSinger, “Quicker Way To Jesus”
- pablopablo, “Dónde Estás!”
- Bruce Springsteen, “Adelita”
- Bruce Springsteen, “Sinaloa Cowboys”
- Belafonte Sensacional, “Llamas Rexio”
- Belafonte Sensacional, “Todavía DF”
- David Byrne and Brian Eno, “America is Waiting”
- Juana (feat. ELENI), “La Paloma”
Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Simon Rentner. Editorial support from Hazel Cills. Our project manager is Grace Chung. NPR Music’s executive producer is Suraya Mohamed. Our VP of Music and Visuals is Keith Jenkins.