Berklee College of Music

“Music shines in the dark: a study of the songs inspired by Hurricane María in
Puerto Rico”

by Cristina Nadal

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Degree of
Master of Global Entertainment and Music Business
Supervisor: Tony Woodcock
Valencia Campus, Spain

Table of Contents
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………….....iii
Methodology………………………………………………………………………………….....iii

Section 1: Introduction & Context
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………1
Puerto Rico’s musical context…………………………………………………………………2

Section 2: Song Analysis
General Song Database & Findings…………………………………………………………..3
The Charity Song Sample………………………………………………………………….......5
The Reality Song Sample……………………………………………………………………..9
The Symbolic Song Sample………………………………………………………………....13
The Reinterpreted Song Sample………………………………………………………….....20

Section 3: Findings & Conclusion
Findings………………………………………………………………………………………...24
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………...…...31

Section 4: Miscellaneous
Appendices
Appendix A: Song Sample Indexes: General and Detailed Results…………….33
Appendix B: Preliminary Song Database…………………………...……………..43
Appendix C: Song Lyrics Per Song Samples……………………...……………...44
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………...……………...64

ii

Abstract
In the less than two years since Hurricane María, artists from various genres
have released songs inspired by the storm’s effect in Puerto Rican society. In order to
answer the main research question, a sample of songs were analyzed. As this paper
will demonstrate, under the context of this specific event, disaster-inspired songs
generally do not generate much money nor attention for its artists. Rather, they serve as
artistic expressions that help each artist develop their career journey. More importantly,
this Research Paper showcases industry-wide issues that continue to greatly affect
artists across the world.
Methodology
Preliminary Song Database
The preliminary database of songs was built based on research that included a close
examination of content available on Digital Service Providers, news media and personal
experience.1
It is important to point out that several artists that were included in this database actually
worked on full length projects inspired on Hurricane María as with the case of traditional
troubadour José Nogueras’ album “Comoquiera…hay Navidad” (There will be
Christmas, no matter what). In such instances, for the purpose of avoiding excessive
repetition, only one song was included in the database.
Once this database was completed and examined, certain trends were readily
identifiable and these served as basis for the creation of song categories that facilitated
the in-depth analysis.

1

The complete Preliminary Song Database can be found in the Appendix section of this paper.

iii

Song Categorization
The 30 songs initially considered were fit into 4 categories: (1) Charity Song, (2)
Symbolic Song, (3) Reality Song, and (4) Reinterpreted Song.
To be included in the Charity Song Category, the song had to comply with the following
criteria:
1) Released after September 20, 2017 and before September 20, 2018.
2) Proof that it was made for a fundraising purpose directly related to the
catastrophe.
To be included in the Symbolic Song Category, the song had to comply with the
following criteria:
1) Released after September 20, 2017 and before September 20, 2018.
2) Does not contain direct lyrical reference to the hurricane but there was public
proof of the artist(s) stating it was related to the catastrophe in the form of a
news article, TV interview, social media comment or public appearance.
To be included in the Reality Song Category, the song had to comply with the following
criteria:
1) Released after September 20, 2017 and before September 20, 2018.
2) Contains direct lyrical reference to the hurricane, in the form of terms such as:
huracán (hurricane), María, tormenta (storm), planta (electric generator),
gasolina (gas), luz (Literally: “light”, but in this case referring to electricity), and
Puerto Rico…).
3) Lyrics contain colloquialisms and references to daily Puerto Rican life.
To be included in the Reinterpreted Song Category, the song had to comply with the
following criteria:
1) Released before September 20, 2017.

iv

2) Explicit association made by the artist relating it to the catastrophe (news article,
TV interview, live performance, social media comment, public appearance, etc).
TABLE 1. TOTAL SONGS PER CATEGORY
SONG CATEGORY
Charity

TOTAL SONGS
4

Symbolic

8

Reality

14

Reinterpreted

4

Once the songs were categorized, a final selection of songs was made in an effort to
narrow the focus of this paper. The final selection process considered the following
criteria:
1) Availability: the song had to be available in Spotify, Pandora and Youtube.
2) Popularity: the song had to be among the most popular (top 5) in their
respective categories.2
3) Variety: some of the author’s subjectivity was considered in order to have a
more encompassing sample of artists and genres.
Song Analysis
For the Song Analysis section, three aspects were examined: (1) the Song Background
(2) the Song Earnings and (3) the Song Influence. For the last two aspects, the data
collected was normalized and converted into Indexes, in order to accurately compare
both results.
(1) The Song Background was an in-depth evaluation of the song samples
by examining the following: 1) Background & Artist 2) Genre & Song
Structure 3) Lyrics and (4) Visuals.
(2) The Song Earnings Index was created in order to get an estimate of the
money generated by each song. A value of 100 is peak money generation

2

For the purpose of simplicity, this was solely based on cumulative all-time Youtube data.

v

for a song, with a value of 1 meaning the least money generation. The
Index was built on the following criteria:
a. Timeframe: data was collected for a period of 6 months, starting
with the song release date.
b. Territory: only data from Puerto Rico and the United States was
considered.
c. Datasets:
i. Source for Streaming & Digital Song Sales: all data came
from BuzzAngle Music.
ii. Streaming Royalty estimated amount
1. Since the BuzzAngle Music data did not specify from
which platform the audio streams came from, the
Spotify figure was used to represent all streaming
services.3
a. Royalty amount: .00331 per stream.
b. This estimate was based on data available in
the “Streaming Price Bible” published by The
Trichordist.4
iii. Digital Sales Price
1. All digital song sales were accounted as the iTunes
average retail price of $1.29 per song. No distribution
fees were subtracted.
d. Index Weights: once the datasets were collected and estimated
calculations were made, the results were normalized converted into
an index score taking into consideration the following weights:

3

Spotify has around 400,000 users in Puerto Rico. Juan Carlos Pedreira, Technology Consultant, Skype interview
with author, April 2, 2019.
“2018 Streaming Price Bible! Per Stream Rates Drop as Streaming Volume Grows. YouTube’s Value Gap is Very
Real,” The Trichordist, January 29, 2019, https://thetrichordist.com/2019/01/29/2018-streaming-price-bible-perstream-rates-drop-as-streaming-volume-grows-youtubes-value-gap-is-very-real/
4

vi

TABLE 2. WEIGHTED FACTOR PER DATASET
DATASET
Total Amount generated by
Song Sales
Total Amount generated by
Audio Streams

WEIGHTED FACTOR
30%
70%

Example of calculation:
(Normalized Song Sales Amount * .30) + (Normalized Audio Streams Amount * .70) =
Song Earnings Index Score
(3) The Song Influence Index was created based on the artists’ performance
in terms of social media following, public interest and media coverage. A
value of 100 means the song was highly influential, while a value of 1
means the song was not influential. The Index was built on the following
criteria:
a. Timeframe: data was collected for a period of 6 months, starting
with the song release date.
b. Territory: only data from Puerto Rico and the United States was
considered.
i. Exception: Social Media KPI’s, which are worldwide
numbers.
c. Datasets:
i. Social media KPIs (Instagram Followers and Facebook
Fans). Source: Chartmetric.
ii. Google Trends: Numbers represent search interest relative
to the highest point on the chart for the given region and
time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A
value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. A score of
0 means there was not enough data for this term.
iii. Online News Article Total Amount. Only considered articles
that included the featured artist name and song name, that
were published in the United States and Puerto Rico media
collections. Source: mediacloud.org

vii

d. Index Weights: once the datasets were collected, the results were
normalized converted into an index score taking into consideration
the following weights:
TABLE 3. WEIGHTED FACTOR PER DATASET
DATASET
Instagram New Followers

WEIGHTED FACTOR 5
20%

Facebook New Fans

25%

Google Trends Score

30%

Online News Articles Total
Amount

25%

Example of calculation:
(Normalized Instagram New Followers * .20) + (Normalized Facebook New Fans * .25)
+ (Normalized Google Trends Score * .30) + (Normalized Online News Articles Total
Amount * .25) = Song Influence Index Score
Alternate Methodology for Reinterpreted Song Sample
All samples were evaluated using the same criteria except for the Reinterpreted Song
Sample. Since the songs included in this sample were already released by the time the
hurricane came, the examined period is different than that of the other samples.
1) Timeframe: Data collected from the 3 months before the hurricane and the 6month period was defined to start right after the hurricane. This approach helped
identify whether or not the hurricane had any effect in the song’s sales and
streams performance and in the featured artists’ social media following and
overall media coverage.

5

In Puerto Rico, Facebook has around 1.90 million Monthly Active Users while Instagram has around 860,000
Monthly Active Users. Google.com.pr is the most visited website on the Island. “Global Digital 2019 Report,” We Are
Social, January 30, 2019, accessed May 1, 2019, https://wearesocial.com/global-digital-report-2019.

viii

Excluded Data from Indexes
Due to lack of available data for all examined songs, or lack of data specific to the time
period examined, some criteria (Pandora Spins, Video Streams, Shazams and others)
was considered but not included in the final indexes.

ix

Section 1: Introduction & Context

Introduction
Music has always impacted people’s emotions “especially regarding tragedies.
Consequently, many songs have been written in direct response to natural disasters.”6
In the less than two years since Hurricane María, the deadly storm that left devastation
across the Caribbean in 2017, “many artists and civilians have dedicated music, poetry,
visual arts, and other forms of creative artistic expressions” to the island of Puerto Rico.7
Using the setting of Puerto Rico and the event of Hurricane María, this Research Paper
set out to answer this overarching question: Do natural disaster-inspired songs
benefit artists’ brand value and their pockets?

With that inquiry in mind, this paper focused on an in-depth analysis of 11 songs
that were categorized into 4 samples, as explained in the Methodology. Section 2 of
this Research Paper, shows the results per samples. In it, each of the samples’
background and artistic properties were looked at closely. Moreover, based on
normalized datasets, each sample was given Earnings and Influence Index Scores
across a pre-determined timeframe, in order to be able to accurately compare them
through time. For each of these topics, both quantitative and qualitative research
methods were used in order to present a more encompassing study.
Lastly, Section 3 shows this paper’s primary findings with the main takeaway
being that, in general, disaster-inspired songs did not produce significant
monetary results nor did they have highly influential effects in the artists’ public
image. However, these songs served as self-expression mechanisms for artists that
could have long lasting effects in their careers and, more importantly, served to further

Albert, Park. “Songs behind the storms: Music related to natural disasters,” The
Grassroots Journal, October 20, 2017, https://www.thegrassrootsjournal.org/single-post/2017/10/20/Songs-behindthe-storms-Music-related-to-natural-disasters.
6

JO, Prewitt Diaz. “Place-based psychosocial interventions in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico,”
WebmedCentral PSYCHOLOGY (2017): 8 - 10, WMC005333. http://www.webmedcentral.com/article_view/5333.
7

1

illustrate key music industry issues such as the music streaming value gap, the
“superstar” economy, and gender disparity.
Puerto Rico’s musical context
During a brief visit to Puerto Rico in the Summer of 2018, Seth Farbman,
Spotify’s Chief Marketing Officer, argued that “Puerto Rico’s importance and influence in
music cannot be exaggerated” citing examples such as the reggaetón phenom and the
“Despacito Effect.”8 By the end of the same year, Rolling Stone magazine went as far
as expressing that:
“At the epicenter of the Latin popquake has arguably been Puerto Rico,
whose denizens emerged swinging from the aftermath of Hurricane María
with formidable shows of strength and genius”9
Beyond recent headlines, “accounts of Puerto Rico, whether from after the SpanishAmerican War or the present, stress the importance of music in local life.”10 Moreover,
“Puerto Rican cultural expressive art forms range from music and dance
(bomba, plena, trova, salsa, reggeaton), to visual arts (printmaking,
painting, mask-making, woodworking) to writing and storytelling (poetry,
stories, myths, legends). These art forms have served as collective coping
mechanisms passed down from generation to generation”11
Taking into consideration the island’s “undeniable” global musical influence12 and the
fact that it “has a history of packaging the news in music,”13 analyzing Hurricane María’s
effects in the scope and context of music became both a curiosity and a necessity.
Denis Costa, “Spotify se muestra como aliado de Puerto Rico,” El Nuevo Día, May 21, 2018,
https://www.elnuevodia.com/tecnologia/tecnologia/nota/spotifysemuestracomoaliadodepuertorico-2423342/.
8

Andrew Casillas, Suzy Exposito, Elias Leight & Isabela Raygoza, “10 Best Latin Albums of 2018,” Rolling Stone,
December 20, 2018, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin-lists/best-latin-albums-2018-769413/.
9

Teófilo Espada-Brignoni, “From the Roars of Hurricanes to the Chords of Standards: How We Used Popular Music
in the Aftermath of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico,” Popular Music and Society, 42:1, 118-122, DOI:
10.1080/03007766.2018.1463937.
10

11

Prewitt-Diaz, “Place-based psychosocial interventions,” 9.

Suzette Fernandez, “Inside Puerto Rico's Flourishing Music Community Post-Hurricane Maria: 'We're Back In
Business,” Billboard. May 13, 2019, https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/8510991/puerto-rico-music-postmaria.
12

Daniella Cheslow. “Songs about generators and Spam? New Puerto Rican music reflects the island’s resilience,”
The Washington Post, January 5, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/songs-about-generators-and13

2

Section 2: Song Analysis

General Song Database & Findings

Based on extensive research, 30 songs were identified and considered for indepth examination. This Preliminary Song Database included a variety of genres,
dominated slightly by Latin Pop and Salsa, although it is important to point out that
many songs mixed elements of different genres such as Latin Urban rhythms and more
traditional genres.
FIGURE 1. PRELIMINARY SONG DATABASE: GENRES

As it is to be expected, Spanish was the language of choice although several songs
mixed Spanish and English.
FIGURE 2. PRELIMINARY SONG DATABASE: LANGUAGES

spam-new-puerto-rican-music-reflects-the-islands-resilience/2017/12/29/bd1883de-eaa8-11e7-8a6a80acf0774e64_story.html?utm_term=.5b84cbb2a35e.

3

Using Next Big Sound’s Taxonomy of Artists, which classifies artists “into five stages
based on the total size of their fan base,” it was found that the vast majority of artists
that spearheaded these songs were more established acts rather than newer ones.14
FIGURE 3. PRELIMINARY SONG DATABASE: ARTIST STAGE 15

Source: Next Big Sound

In terms of songwriting, the vast majority of the songs examined were performed by at
least 1 of its songwriters.
FIGURE 4. PRELIMINARY SONG DATABASE:
PERCENTAGE OF SONGS PERFORMED BY AT LEAST 1 OF ITS SONGWRITERS

Lastly, an alarming finding was that only 8 of the 30 songs featured women.
FIGURE 5. PRELIMINARY SONG DATABASE:
PERCENTAGE OF SONGS FEATURING WOMEN

“The Taxonomy of Artists,” Next Big Sound, accessed February 1, 2019, https://www.nextbigsound.com/industryreport/2016.
14

15

This Figure excludes 9 artists of which there was no data available. Only primary artists were considered in this
graph, that is, as in the case of “Almost Like Praying,” a song that features many artists, only Lin Manuel Miranda’s
artist stage was considered.

4

The Charity Song Sample

General Background
The Charity Song Sample included the following songs:
(1) “Almost Like Praying” by Various Artists
(2) “Isla Bendita” (Holy Island) by Various Artists
(3) “Pa’lante Puerto Rico” (Move Forward Puerto Rico) by Aymée Nuviola
featuring Ray Ruiz.
“Almost Like Praying”, one of the most recognizable songs related to the
hurricane, was spearheaded by New York-born and Hamilton creator Lin Manuel
Miranda and includes brief appearances by the likes of Gloria Estefan, Camila Cabello
and Jennifer Lopez, among many others. Similarly, “Isla Bendita” includes a long list of
featured artists like Luis Fonsi, Ednita Nazario, Tommy Torres, among others. “Almost
Like Praying” and “Isla Bendita” were released by Atlantic Records and Warner Music
Latina, respectively. “Pa’lante Puerto Rico” was released independently.
Genre & Structure16
The Charity Song Sample includes two Latin Pop songs that feature urbanleaning sounds and a more traditional salsa track. In terms of chord structure and
harmony, this sample is fairly simple and repetitive. This last fact is especially true of
“Almost Like Praying” and “Isla Bendita.” This should not come as surprise as both of
them feature vast quantities of artists, making it necessary to maintain a consistent
harmony during the whole song. In terms of specific song properties, this sample tended
to favor high BPM, which means faster tempo songs, and high energy, which can be
perceived by the listener as songs that feel more intense and energetic.
TABLE 4. CHARITY SONG SAMPLE: SONG PROPERTIES
SONG
“ALMOST
LIKE
PRAYING”
“ISLA
BENDITA”

LANGUAGE BPM ENERGY DANCEABILITY ACOUSTICNESS VALENCE LENGTH
ENGLISH
94
88%
50%
24%
81%
3:20:00
SPANISH
SPANISH

100

73%

71%

45%

31%

6:03:00

This and subsequent sections that deal with the songs’ form, were done in consultation with songwriter Óscar De
Lara.
16

5

“PA'LANTE SPANISH
PUERTO
RICO”

186

79%

70%

42%

93%

3:52:00

Source: Chartmetric

Lyrics
Lyrically speaking, the three songs included present similar topics and themes, with
resilience, empowerment and national pride at the center of it all. However, they differ
greatly in their writing style. While Miranda’s “Almost Like Praying” barely includes any
lyrics besides naming the 79 Puerto Rican towns and citing verses originally from West
Side Story’s “María,” Luis Amed Irizarry and Naiz’s “Isla Bendita” is at the opposite end
of the spectrum with a lyrically dense ode to the Island that makes one of the many
references to luz (literally “light”, referring to electricity) found in the studied samples:
ORIGINAL LYRICS
Y hacemos un fiestón pa’ pasar el
temporal (Que si no hay luz)
La luna estará ahí para alumbrarnos

TRANSLATION
And we throw a party during the storm
(Because if there is no electricity)
The moon will be there to give us light.

It also repeats the inspirational “Vamos para ‘alante” (Let’s go forward) phrase that can
be found at the core of “Pa’lante Puerto Rico,”17 a song that presents a fairly traditional
lyrical structure.
Visuals
Since charity songs tend to be put together only weeks or even days after a
catastrophe, it is not surprising to see that the official videos that accompanied the
charity songs examined were simple productions. The three official videos used studio
footage of the artists recording the tracks, with “Almost Like Praying” solely using that
tactic. However, “Isla Bendita” and “Pa’lante Puerto Rico” merged those shots with other
content. The former including real-life footage of the storm and its aftermath while the
ladder presented images of the artists actively involved in the goods donation process.

17

Both phrases are colloquial ways of saying “Para adelante” (Forward).

6

Song Earnings
The Average Song Earnings Index Per Period for the Charity Song Sample, showed a
peak of 16 in the first period and after that, there was a steep decline that continued for
the rest of the studied timeframe, which exemplifies how charity singles seem to capture
the public’s attention immediately after release, but only for a short span of time.

FIGURE 6. CHARITY SAMPLE: SONG EARNINGS AVERAGE PER PERIOD

Source: Buzzangle Music. Axis value for Index Score has been adjusted to better
represent the data.

When getting into individual, actual figures, “Almost Like Praying” overwhelming
surpassed “Isla Bendita” and “Pa’lante Puerto Rico”, generating about $185,706 versus
only $2,347 and $62, respectively. This high disparity is mostly due to the Lin Manuel
Miranda factor. His celebrity status in the United States gave him exposure in major
publications and tv shows and thus it is not surprising that it is the only song examined
in this paper to chart in the all-encompassing Billboard Hot 100 Chart18, peaking at
number 20 during the tracking week of October 28th, 2017.19 In turn, “Isla Bendita”,
which curiously featured many of the artists included in Miranda’s tune, was a much

It is important to highlight that Pedro Capó’s “Calma”, which is included in the Preliminary Song Database, also
charted in the Billboard Hot 100, but not during the examined period.
18

Billboard. “Hot 100 Chart,” week of October 28 ,2017, https://www.billboard.com/music/lin-manuel-miranda/charthistory/hot-100/song/1048760.
19

7

more local release. Lastly, “Pa’lante Puerto Rico” featured the least well-known artists in
this category, especially in comparison to the artists featured in the two other songs
examined and thus it is not surprising to see such a big difference in the numbers.20

Song Influence
The Average Song Influence Per Period for the Charity Song Sample, peaked with a
score of 18 during the first period and then it showed a steady decrease for the rest of
the examined dates, a similar trend among most song samples examined.
FIGURE 7. CHARITY SAMPLE: SONG INFUENCE AVERAGE PER PERIOD

Source: Chartmetric, Google Trends & Media Cloud. Axis value for Index Score has been
adjusted to better represent the data.

It is important to point out that this lower than expected score can be attributed to the
fact that, for example, there was no data available for Lin Manuel Miranda for Instagram
New Followers and, in the case of Aymée Nuviola, no data available for New Facebook
Fans.21 However, this sample of songs did very well in term of news coverage, with
“Almost Like Praying” unsurprisingly receiving the highest amount of coverage of all
songs examined in this paper.

20

It is important to point out that since these songs were made with a fundraising purpose, the assumption is that the
money generated did not go to the artists nor their collaborators.
21

Lin Manuel Miranda does not have an official Instagram account. Aymée Nuviola does have a Facebook Page but
there was no available data for the examined timeframe in the main sources used for this paper.

8

The Reality Song Sample
General Background
The Reality Song Sample included the following songs:
(1) “Mi Navidad No Se Apaga” (My Christmas Doesn’t Get Turned Off) by Victor
Manuelle ft. La Tribu de Abrante and PJ Sin Suela
(2) “La Planta Nueva” (Holy Island) by Joseph Fonseca
(3) “Tendré Que Vender Mis Gallos” (I Will Have To Sell My Roosters) by Andrés
Jiménez
This sample included 5 artists, all hailing from Puerto Rico. In comparison to other
samples, this crop of artists is more locally based and is arguably less recognized
outside Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican diaspora in the United States. All artists in
this sample are self-releasing, with only Victor Manuelle having a relationship with Sony
Music Latin, although this specific release is credited to his own label Kiyavi Corp.

Genre & Structure
The Reality Song Sample is rooted in more traditional genres associated with the
Caribbean. “La Planta Nueva” is an example of a merengue song while “Mi Navidad No
Se Apaga” is at its core a salsa tune. However, both songs borrow from other styles
such as Puerto Rican folkloric music (música jíbara) and rap. Andrés Jiménez “Tendré
Que Vender Mis Gallos” is arguably the most traditionally Puerto Rican song examined
in this paper, since it is a jíbaro song, a type of music that “has enjoyed a certain sort of
claim to the status of national music.”22 In terms of chord structure, these songs tend to
stay true to their genre styles and they focus more on rhythm rather than melody.
Moreover, the three songs finish in perfect cadence, a common characteristic of these
genres. A closer look at each song’s properties, makes it evident that this crop of songs
is highly danceable and up-tempo.
TABLE 5. REALITY SONG SAMPLE: SONG PROPERTIES
SONG
“LA
PLANTA
NUEVA”

LANGUAGE
SPANISH

BPM
135

ENERGY
96%

DANCEABILITY
76%

ACOUSTICNESS
-2%

VALENCE
90%

LENGTH
3:13:00

22Peter

Manuel. "Puerto Rican Music and Cultural Identity: Creative Appropriation of Cuban Sources from Danza to
Salsa," Ethnomusicology 3(2), Spring/Summer 1994: 256.

9

“MI
SPANISH
NAVIDAD
NO SE
APAGA”
“TENDRÉ
SPANISH
QUE
VENDER
MIS
GALLOS”
Source: Chartmetric

114

90%

52%

52%

83%

3:10:00

110

44%

74%

64%

96%

4:34:00

Lyrics
Without a doubt, the most identifiable trait of this sample of songs is the
humorous tone in its lyrics and musical arrangements. While other samples tended to
be more introspective or metaphorical, the Reality Song Sample flipped the script –
presenting a lighter, more comical view on the post-hurricane hardships. Suddenly,
highly disturbing things like not having electricity at home or barely finding gas for
automobiles, were taken as inspiration to write amusing experiences. Take for example
“La Planta Nueva” which lyrics center around the reality of many Puerto Ricans at the
time: having a very noisy electric generator that barely worked:

ORIGINAL LYRICS
Yo le voy a pedir a los Reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene

TRANSLATION
I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when it’s
turned on

This small excerpt of the song’s chorus also presents a recurring theme in the Reality
Song category: Christmas. Many of the songs that fit this category, allude to Christmas
time and were mostly released around November-December 2017, less than 3 months
after the storm.
“Mi Navidad No Se Apaga,” which even includes the word “Christmas” in its title,
was described on Billboard as “one of a wave of post hurricane-referencing songs that
Puerto Rican artists have recorded to keep spirits high in a country where the holidays

10

are known for being exceptionally merry, and very musical.”23 The song’s lyrics center
around the idea that Christmastime in Puerto Rico is special, regardless if there is “no
water or electricity”:

ORIGINAL LYRICS
De esta me levanto
y le meto el pecho a la situación
Pues no hay viento fuerte que nos
Destruya la tradición
Apaga la planta para que escuches mi
parrandón
Todo Puerto Rico a cantar el coro de esta
canción

TRANSLATION
From this situation I will get up,
with my chest up
Because there is no strong wind that
destroys our tradition
Turn off the generator so you can hear
my parrandón24
All of Puerto Rico needs to sing the
chorus of this song

That verse also includes yet again another shout out to generators, one of the
most used terms in this category and that, unsurprisingly, sparked curiosity in US
mainstream media generating headlines such as “Songs about generators and Spam?
New Puerto Rican music reflects the island’s resilience.”25
In the case of the lyrics for “Tendré Que Vender Mis Gallos”26, no evident allusion
to Christmas nor generators are made, yet the song is an Aguinaldo, a type of song that
is closely associated with Christmastime. Moreover, the fact that Jiménez uses the
hurricane as inspiration follows the trend for the genre in which its lyrics “deal with
contemporary issues of migration, urbanization, and social change in highly expressive
ways, whether poignantly or humorously.”27 In a saddened tone, the troubadour
explains how his life has changed after the hurricane:

Judy Cantor-Navas. “Victor Manuelle Brings Christmas Cheer to Puerto Rico With 'Mi Navidad No Se Apaga,”
Billboard, December 14, 2017, https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/8070545/victor-manuelle-mi-navidadno-se-apagala-christmas-song-tribu-de-abrante-pj-sin-suela.
23

24

Parrandas are similar to caroling, in which groups of people sing and play instruments.

Daniella Cheslow. “Songs About Generators And Spam? New Puerto Rican Music Reflects The Island’s
Resilience,” The Washington Post, January 5, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/songs-aboutgenerators-and-spam-new-puerto-rican-music-reflects-the-islands-resilience/2017/12/29/bd1883de-eaa8-11e7-8a6a80acf0774e64_story.html?utm_term=.bff8d5869754.
25

26

Raising roosters for cockfights is a common practice in rural areas in Puerto Rico.

27

Peter Manuel. "Puerto Rican Music and Cultural Identity," 257.

11

ORIGINAL LYRICS
Tendré que vender mis gallos porque el
Huracán María
Me ha dejado en escombros lo que era la
casa mía

TRANSLATION
I'll have to sell my roosters because
Hurricane María
Has left in rubbles what was my house

Visuals
None of the songs included in this sample has an official video. There is no clear
explanation for this, but one could argue the budget for the release and promotion of
these songs were low or non-existent; therefore, they mostly relied on word of mouth,
radio airplay and social media platforms for publicity.

Song Earnings
The Earnings Index Average Per Period for this sample is the lowest overall of all
examined samples, maintaining an Index of 1 on all periods. This fact should not come
as a surprise since, as it was mentioned earlier, the artists featured in this sample tend
to be less well-known in comparison to the other assessed samples. No visual
representation is included since virtually no change is visible across periods.
Unsurprisingly, the song that generated the most money was “Mi Navidad No Se
Apaga”, which generated an estimated $1,701 from streams and digital song sales. The
song also peaked at #8 on the Billboard Tropical Airplay Chart.28 Fonseca’s “La Planta
Nueva” did less than $645 and Jiménez “Tendré que Vender Mis Gallos” barely made
any money at all.

Billboard. “Tropical Airplay Chart,” week of January 3, 2018, https://www.billboard.com/charts/tropical-songs/201801-03.
28

12

Song Influence
FIGURE 8. REALITY SAMPLE: SONG INFLUENCE AVERAGE PER PERIOD

Source: Chartmetric, Google Trends & Media Cloud. Axis value for Index Score has been
adjusted to better represent the data.

In terms of the Song Influence Index, the Reality Song Sample showed higher
numbers for the first two periods with a peak of 9 and then a gradual decline for the rest
of the timeframe with a slight increase at the end. A more detailed look into the datasets
examined, showed some significant growth in social media following, especially in the
case of Victor Manuelle. However, this group of songs garnered very little to no news
coverage during the whole analyzed period.

The Symbolic Song Sample
General Background
The Symbolic Song Sample included the following songs:
(1) “Estamos Bien” (We Are Ok) by Bad Bunny
(2) “Que Viva La Gente” (Long Live The People) by Kany García
(3) “Las Luces” (The Lights) by Pedro Capó
The Symbolic Song Sample includes, arguably, one of the most famous Puerto
Rican artists currently in Bad Bunny and two of the most reputable Latin Pop singers in
Latin GRAMMY-winners Kany García and Pedro Capó. Bad Bunny is signed and
managed by independent label Rimas Music while García and Capó are both currently

13

signed to Sony Music Latin. These artists also have a more international audience in
comparison to those in the Reality Song Sample that was just discussed.

Genres and Structure
This sample contains more commercial genres such as Latin Trap and Latin Pop.
“Estamos Bien” presents a simple 3 chord structure. “Las Luces” uses a fairly traditional
pop structure. Meanwhile, “Que Viva La Gente” presents a more complex chord
structure and an emphasis on harmony. However, the three songs close similarly – with
a sense of incompleteness that tends to favor repeated listening. As it is to be expected,
this sample is less danceable and energetic than the Reality Song Sample although it
remains fairly up-tempo, with the clear exception being García’s song.
TABLE 6. SYMBOLIC SONG SAMPLE: SONG PROPERTIES
SONG
“ESTAMOS
BIEN”

LANGUAGE BPM ENERGY DANCEABILITY ACOUSTICNESS VALENCE LENGTH
SPANISH
120 56%
79%
83%
47%
3:28:00

“LAS
SPANISH
LUCES”
“QUE VIVA SPANISH
LA GENTE”
Source: Chartmetric

154

79%

68%

15%

87%

3:47:00

57

39%

46%

91%

40%

4:09:00

Lyrics
Lyrically speaking, the songs in this sample tend to be much more metaphorical when
compared to other samples. It is safe to say that García’s and Capó’s songs are among
the most reflective lyrics included in this study. “Que Viva La Gente” was “born with
María,” as the artist herself has explained.29 It is an ode to the Puerto Rican people’s
strength after the event:
ORIGINAL LYRICS
Que vivan los hombres que no esperan
nada
A ellos envidio con todas mis ganas
Que vivan aquellos que hacen camino
Y no aguardan a que sea mañana

TRANSLATION
Long live the men who do not expect
anything
I envy them with all my will
Long live those who make their way
And that do not wait for it to be tomorrow

“Kany García Reconoce A Los Boricuas Que Se Levantaron Luego De María,” Radio Isla, May 22, 2018,
http://www.radioisla1320.com/kany-garcia-reconoce-a-los-boricuas-que-se-levantaron-luego-de-maria/.
29

14

This and many other songs examined in this paper, tend to focus on topics of
resilience with highly motivational and inspiring lyrics. However, “Las Luces” takes a
different approach. Even though it has the same goal of achieving unity, it uses a much
harsher attitude both lyrically and musically:

ORIGINAL LYRICS
Vamo' a ver
Ya estamos grandes basta de llorar
Empuje y busque bien adentro
Brille que llegó su momento
Saque las luces que trae en el pecho

TRANSLATION
Let's see
We are already old, no more crying
Push forward and look well inside you
Shine, because your moment has arrived
Bring out the lights that you have in your
chest

These songs tend to shy away from directly talking about the hurricane, although
they include words associated with the hurricane such as the already-discussed luz and
tormenta (storm). Capó gave it the most importance as it is the central element of his
lyrics in which he urged the Puerto Rican community to “Bring out the light” in
themselves during trying times while Bad Bunny made a more direct reference
(“Aunque pa' casa no ha llega'o la luz” / “Even if there’s no electricity at home”). This
last song is also one of the simplest lyrically speaking. Yet it is the most commercially
successful song studied in this paper, as future sections will demonstrate.

Visuals
We could argue this sample is the weakest in terms of visuals. García and Capó
did not film official videos, with Capó releasing an Official Lyrics Video and García solely
sharing an acoustic performance of the track in her official Youtube Channel. Bad
Bunny’s video from “Estamos Bien” uses a vintage recording video aesthetic in which
he presents shots of his everyday life without making any direct allusion to the
hurricane. However, in September 25th, 2018 just 5 days after the one-year anniversary
of the catastrophe, the trapper sang the song on American TV for the first time on The
Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. According to Bad Bunny’s manager, Noah Assad, the
artist “had the idea of doing something impactful for Puerto Rico.”30 As an introduction to

30

Noah Assad, e-mail message to author, April 15, 2019.

15

the song, Bad Bunny explained that “After one year of the hurricane, there are still
people without electricity in their homes. More than 3,000 people died and Trump’s still
in denial.”31 He then performed the song while pictures of Puerto Rico and the aftermath
of the hurricane appeared in the background. This performance had immediate effects
on the song’s performance and public interest that are worth looking at in detail.
TABLE 7. “ESTAMOS BIEN”: PERFORMANCE SPIKE FROM PERIOD 3 TO PERIOD 4
DATASET
Number of Song
Sales
Number of Audio
Streams
New Instagram
Followers
Google Trends
Interest Index

PERIOD 3
2,513

PERIOD 4
3,920

6,388,320

10,192,117

134,989

415,811

12

20

GROWTH PERCENTAGE
36%
37%
68%
40%

As it can be seen in the summary table above, all datasets saw increases from Period 3
to Period 4, with period 4 being the period during which the performance took place.

Song Earnings
The Average Song Earnings Index Per Period for this sample is the highest
across all periods, regardless of sample category. This is aided heavily by the
mainstream success of “Estamos Bien,” which charted on multiple Billboard charts,
peaking at #9 on the Hot Latin Songs Chart.32

Suzy Exposito, “Bad Bunny Makes Powerful TV Debut on ‘Fallon,’ Dedicates ‘Estamos Bien’ to Hurricane Maria
Victims,” Rolling Stone, September 27, 2018, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/bad-bunny-fallonestamos-bien-hurricane-maria-729857/.
31

32

Billboard. “Hot Latin Songs Chart,” week of July 14, 2018, https://www.billboard.com/charts/latin-songs/2018-07-14.

16

FIGURE 9. SYMBOLIC SAMPLE: SONG EARNINGS AVERAGE PER PERIOD

Source: Buzzangle Music. Axis value for Index Score has been adjusted to better
represent the data.

In terms of actual figures, “Estamos Bien” is the song that generated the most
amount of money during the studied timeframe, regardless of song category, achieving
the sum of over $204,884 while both “Que Viva La Gente” and “Las Luces” barely made
over $704 and $396, respectively.
Song Influence
When examining the Influence Index, this sample somewhat differs to other
samples; in which the first two periods tend to be the peak with either a gradual or steep
decline seen in the coming periods. However, this sample has a variety of results, that
are worth examining in a song by song detail.
FIGURE 10. SYMBOLIC SAMPLE: SONG INFLUENCE AVERAGE PER PERIOD

Source: Chartmetric, Google Trends & Media Cloud. Axis value for Index Score has been
adjusted to better represent the data.

17

Understandably, Bad Bunny’s averages for the periods are higher than the rest of the
sample, and the first period is the peak. However, in the subsequent periods the trend
fluctuates up and down, with the spike between Period 3 and Period 4 being fueled by
the Jimmy Fallon performance discussed earlier.
FIGURE 11. SONG INFLUENCE INDEX PER PERIOD: “ESTAMOS BIEN”

Source: Chartmetric, Google Trends & Media Cloud. Axis value for Index Score has been
adjusted to better represent the data..

In the case of Pedro Capó, it is even more striking since it is the only artist,
regardless of sample, in which the first periods are the lowest of the whole examined
period. However, one could argue this trend is influenced by Capó’s late summer
release of “Calma,” which would become the singer-songwriter’s most successful song
to date. The song’s release occurred during the second period examined and thus could
be identified as the main cause for the anomaly. 33

It is important to point out that “Calma” was also part of the Preliminary Song Database because, although it has no
direct lyrical reference to the hurricane, it was linked to the event in multiple news articles.
33

18

FIGURE 12. SONG INFLUENCE INDEX PER PERIOD: “LAS LUCES”

Source: Chartmetric, Google Trends & Media Cloud. Axis value for Index Score has been
adjusted to better represent the data.

Kany García’s Influence Index fluctuations tend to be the most similar to the
overall trend: peaking on the first period and then gradually declining. However, she got
a boost towards the end of the examined period. Although there is no clear explanation
to this late increase—since she did not have any major release or event appearance
during that timeframe—the Latin GRAMMY nominations announcement, in which she
got 4 nominations, occurred towards the middle of the analyzed timeframe and the
actual ceremony took place right at the end of the 6th period examined.
FIGURE 13. SONG INFLUENCE INDEX PER PERIOD: “QUE VIVA LA GENTE”

Source: Chartmetric, Google Trends & Media Cloud. Axis value for Index Score has been
adjusted to better represent the data.

19

The Reinterpreted Song Sample

From its inception, The Reinterpreted Song Sample was different from the rest of
the samples because of obvious reasons: the songs studied in this category were
created before the hurricane and thus had to be studied slightly differently than the rest.
In further contrast to the other samples, the Reinterpreted Song Sample only includes
two songs for lack of available data for other preliminary songs considered. With that
said, the author maintained the sample as part of the study because it produced
interesting results worth examining.

General Background
The Reinterpreted song sample included the following songs:
(1) “Preciosa” (Beautiful) by Marc Anthony
(2) “Hijos del Cañaveral” (Children of the Sugarcane) by Residente
The two artists included in this category are among the most popular in their respective
genres. Marc Anthony is a celebrated salsa artist born in New York but who has long
associated himself as Puerto Rican while Residente is a well-known rapper mostly due
to his past work as part of the Latin GRAMMY and GRAMMY-winning Calle 13 duo.
Both artists are currently signed to Sony Music Latin.

Genres and Structure
“Preciosa” is a bolero with infused salsa elements while “Hijos del Cañaveral” is
hard to classify as it merges different genres although it is safe to say that, like other
songs studied in this paper, it borrows heavily from traditional Puerto Rican music. The
structure of “Preciosa” is arguably the most complex among the songs examined,
something that should not come as a surprise since it was composed in the 1930s and
thus differs vastly from more contemporary styles. In terms of song properties, these
songs tend to be more acoustic than other samples, denoting the use of more acoustic
rather than electronic elements.

20

TABLE 8. REINTERPRETED SONG SAMPLE: SONG PROPERTIES
SONG
“HIJOS DEL
CAÑAVERAL”
“PRECIOSA”

LANGUAGE BPM
SPANISH
167

ENERGY DANCEABILITY ACOUSTICNESS VALENCE LENGTH
71%
55%
76%
82%
6:22:00

SPANISH

47%

114

66%

55%

42%

05:12:00

Source: Chartmetric

Lyrics
“Preciosa” is one of the few songs in this study that is not written by at least one
of the song’s performing artists since it was written and composed by Rafael
Hernandez, one of Puerto Rico’s most famous composers. It was originally released in
1937, but in recent times, it has been Marc Anthony’s version that has garnered wide
spread acclaim. The song is already considered an unofficial anthem of Puerto Rico.34
Its relevancy is undeniable and it was only underscored by Hurricane María. Its lyrics
center around national pride:
ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

Yo seré puertorriqueño
Por donde quiera que ande, oh
Por que lo llevo en la sangre
Por herencia de mis padres
Y con orgullo repito
Yo te quiero Puerto Rico
Yo te quiero Puerto Rico

I will be Puerto Rican
Wherever I walk, oh
Because I carry it in my blood
Because of the heritage of my parents
And with pride I repeat
I love you Puerto Rico
I love you Puerto Rico

“Hijos Del Cañaveral” has a more controversial message since it touches the
national pride from a more political and social context. The interesting part is that the
song makes direct allusion to natural disasters twice:
ORIGINAL LYRICS
Esta raza siempre es brava
Aunque sople el temporal

TRANSLATION
This race is always brave
Although the storm blows

&

Ana Rojo. “Coastcity and the Second Puerto Rican National Anthem,” Miami New Times, accessed on May 21,
2019, https://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/coast-citys-preciosa-is-like-puerto-ricos-second-national-anthem10795252.
34

21

ORIGINAL LYRICS
Viene el huracán y le rezamos a la cruz
Y jugamos brisca cuando se va luz

TRANSLATION
The hurricane is coming and we pray to
the cross
And we play cards when the lights go out

Including the topic of hurricanes in a song about Puerto Rico should not come as
a surprise since “Past hurricanes all called forth representations in music, visual art,
cinema, and literature, among others. For instance, the iconic Puerto Rican plena song
Temporal (Storm) was inspired by an oral tradition narrating the anxieties of hurricane
San Felipe.”35
Visuals
None of the two examined songs for this sample have official videos. However,
specific live performances made after the hurricane fueled a new wave of popularity for
each song. In the case of Marc Anthony’s “Preciosa,” it was the October 14th, 2017
performance made during One Voice: Somos Live disaster relief concert, an event
organized by Marc Anthony himself alongside singer and actress Jennifer Lopez in an
effort to raise funds for organizations such as the American Red Cross, Reach Out
Worldwide, United Way, United for Puerto Rico and other charities. This performance
was livestreamed online and televised by several broadcasters such as NBC,
Telemundo, Univisión, MTV, WAPATV, among others. The effect these live
performances had in song sales and streaming performance will be examined in the
next sections of this analysis.
Song Earnings
What is most important to highlight here is the fact that this sample’s Average
Song Earnings Index for the 3 months previous to the hurricane was about 2 to 3.
Immediately after the hurricane, the Index spiked to 10, a number that gradually
decreased in subsequent periods, as to be expected.

Carlos Rivera-Santana. “Aesthetics of Disaster As Decolonial Aesthetics: Making Sense Of The Effects Of
Hurricane María Through Puerto Rican Contemporary Art,” Cultural Studies, DOI: 10.1080/09502386.2019.1607519,
2017.
35

22

FIGURE 14. REINTERPRETED SAMPLE: SONG EARNINGS AVERAGE PER PERIOD

Source: Buzzangle Music. Axis value for Index Score has been adjusted to better
represent the data.

In terms of actual money generated, “Preciosa” amassed $8,059, making it this
study’s 3rd highest grossing song during the examined period, while “Hijos del
Cañaveral” made around $3,347. The new-found interest in “Preciosa” boosted its entry
into Billboard’s Latin Digital Song Sales Chart peaking at #25.36

Song Influence
In regards to the Average Song Influence Index per Period, the Reinterpreted
Song Sample showed consistently higher scores than the rest of the assessed samples,
with the first two periods performing the best with scores of 23 and 19 respectively.
When going into more detail into the datasets examined, high spikes in New Instagram
Followers and high amounts of news coverage for both artists fueled these Song
Influence Index relatively-high scores.

Billboard. “Latin Digital Song Sales Chart,” week of November 4, 2017, https://www.billboard.com/charts/latindigital-song-sales/2017-11-04.
36

23

FIGURE 15. REINTERPRETED SAMPLE: SONG INFLUENCE AVERAGE PER PERIOD

Source: Chartmetric, Google Trends & Media Cloud. Axis value for Index Score has been
adjusted to better represent the data.

Section 3: Findings & Conclusion

Findings

The main findings of this paper can be classified under two categories: Business and
Creative findings.
Business Findings

Low Index Scores All Around
One of the most telling outcomes of this Research Paper is the fact that the
average index scores remained very low across all samples. In terms of Earnings, the
highest average index was 25, while for Influence it was 23, both very far from the
maximum of 100.37 These figures were telling, since they demonstrate that on average
these songs did not generate much money nor did they influence greatly the artist’s
social media following, general public interest and media coverage.
37

When looking at individual song performance, the highest score was 72 for earnings and 35 for influence. However,
both these figures can be considered outliers in comparison to the rest of songs.

24

Songs were more influential than lucrative
The direct comparison between Average Song Earnings Per Period and the
Average Song Influence Per Period within each sample, showed a clear trend: Influence
scores were consistently higher than Earnings scores across all periods. This scenario
was seen in three of the four song samples examined.
SONG EARNINGS & INFLUENCE INDEX COMPARISON 38
FIGURE 16. CHARITY SONG SAMPLE

FIGURE 17. REALITY SONG SAMPLE

38

One can see that even if the index scores itself varied a lot per sample, the trendlines are relatively similar.

25

FIGURE 18. REINTERPRETED SONG SAMPLE

Source: Buzzangle Music, Chartmetric, Google Trends & Media Cloud. Axis values for
Index Score have been adjusted to better represent the data.

Only the Symbolic Song Sample showed a different scenario; one where the
Earnings Index remained higher than the Influence Index during most periods. This
anomaly might be mostly due to the commercial success of Bad Bunny’s “Estamos
Bien.”
FIGURE 19. SONG EARNINGS & INFLUENCE INDEX COMPARISON: SYMBOLIC SONG SAMPLE

Source: Buzzangle Music, Chartmetric, Google Trends & Media Cloud. Axis values for
Index Score have been adjusted to better represent the data.

Moreover, using the Pearson Value scale, the samples showed “moderate” to
“very strong” correlation. Both the Charity and Reinterpreted Song Samples, showed
“very strong” correlation, which means that when the Earnings score went down, so did

26

the Influence score (and vice versa). The Reality Song Sample had a “strong”
correlation while the Symbolic sample showed a “moderate” correlation, which can be
perceived in the graph above by just seeing the various fluctuations across periods.
TABLE 9. SONG SAMPLES: PEARSON VALUE & CORRELATION
SONG SAMPLE
CATEGORY
Charity

PEARSON
VALUE SCORE
0.96

CORRELATION
STRENGTH
Very Strong

Reality

0.72
Strong

Symbolic

0.49
Moderate

Reinterpreted
Very Strong
0.97

Making money from music streaming is very difficult
The aforementioned low performance in money generation confirmed how hard
is to make money from music streaming, specifically. The total amount of audio streams
for the 11 songs examined surpassed 58 million streams, however those only
generated $194,765. Moreover, a closer look at the breakdown of this last figure,
showed that a whopping 90% came from streams of “Estamos Bien” only.

FIGURE 20. MONEY GENERATED BY AUDIO STREAMS:
“ESTAMOS BIEN” VS REST OF SONGS

Source: BuzzAngle Music, The Tirchordist. Axis value for Index Score has been adjusted to better
represent the data.

27

This disparity goes in line with past studies regarding recorded music revenues
that have concluded that “the music industry is a ‘superstar economy,’ that is to say, a
very small share of the total artists and works account for a disproportionately large
share of all revenues.”39 Therefore, this study further exemplifies how artists, specially
the so-called “middle class of artists,” need to diversify their income streams in order to
actually live off their music.40

Hurricane-inspired songs generate limited media curiosity
Another telling outcome of this paper is the generally low index scores for news
coverage. This might be especially affected by the limited scope of this paper which
only looked at media coverage in two territories, in a relatively short span of time. To
further exemplify this conclusion, according to mediacloud.org figures, a total of 20,341
stories that dealt with the topic of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico were published.41
However, when examining the list of “Top Themes”, only 295 stories contained the
general theme listed as “music,” which means less than 2%. An interview with Amanda
Holpuch, a reporter from The Guardian based in New York that covered the event
extensively, gave some light into this disparity. When questioned why she chose to
cover the hurricane from the arts angle in her story titled “Ricanstruction: how Puerto
Rico's artists responded to the storm,” she explained that the publication was looking for
a “mix” of stories that would represent the recovery efforts on the Island.42 Therefore, it
is safe to say that music was part of the story of the hurricane’s aftermath, yet it was by
no means the headline. However, it is also important to point out that although not
extensive, the coverage was overwhelmingly positive and thus still beneficial for
artists.43

Paul Reskinoff. “The Top 1% of Artists Earn 77% of Recorded Music Income, Study Finds…” Digital Music News,
March 5, 2014. https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2014/03/05/toponepercent/.
39

A similar disparity was found in the total money generated by Song Sales, in which “Almost Like Praying”
generated 80% of the total amount.
40

Stories had to include the terms: “Hurricane María” and “Puerto Rico” and were published from September 2017 to
September 2018.
41

42

Amanda Holpuch, e-mail message to author, May 15, 2019.

43

A “sentiment analysis” was conducted on a sample of published articles.

28

Self-Releases vs Independent and Major Record Label Releases
It was interesting to see that 70% of songs included in the preliminary database
were self-released by artists. However, the final sample of songs skewed towards
relevant independent and major record label releases, but this is to be expected since in
order to be included in the final samples, the songs had to be more widely available,
something that many of the self-released songs struggled to comply with.

FIGURE 21. PERCENTAGE OF SELF-RELEASED SONGS VS LABEL-RELEASED SONGS

Source: Chartmetric & Spotify

Within the examined sample, there were 6 major record label releases. Sony
Music Latin led the pack with four, Atlantic Records and Warner Music Latina (both
subsidiaries of Warner Music) logged one each, making Universal Music the only major
record label with no releases included in this study.44

This paper has already explained the common factors among the songs in each
sample. But there is another element that is worth mentioning and that seems to be very
closely related with the way it was released. When looking at the individual release
dates for the song samples—naturally, excluding the Reinterpreted Song Sample—
there was a clear trend: the mostly major-backed, fundraising-centered singles were
release the closest to the tragedy, then around Christmastime came the songs by the

44

No song was released by Universal Music yet several Universal Music artists such as Luis Fonsi and Juan Luis
Guerra are featured in songs included in this study.

29

self-releasing artists and after that came the releases by artists signed to majors and
bigger independents that were classified under the Symbolic Song Sample.
FIGURE 22. SONG RELEASE DATE TIMELINE

Source: Chartmetric

The examination of this timeline is interesting since, in the case of the charity
songs for example, it is understandable that in order to put together songs featuring a
long list of artists with the ultimate goal of raising funds, the backing of a major label is
highly beneficial in terms of man power and promotional efforts. In turn, the selfreleasing acts of the Reality Song Sample, with limited resources in comparison to
others, took advantage of the Christmas season, arguably the most popular time of the
year for live performances by these types of artists in Puerto Rico.

Gender disparity in the music industry continues
As it was presented earlier, the fact that less than 27% of the songs included in
the Preliminary Song Database featured women exemplifies the gender disparity that
has been described as a “major lack of representation by women in the music
industry.”45 However, on a more a positive note, of the 8 songs that featured women, 6
included women songwriters.

Nicole Pajer. “New Report Shows Major Lack of Representation by Women in the Music Industry,” Billboard,
January 25, 2018, https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8096196/new-report-shows-major-lack-representationwomen-music-industry.
45

30

Creative Findings
Diverse forms, yet similar messages
As it has been explained and showed in this paper, a vast and genre-diverse mix
of songs have been inspired by the hurricane. However, one could argue that they all
tackled the same overarching topics and themes, albeit using vastly different musical
and lyrical techniques. Ultimately, resilience and national pride were at the core of these
songs.
Songs as Personal Expression
As it was showed earlier, an overwhelming majority of the songs included in the
preliminary database, were interpreted by at least one of its songwriters, making these
songs highly personal for the artists, with many of them singing about first account
experiences during or after the hurricane. Therefore, one could argue these songs
served as a coping mechanism for artists, who just as any other person, experienced a
traumatic event. In turn, those that did not go through the event first hand, still found
ways to tackle the subject, with many of them focusing on either motivating the Puerto
Rican people or simply celebrating their valor during a hard time.

In some cases, these manifestations of self-expression became greatly influential
in the performers’ artistic trajectory. Take for example “Estamos Bien” which, according
to Bad Bunny’s manager, marked the beginning of the trapper’s newfound identity: “It
signified a new phase for him, during which he did not want to do music for the sake of
it, he wanted to bring happiness to people. Doing that became his new goal in the
industry.”46
Conclusion

46

Noah Assad, e-mail message to author, April 15, 2019.

31

Closing Remarks
As this paper has demonstrated, under the context of Hurricane María in Puerto
Rico, disaster-inspired songs generally do not generate large amounts of money nor
significant attention for its artists. Rather, they serve as artistic expressions that, in the
long run, help each artist develop their career journey. More importantly, this Research
Paper shed a light on industry-wide issues that continue to greatly affect artists across
the world. Talking specifically about the studied event, one could arguably say that
although Puerto Rico is frequently hit by natural disasters of this sort, the overwhelming
reaction by its artistic community, specifically musicians, had never achieved this height.
This study found about 30 songs but it is safe to say this number will continue to rise
with the passing of time. In an interview with the Washington Post, Pepe Flores, a
Puerto Rican musicologist based in New York, argued: "Twenty, 30 years from now,
another generation is going to hear this music, and they're going to know that something
very bad happened in Puerto Rico,”47 once again proving the relevance of music and its
creators in a moment of darkness.

Limitations and Further Study
Although this paper produced interesting results, its methodology was limited.
First, the studied timeframe was that of 6-month and 9-month periods. Understandably,
this limitation was highly affected by the event’s fairly recent date (less than two years
ago). Further studies could expand this timeframe and thus achieve more accurate and
encompassing results. Moreover, the study could have been expanded to cover other
relevant data. However, many of these limitations were due to lack of data, a recurring
issue that was confronted during the whole process. For example, examining video
streaming numbers, arguably the form of highest digital music consumption in Puerto
Rico48, would have been greatly beneficial to this study. Moreover, this paper only
looked at digital data (Digital Service Providers, Online News Coverage, Social Media

47

Daniella Cheslow. “Songs about generators and Spam?”

48

Youtube has about 1.1 million users in Puerto Rico. Juan Carlos Pedreira, Technology Consultant, Skype interview
with author, April 2, 2019.

32

Following, etc) and taking into consideration that the studied timeframes coincided with
a period of lack of electricity and interrupted communications in the Island, it is safe to
say that the results of this study are greatly affected by this reality. Therefore, further
studies could rely less on digital data and focus on surveying the Puerto Rican people’s
opinion on these songs through qualitative research methods such as interviews.
Another aspect that was not touch in this paper was the live sector, which is another
very interesting angle of study. Overall, this study served as an entry way to a topic that
can be further examined and that without a doubt can yield very interesting and relevant
results.

Section 4: Miscellaneous
Appendix A: Song Sample Index: General and Detailed results
CHARITY SONG SAMPLE
INDEX GENERAL RESULTS

COMPLETE INDEX TABLES

33

Examined Timeframe per song:
“Almost Like Praying”: 9/29/2017 - 3/29/2018
“Isla Bendita”: 10/12/2017 - 4/12/2018
“Pa’lante Puerto Rico”: 10/20/2017 - 4/20/2018
ALMOST LIKE PRAYING: EARNINGS DATA

34

REVENUE
STREAM
SONG
SALES
AUDIO
STREAMS

NUMBER
OF SALES
NUMBER
OF AUDIO
STREAMS

PERIOD 1

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3

PERIOD 4

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

127,350

2,085

943

875

1,626

1,038

2,574,151

259,345

295,205

291,750

214,776

278,231

PERIOD 1

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3

PERIOD 4

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

345

433

151

68

66

63

11,749

46,506

44,649

52,226

57,977

57,168

“ISLA BENDITA”: EARNINGS DATA
REVENUE
STREAM
SONG
SALES
AUDIO
STREAMS

NUMBER
OF SALES
NUMBER
OF AUDIO
STREAMS

“PA’LANTE PUERTO RICO”: EARNINGS DATA
REVENUE
STREAM
SONG
SALES
AUDIO
STREAMS

NUMBER
OF SALES
NUMBER
OF AUDIO
STREAMS

PERIOD 1

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3

PERIOD 4

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

18

8

9

3

2

1

412

292

446

539

480

537

REALITY SONG SAMPLE
INDEX GENERAL RESULTS

35

COMPLETE INDEX TABLES

36

Examined Timeframe per song:
“La Planta Nueva”: 11/19/2017 - 5/24/2018
“Mi Navidad No Se Apaga”: 11/19/2017 - 5/24/2018
“Tendré que vender mis gallos”: 01/2/2018- 7/2/2018
“LA PLANTA NUEVA”: EARNINGS DATA
REVENUE
STREAM
SONG
SALES
AUDIO
STREAMS

NUMBER
OF SALES
NUMBER
OF AUDIO
STREAMS

PERIOD 1

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3

PERIOD 4

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

194

154

10

5

17

4

9,650

17,780

6,165

2,378

5,987

3,259

“MI NAVIDAD NO SE APAGA”: EARNINGS DATA
REVENUE
STREAM
SONG
SALES
AUDIO
STREAMS

NUMBER
OF SALES
NUMBER
OF AUDIO
STREAMS

PERIOD 1

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3

PERIOD 4

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

829

220

2

10

8

3

45,496

33,797

5,958

3,955

4,026

3,116

“TENDRÉ QUE VENDER MIS GALLOS”: EARNINGS DATA
REVENUE
STREAM
SONG
SALES
AUDIO
STREAMS

NUMBER
OF SALES
NUMBER
OF AUDIO
STREAMS

PERIOD 1

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3

PERIOD 4

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

n/a

1

3

n/a

n/a

3

n/a

294

366

192

325

610

SYMBOLIC SONG SAMPLE
INDEX GENERAL RESULTS

37

COMPLETE INDEX TABLES

38

Examined Timeframe per song:
“Estamos Bien”: 6/28/2018 - 12/28/2018

39

“Las Luces”: 05/31/2018 - 11/30/2018
“Que Viva La Gente”: 5/11/2018- 11/11/2018
“ESTAMOS BIEN”: EARNINGS DATA
REVENUE
STREAM
SONG
SALES
AUDIO
STREAMS

NUMBER
OF SALES
NUMBER
OF AUDIO
STREAMS

PERIOD 1

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3

PERIOD 4

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

9,422

4,155

2,513

3,920

1,367

1,759

12,107,855

9,862,353

6,388,320

10,192,117

5,146,450

9,344,179

PERIOD 1

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3

PERIOD 4

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

42

5

9

1

3

3

79,623

29,859

22,492

19,787

20,942

15,468

PERIOD 2

PERIOD 3

PERIOD 4

PERIOD 5

PERIOD 6

24

3

1

2

0

13,445

13,356

12,481

15,049

11,791

“QUE VIVA LA GENTE”: EARNINGS DATA
REVENUE
STREAM
SONG
SALES
AUDIO
STREAMS

NUMBER
OF SALES
NUMBER
OF AUDIO
STREAMS

“LAS LUCES”: EARNINGS DATA
REVENUE
PERIOD 1
STREAM
SONG
NUMBER
51
SALES
OF SALES
NUMBER
AUDIO
OF AUDIO
21,845
STREAMS
STREAMS

REINTERPRETED SONG SAMPLE
INDEX GENERAL RESULTS

40

COMPLETE INDEX TABLES

41

Examined Timeframe for all sample songs: 6/20/2017 - 3/20/2018
“HIJOS DEL CAÑAVERAL”: EARNINGS DATA
REVENUE
STREAM

PRE
PERIO
D1

PRE
PERIOD
2

PRE
PERIOD
3

PERIOD
1

PERIOD
2

PERIOD
3

PERIOD
4

PERIOD
5

PERIOD
6

SONG
SALES

NUMBER
OF
SALES

73

91

77

146

864

291

213

76

77

AUDIO
STREAMS

NUMBER
OF
AUDIO
STREAM
S

46,187

43,877

42,952

43,798

74,245

75,849

76,470

34,140

56,898

PRE
PERIO
D1

PRE
PERIOD
2

PRE
PERIOD
3

PERIOD
1

PERIOD
2

PERIOD
3

PERIOD
4

PERIOD
5

PERIOD
6

161

100

215

2,061

793

265

177

143

671

108,80
1

67,182

82,083

180,622

165,618

114,573

85,914

110,023

176,111

“PRECIOSA”: EARNINGS DATA

REVENUE
STREAM

SONG
SALES

NUMBER
OF
SALES

AUDIO
STREAMS

NUMBER
OF
AUDIO
STREAM
S

42

1

9/29/2017

9/20/2018

RELEASE DATE

ALMOST LIKE PRAYING

A FORGOTTEN SPOT (OLVIDADO)

SONG

ENGLISH,
SPANISH

ENGLISH,
SPANISH

LANGUAGE

LATIN POP

LATIN POP

GENRE

94

98

BPM

88%

78%

ENERGY

50%

63%

DANCEABILITY

24%

13%

ACOUSTICNESS

81%

29%

VALENCE

3:20:00

5:46:00

LENGTH

9,651,462

199,514

YOUTUBE VIEWS
(MAR11)

CHARITY

SYMBOLIC

SONG CATEGORY

LIN MANUEL FT.
ZION Y LENOX, DE
LA GHETTO, IVY
QUEEN, PJ SIN
SUELA, LUCECITA
BENITEZ

ARTIST NAME

n/a

ARTIST STAGE

VARIOUS

GENDER

PRELIMINARY SONG DATABASE

2

LIN MANUEL
MIRANDA FT.
VARIOUS ARTISTS

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

2:20:00

56,368

SYMBOLIC

SYMBOLIC

REALITY

PEDRO CAPO

CIENAGA

PJ SIN SUELA

MAINSTREAM

n/a

ESTABLISHED

n/a

M

M

M

VARIOUS

n/a

170

LATIN RAP

725,774,816

SPANISH

5:41:00

AVE MARIA

3:58:00

10/10/2018

17%

3

76%

88

97%

127

32%

INDIE

19%

LATIN POP

83%

SPANISH

INSTRUMENTAL

47%

CALMA

BAJA SEÑAL
77%

9/18/2018

M

7/20/2018

EPIC

4

BAD BUNNY

5

SYMBOLIC

56%

327,454,089

120

3:28:00

LATIN TRAP

47%

SPANISH

83%

ESTAMOS BIEN

79%

6/28/2018

M

6

EPIC

55%

RESIDENTE

71%

REINTERPRETED

167

6,375,584

MÚSICA
JÍBARA

6:22:00

SPANISH

82%

HIJOS DEL CAÑAVERAL

76%

3/31/2017

F

VARIOUS

7

n/a

EPIC
n/a

ARLEEN RAMIREZ

n/a

45%

VARIOUS ARTISTS
n/a

71%

CHARITY

n/a

73%

SYMBOLIC

n/a

100

649

LATIN POP

1,681,569

SPANISH

6:03:00

ISLA BENDITA

31%

10/12/2017

M

8

n/a

M

LATIN
BALLAD

PROMISING

M
M

SPANISH

Julio César
Sanabria, Oscar
Serrano, Manny
Manuel

MAINSTREAM
MAINSTREAM

F

M

ISLA DEL CORDERO

ALGAREPLENA

n/a

11/9/2017

REALITY

JOSEPH FONSECA
PEDRO CAPO

PROMISING

9

REALITY
SYMBOLIC

TITO GARCIA

81%

22,894

REALITY

78%

3:44:00

618,377
104,874

CHARITY

74%

79%

3:13:00
3:47:00

375

22,047

48%

33%

5:02:00

MÚSICA
JÍBARA

62%

90%
87%

3:57:00

SPANISH

75%

n/a

LA EXPERIENCIA DE MARIA

143

-2%
15%

32%

10/25/2017

SALSA

n/a

10

SPANISH

76%
68%

90%

LA FILA DE LA GASOLINA

96%
79%

n/a

12/3/2017

135
154

55%

11
SPANISH
SPANISH

n/a

LA PLANTA NUEVA
LAS LUCES

20%

103

11/19/2017
5/31/2018

n/a
POP

12
13
MERENGUE
POP
MÚSICA
JÍBARA

M
M

SPANISH

ESTABLISHED
ESTABLISHED

ENGLISH

n/a
n/a

MARIA

n/a
n/a

LEVANTATE BORINCANO

n/a
n/a

1/5/2018

n/a
n/a

9/28/2017

LATIN RAP
SALSA

M

14

SPANISH
SPANISH

MAINSTREAM

15
MARIA FREESTYLE
MARIA LA HURACANADA

114

REALITY

REALITY
REALITY

1,703

667,522
2,347

4:04:00

5:13:00
4:35:00

83%

n/a
n/a

20%

REALITY

74%

541,084

90%

3:10:00

12/23/2017
11/21/2017

SALSA

F

16
17

SPANISH

ESTABLISHED

150

83%

REALITY

52%

135,501

52%

4:43:00

90%

MI NAVIDAD NO SE APAGA

FRANCESCA
BLANCHARD
GUAYNAA
JOSE NOGUERAS
VICTOR
MANUELLE FT.
TRIBU DE
ABRANTE, PJ
SINSUELA
MARILEYDA

11/24/2017

SYMBOLIC

18

3:49:00

103

ESTABLISHED

F

M

M

46%

SALSA

MAINSTREAM

VARIOUS

55%

SPANISH

REALITY

SYMBOLIC

EPIC

49%

PUERTO RICO SE LEVANTA

4,873

387,454

PROMISING

76%

MI PAIS

CHARITY

114

12/8/2017

REINTERPRETED

SPANISH

19

2,642

F

47,822

M

3:52:00

n/a

5:12:00

ESTABLISHED
93%

OMAR SANTIAGO

42%

REALITY

42%

REINTERPRETED

55%

10,934

70%

264,161

66%

4:27:00

79%

5:53:00

138

47%

n/a

186

9%

INDIE

114

n/a

SPANISH

SALSA

72%

ENGLISH,
SPANISH

BOLERO

n/a

NOS VAMOS A LEVANTAR

SPANISH

55%

11/13/2017
PA'LANTE

SPANISH

n/a

20
3/10/2017

PRECIOSA

PA'LANTE PUERTO RICO

32%

21

5/23/2006

10/20/2017

n/a

22

5/17/2018

4:09:00

HURRAY FOR THE
RIFF RAFF
AYMEE NUVIOLA,
REY RUIZ
MARC ANTHONY
DOMINGO
QUIÑONES

LATIN POP
MÚSICA
JÍBARA

23
24

4:09:00

M

n/a

40%

n/a

n/a

91%

VARIOUS

n/a

MAINSTREAM

M

46%

BERKLEE PUERTO
RICO PROJECT FT.
PEDRO CAPO

MAINSTREAM

M
M

n/a

REINTERPRETED

ANDRES JIMENEZ

MAINSTREAM
n/a

39%

20,761

REALITY

GRUPO MANIA
MADERA FINA

57

4:09:00

72,843

REALITY
REALITY

n/a

n/a

4:34:00

3,940
96

SALSA

n/a

96%

3:47:00
5:49:00

LATIN POP

n/a

64%

n/a
78%

SPANISH

n/a

74%

n/a
84%

SPANISH

n/a

44%

n/a
75%

QUE VIVA LA GENTE

BOLERO

110

n/a
56%

REGALO A MI PUEBLO

SPANISH

MÚSICA
JÍBARA

n/a
90

5/11/2018

SOÑANDO CON PUERTO RICO

SPANISH

MERENGUE
SALSA

12/18/2017
BEFORE
STORM

TENDRÉ QUE VENDER MIS
GALLOS

SPANISH
SPANISH

25

27

1/2/2018

UNA NAVIDAD CON VELA
YO ME VOY

26

28

11/24/2017
12/2/2017

KANY GARCIA
ROBERTO
CASTRO

29
30

43

Appendix C: Song Lyrics Per Song Samples
CHARITY SONG SAMPLE
ALMOST LIKE PRAYING
Say it loud and there's music playing.
Say it soft and it's almost like praying.
It's almost like praying.
It's almost like praying.
It's almost like praying.
It's almost like...
Cabo Rojo, Corozal,
Naguabo, Guaynabo,
San Lorenzo y San Germán,
San Sebastián, mi viejo San Juan
Isabela, Maricao,
Fajardo, Dorado,
Hormigueros, Humacao,
Luquillo, Hatillo,
Vega Alta, Vega Baja,
Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Mayagüez,
Yes, otra vez, yes,
Aguadilla, Quebradillas,
Guayanilla, Juana Díaz,
Y Cayey, hey,
It's almost like praying (Puerto Rico).
It's almost like praying (Puerto Rico).
It's almost like...
Arecibo, Guánica,
Culebra, Las Piedras,
Orocovis, Guayama,
Gurabo, Maunabo,
Aguas Buenas, Salinas,
Río Grande, Sábana Grande,
Yabucoa, Florida,
Peñuelas, Santa Isabel,
Naranjito, Barranquitas,

Carolina, Aibonito, Bayamón, hey,
Rincón, hey,
Barceloneta, Las Marías,
Comerío, Moca, Ponce, Manatí, así,
It's almost like praying (Puerto Rico).
It's almost like praying (Puerto Rico).
It's almost like (Yo)...
Utuado, Aguada, Adjuntas y Caguas,
Canóvanas, Cataño, Juncos y Lajas,
Jayuya, Villalba, Arroyo, te amo,
La cueva de Camuy, los baños de Coamo,
Trujillo Alto, Ceiba, Ciales,
La isla de Vieques, El grito de Lares,
Yauco, Cidra, Añasco, Patillas,
Morovis, Loíza, lo hiciste.
Puerto Rico, oh oh (Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico).
Puerto Rico, oh oh (Lai lo le lo le, le lo le lo lai).
Puerto Rico, oh oh (Puerto Rico, Borinquen).
Cien por treinta y cinco la isla completa.
Puerto Rico, oh oh (Sí somos Boricua, ha, ahora
que se sepa).
Puerto Rico, oh oh (Puerto Rico, así es).
Puerto Rico, oh oh (Puerto Rico Ho! Ho! Ho!).
ay Puerto Rico, oh oh (ay Puerto Rico, Puerto
Rico, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico).
Puerto Rico, oh oh (Tierra linda mía, yo te
quiero).
Puerto Rico, oh oh (ay Puerto Rico).
Puerto Rico, oh oh (Mi Puerto Rico, ah).
Puerto Rico, oh oh (Puerto Rico).
Puerto Rico, oh oh (Mi Puerto Rico, yeah).
Say it soft and it's almost like praying

ISLA BENDITA
ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

No es demasiada la casualidad
Que grandes cosas pasen cuando vivimos en
hermandad.
Se sorprendió hasta la naturaleza
Al ver que tu belleza
No es algo que se pueda arruinar.

It's not too much of a coincidence:
Great things happen when we live in brotherhood.
Even nature was surprised
By your beauty
It is not something that can be ruined.

Una prueba más nos brindó el destino
Para poder dar la mano al vecino.

Destiny tested us one more time
So we can give our hand to our neighbor

44

Y unidos en oraciones
Agradecer que estamos vivos.
Isla Bendita,
Los ángeles te consuelan
Tu pueblo precioso grita este coro.
Isla Bendita
Tu corazón tiene espuelas
Tu gente nunca se quita.
Isla Bendita
Los ángeles te consuelan
Tu pueblo precioso grita este coro.
Isla Bendita
Tu corazón tiene espuelas
Tu gente nunca se quita.
Y aunque se enfrente a la tempestad
Tú no te detendrás
Gente valiente ya se levantará
Mi pueblo es uno.
Voy al 20 de Septiembre con el paso de María
Decían que la isla nunca se levantaría.
Que iba a desaparecer, que buscarán pa’
donde correr
Pero nos levantamos más fuertes, con más
poder.
La bendición del padre con la unción del hijo,
No te dejes llevar por lo que el noticiero dijo
"Va a partirnos por el medio, no va a haber
supervivencia"
Y aquí estamos de nuevo, desafiando la
ciencia.
Otro capítulo de este país marcando cicatriz
Mi orgullo si hablan de PR, yo soy de allí.
Puede cambiar el clima pero nada nos lastima
Frente en alto, boricua vamos pa’ encima.
Cien veces nos caemos y mil nos levantamos.
Si esto se pone malo nos ayudamos.
La bandera llevamos como quien lleva los
honores
Y en momentos como este, no existen los
colores.
Un pueblo unificado protegidos por la nena
pero
Poco a poco mi isla se recupera (Jowell!).
Con las palmeras más bonitas del caribe

One more test gave us the fate
And united in prayers,
Celebrate that we are alive
Holy Island,
The angels comfort you
Your beautiful people shout this chorus
Holy Island
Your heart has spurs
Your people never give up

Holy Island
The angels comfort you
Your beautiful people shout this chorus
Holy Island
Your heart has spurs
Your people never give up

And even if you face the storm
You will not be stopped
Brave people will stand up
My town is one.

Back to September 20 with the arrival of María
They said that the island would never rise again
That it was going to disappear, that everybody would
run away
But we got up stronger, more powerful

The blessing of the father with the anointing of the
son,
Do not get carried away by what the news program
said:
"It's going to destroy us, there's not going to be
survival"
And here we are again, challenging science.

Another chapter of this country that has left a scar
My pride, if they talk about PR, I am from there.
The climate can change but nothing hurts us
Look high, boricua, let's go!
One hundred times we fall and one hundred times
we get up.
If this gets bad we help each other.
The flag we carry as one who carries the honors

45

Que en Playita de Flamenco mi elenco es que
revive.
La mano nos damos bailando nuestro
reggaeton
Así todo lo malo lo echamos al fogón.
Y hacemos un fiestón pa’ pasar el temporal
(Que si no hay luz)
La luna estará ahí para alumbrarnos.
Ay, que fuera de mí sin ti
Que fueran de mis noches si no canta el
Coquí.

And at times like this, there are no colors.

A unified town protected by the baby but
Little by little my island recovers (Jowell!).
With the most beautiful palm trees in the Caribbean
That in Playita de Flamenco my team is revived.

Los ángeles te consuelan
Tu pueblo precioso grita este coro.

We extend our hand while we dance our our
reggaeton
So we put everything bad on the stove.
And we make a party to pass the storm (Because if
there is no electricity)
The moon will be there to give us light.

Hay que seguir caminando, Borinquen me
espera
Tu corazón tiene espuelas
Tu gente nunca se quita.

Oh, what would I do without you
What would my nights be without the the Coquí
singing

Isla Bendita
Los ángeles te consuelan
Tu pueblo precioso grita este coro.

The angels comfort you
Your beautiful people shout this chorus

Isla Bendita
Tu corazón tiene espuelas
Tu gente nunca se quita

We need to keep walking, Borinquen is waiting for us
Your heart has spurs
Your people never give up

¡Arriba!
Loreloralorelailolelo
Con el corazón en la mano
Y la frente en alto, vamos pa’ alante.

Holy Island
The angels comfort you
Your beautiful people shout this chorus

Vamos pa’ alante.
Nunca echao’ pa’ atrás (Tú sabes)
A paso de gigante, bori vamo allá (Suéltalo).

Holy Island
Your heart has spurs
Your people never give up

Vamos pa’ alante.
Nunca echao’ pa’ atrás
Nos ponemos los guantes, como Trinidad
Canto hoy al necesitado
Los héroes se dejaron ver
Cuidándonos día a día entre hermanos
Ese será nuestro placer
Vamos pa’ lante (¡Eso es!)
Nunca echao’ pa’ atrás
A paso de gigante, bori vamo allá.
(Dime Piru)
Vamos a ponerle sentimiento
Vamos a ponerle corazón

Get up!
Loreloralorelailolo
With my heart in my hand
And your forehead up, let's go forward

Let's go forward
Never lay back (You know)
Taking giant steps, bori let’s go (Let it go)

Let's go forward
Never lay back (You know)
We put on our gloves, like Trinidad

46

Vamos toditos de la mano.
Esa será nuestra misión
Vamos pa’ lante (Puerto Rico!)
Nunca echao’ pa’ atrás (Tú sabes)
Nos ponemos los guantes, como Trinidad (Más
na')
(Dime Juan Luis)
Dando al necesitado amor que inspira la fe
Cuidándonos como hermanos es nuestro
deber
Es nuestro deber.
Vamos pa’ lante (¡Oye!)
Nunca echao’ pa’ atrás
A paso de gigante, bori vamo allá
(Victor Manuel!)
Porque esta no es la primera vez mi hermano
boricua
Oye, que nos tenemos que unir
Y si mi pueblo me necesita
Me pinto de rubio por mi país.
Vamos pa’ lante
Nunca echao’ pa’ atrás
Nos ponemos los guantes, como Trinidad.
(Mi hermanito Santa Rosa)
Cuando la cosa se pone difícil
Hay que levantarse y meter el pecho
Hombro con hombro, mano con mano
Y demostramos de qué estamos hecho.
Yo me uno, dime si tú
Dime si tú, dime si tú (Olé)
Yo me uno, dime si tú
Dime si tú, dime si tú
Yo me uno, dime si tú (Nunca te rindas)
Dime si tú, dime si tú
Yo me uno, dime si tú
Dime si tú, dime si tú (A abrir nuevos caminos)
Yo me uno, dime si tú
Dime si tú, dime si tú

Today, I sing to the needy
The heroes that we saw
Taking care of each other as brothers day by day
That will be our pleasure
Let's go forward(That's it!)
Never lay back (You know)
Taking giant steps, bori let’s go (Let it go)
(Tell me Piru)
Let's put feeling
Let's put heart
Let's go hand in hand
That will be our mission

Let's go forward (Puerto Rico!)
Never lay back (You know)
We put on gloves, like Trinidad (Nothing else)

(Tell me Juan Luis)
Giving to the needy, love that inspires faith
Caring for each other asbrothers is our duty
It is our duty

Let's go forward(Listen!)
Never lay back (You know)
Taking giant steps, bori let’s go

(Victor Manuel!)
Because this is not the first time my Puerto Rican
brother
Hey, we have to come together
And if my people need me
I dye my hair blond for my country.

Let's go forward
Never lay back
We put on gloves, like Trinidad

(My little brother Santa Rosa)
When things get difficult
You have to get up and put the chest out
Shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand
So we can show what we are made of.

47

I join, tell me if you
Tell me if you, tell me if you (Olé)
I join, tell me if you
Tell me if you, tell me if you
I join, tell me if you (Never give up)
Tell me if you, tell me if you
I join, tell me if you
Tell me if you, tell me if you (To open new roads)

I join, tell me if you
Tell me if you, tell me if you

PA’LANTE PUERTO RICO

ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

Vaya Puerto Rico, esto es pa’ ti
Puerto Rico vamos pa’lante

Puerto Rico, this is for you
Puerto Rico let’s go forward

[Aymee Nuviola]
Oye Rey

[Aymee Nuviola]
Hey Rey

[Rey Ruiz]
Dímelo Aymee

[Rey Ruiz]
Tell me Aymee

Puerto Rico Vamos pa’lante

Puerto Rico, let’s go forward

[Aymee Nuviola]
Puerto Rico, isla del encanto te regalo mi canto
y también mi inspiración
Que hermosa es tu bandera, como hermosa es
tu gente y has quedado en mi mente y en mi
corazón

[Aymee Nuviola]
Puerto Rico, island of enchantment,
I give you my song and also my inspiration
How beautiful is your flag, how beautiful is your
people and you have remained in my mind and in
my heart

Puerto Rico, isla del caribe, tu ritmo consigues
atrapar al bailador
Y no hay nadie que baile más, nadie que goce
más que un puertorriqueño cuando suenan el
tambor
[Rey Ruiz]
Y decidí esa isla recorrer y caminar por sus
calles pa’ poderla conocer
Y me enamoré de su gente y de su belleza y
haberme ido de verdad me pesa porque ya
quiero volver
[Aymee Nuviola]
Puerto Rico, isla de un sol brillante
[Rey Ruiz]

Puerto Rico, island of the Caribbean, your rhythm
catches the dancer’s attention
And there is no one who dances more, no one who
has more fun than a Puerto Rican when the drum
sounds
[Rey Ruiz]
And I decided to discover that island and walk
through its streets to be able to know more about it
And I fell in love with its people and its beauty and
having left really hurts because I already want to go
back
[Aymee Nuviola]
Puerto Rico, island of a bright sun

48

Mujeres elegantes, alegría y buen sabor
[Aymee Nuviola]
Gente que con amor sacan su pueblo adelante
Sin dudarlo ni un instante porque les sobre el
valor
[Rey Ruiz]
Gente que con amor sacan su pueblo adelante
[Aymee Nuviola and Rey Ruiz]
Sin dudarlo ni un instante porque les sobre el
valor
Puerto Rico Vamos Pa’lante

[Rey Ruiz]
Elegant women, joy and flavor
[Aymee Nuviola]
People who with love help the country move forward
Without any hesitation, because they have more
than enough valor

[Rey Ruiz]
People who with love help the country move forward

[Aymee Nuviola]
Es Puerto Rico una isla pequeñita pero de gente
gigante

[Aymee Nuviola and Rey Ruiz]
Without any hesitation, because they have more
than enough valor
Puerto Rico, let’s go forward

[Rey Ruiz]
Que la fuerza está en la unión no perdamos ni
un instante, pa’lante

[Aymee Nuviola]
Puerto Rico is a tiny island but of giant people

Puerto Rico Vamos Pa’lante
[Aymee Nuviola]
Y con la ayuda de Dios, boricua, la cosa se
pone mejor que antes, Que sí
Puerto Rico Vamos Pa’lante
[Rey Ruiz]
Que si le canto a tu tierra hermosa
[Aymee Nuviola and Rey Ruiz]
tu mar y tu sol brillante
[Aymee Nuviola]
Dale Mambo
Fenomenal, coge tu Mambo
[Rey Ruiz]
Síguelo negra
[Aymee Nuviola]
Estamos contigo y cantando te grito
Vamos Pa’Lante Puerto Rico
Así que escucha mi canto sincero y bonito
Vamos Pa’Lante Puerto Rico
[Rey Ruiz]
Me gusta tu ritmo y decir ay bendito
Vamos Pa’Lante Puerto Rico
Yo digo guajiro y tu jibarito

[Rey Ruiz]
The strength is in the union, let's not lose a
moment, let’s move forward
Puerto Rico, let’s go forward
[Aymee Nuviola]
And with the help of God, Boricua, things are going
to be better than before,
Puerto Rico, let’s go forward
[Rey Ruiz]
I sing to your beautiful land,
[Aymee Nuviola and Rey Ruiz]
your sea and your bright sun
[Aymee Nuviola]
Dale Mambo
Great, take your Mambo
[Rey Ruiz]
Take it, negra
[Aymee Nuviola]
We are with you and singing you scream
Puerto Rico, let’s go forward
So listen to my sincere and beautiful song
Puerto Rico, let’s go forward

49

[Rey Ruiz]
I like your rhythm and say hello blessed
Puerto Rico, let’s go forward
I say guajiro and your jibarito
REALITY SONG SAMPLE
LA PLANTA NUEVA
ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

Ayy... Ayy...

Ohh... Ohh...

Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga....

I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…

Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga.....

I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…

Quisiera contarle mi nueva
historia
y mi realidad
ay cuando me acuesto tan solo
pienso en ese momento...
Si fuera de diesel,
de gasolina,
o tal vez de gas
pero es que suena y suena
y que mucho suena
que suena y suena la condená
Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga.....
Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga.....
Cuando más profundo
estoy descansando
para trabajar
di que me levando
creo estar soñando
y no pasa nada

I would like to tell you my new story
and my reality
Oh, when I go to bed, so alone
I think of that moment ...
If it were a diesel one,
Or gasoline one,
or maybe gas
but it sounds and sounds
and oh, how much it sounds
It sounds and sounds, the
to hear it and hear it
I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…
I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…
When I’m deep
Asleep
To go work
I think I’m dreaming
And nothing happens

50

es que el combustible
se le acabo
que tristeza me da
pero que suena y suena
que mucho suena
y que mucho suena
esa condená
Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga.....
Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga.....

Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga.....
Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga.....
Vuelvo a contarle
mi nueva historia
y mi realidad
ay cuando me acuesto tan solo
pienso en ese momento...
Si fuera de diesel,
de gasolina,
o tal vez de gas
pero es que suena y suena
y que suena y suena
pero que mucho suena
esa condenaaaa
Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga.....
Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga.....
Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene

But it’s because it’s out of fuel
It makes me so sad
but it sounds and sounds
and oh, how much it sounds
It sounds and sounds, the
to hear it and hear it

I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…
I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…

I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…
I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…
I’ll tell you again
My new story
and my reality
Oh, when I go to bed, so alone
I think of that moment ...
If it were a diesel one,
Or gasoline one,
or maybe gas
but it sounds and sounds
and oh, how much it sounds
It sounds and sounds, the
to hear it and hear it
I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…
I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…
I'm going to ask the three wise men

51

y que no haga.....
Yo le voy a pedir a los reyes
que me traigan la planta nueva
que cuando prenda ella no suene
y que no haga.....
ayyy mi plantaaaa…

To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…
I'm going to ask the three wise men
To bring me a new generator,
One that doesn’t make noise when we turn it on and does not
go…

Oh, my generator...

MI NAVIDAD NOS SE APAGA

ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

Esta Navidad en mi Puerto Rico va ser
candela
Y si no tenemos electricidad, prendemos la
vela
Y si no hay pasteles, arroz con gandules
para la cena
Comemos salchichas con jamonilla en la
Nochebuena
Esta Navidad en mi Puerto Rico va ser
candela
Y si no tenemos electricidad, prendemos la
vela
Y si no hay tembleque y arroz con dulce para
la cena
Nos alegramos con M&Ms la Nochebuena
De esta me levanto y le meto el pecho a la
situación
Pues no hay viento fuerte que nos destruya
la tradición
Apaga la planta para que escuches mi
parrandón
Todo Puerto Rico a cantar el coro de esta
canción
Esta Navidad en mi Puerto Rico va ser
candela
Y si no tenemos electricidad, prendemos la
vela
Y si no hay pasteles, arroz con gandules
para la cena
Comemos salchichas con jamonilla en la
Nochebuena
O nos comemos mutuamente, dale baby no
sea exigente
No tengo agua ni electricidad pero lo mejor
pasa en la oscuridad
Así pegao entre estos desastres naturales

This Christmas in my Puerto Rico is going to be on fire
And if we do not have electricity, we will light the candle
And if there are no pasteles, rice with pigeon peas for
dinner
We eat sausages with ham on Christmas Eve
This Christmas in my Puerto Rico is going to be on fire
And if we do not have electricity, we will light the candle
And if there is no tembleque and sweet rice for dinner
We are happy with M&Ms on Christmas Eve
From this situation I will get up, with my chest up
Because there is no strong wind that destroys our
tradition
Turn off the generator so you can hear my parranda
All Puerto Rico needs to sing the chorus of this song
This Christmas in my Puerto Rico is going to be on fire
And if we do not have electricity, we will light the candle
And if there are no pasteles, rice with pigeon peas for
dinner
We eat sausages with ham on Christmas Eve
Or we eat each other, dale baby don’t be so
demanding
I do not have water or electricity but the best thing
happens in the dark
Like this, so close to each other during
these natural disasters
This Christmas the fireworks keep coming
And although Santa is more broke than Gaspar
The essential is invisible, you can’t buy it
We go to each party, but to sing along
Everything’s green again, it looks like Ireland
I see smiles on the cheeks, girls dancing
Maybe I’ll sin because this party ends at 7 a.m.
With our legs melted like M&Ms and even if there are
thunderstorms, and it blows and cold rain falls

52

Estas navidades siguen los fuegos
artificiales
Y aunque santa esté más pelao’ que gaspar
Lo esencial es invisible, no se puede
comprar
Vamos a cada asalto pero de parranda
Ya to’ está verde, parece Irlanda
Ya veo sonrisas en los cachetes, nenas
bailando
Quizá yo peque porque este party se acaba
a 7 a.m.
Con las piernas derretidas como M&M y
aunque truene, y sople y caiga lluvia fría
No hay navidad como la mía
Mira PJ, yo traje los panderos
Vamos a formar el parrandón

Seguro que sí, yo traigo el sabor si tú
quieres
No hay navidad como la mía
Aunque en mi casa no hay energía
No se acaba mi parranda y si no hay planta
la prendo con batería
Flashlight, que suene el cuatro, díselo
maestro
Llévame de fiesta
Llévame de fiesta
Llévame
No tenemos agua, tampoco luz
Pero no cambiamos nuestra actitud
Un año se va otro año que viene
Seguimos la fiesta aunque llueva y truene
Si no hay gasolina, para la planta
Beber pitorro para la garganta
Aunque no tengamos electricidad
Puerto Rico brilla en la oscuridad
Esta Navidad en mi Puerto Rico va ser
candela
Y si no tenemos electricidad, prendemos la
vela
Y si no hay tembleque y arroz con dulce para
la cena
Nos alegramos con M&Ms la Nochebuena

There is no Christmas like mine

Look PJ, I brought the tambourines

We are going to form the party
Sure, I bring the flavor if you want
There is no Christmas like mine

Although in my house there is no energy
My party isn’t over and if there is no generator, I’ll turn
it on with a battery
Flashlight, let the cuatro play, tell him master
Take me partying
Take me partying
Take me
We do not have water, nor light
But we do not change our attitude
One year leaves, another is coming
We continue the party even if it rains
If there is no gasoline, for the generator
I’ll drink alcohol, for the throat
Even if we do not have electricity
Puerto Rico shines in the dark
This Christmas in my Puerto Rico is going to be on fire
And if we do not have electricity, we will light the candle
And if there is no tembleque and sweet rice for dinner
We are happy with M&Ms on Christmas Eve

TENDRÉ QUE VENDER MIS GALLOS
ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

La cosa se pone fea, escucha mi amigo Chago
La cosa se pone fea, escucha mi amigo Chago

53

Y si esto sigue asi tendre que vender mis gallos
Y si esto sigue asi tendre que vender mis
gallos
Tendré que vender mis gallos porque el
Huracán María
Me ha dejado en escombros lo que era la casa
mía
Barlovento Barlovento, ata el perro y suelta el
viento
Que me quedé sin trabajo, que me quedé sin
sustento

Things are getting ugly, listen to me, my friend
Chago
Things are getting ugly, listen to me, my friend
Chago
And if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters
And if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters
I'll have to sell my roosters because Hurricane
Maria
Has left in rubbles what was my house

Barlovento Barlovento, mandame un rayo
Que si esto sigue así tendré que vender mis
gallos
Que si esto sigue así tendré que vender mis
gallos

Barlovento Barlovento, tie the dog and release the
wind
That I lost my job, that I lost my livelihood

La cosa se pone fea, escucha mi amigo Chago
La cosa se pone fea, escucha mi amigo Chago

Barlovento Windward, send me lightning
That if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters
That if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters

Y si esto sigue asi tendre que vender mis gallos
Y si esto sigue asi tendre que vender mis
gallos
Y si esto sigue asi tendre que vender mis gallos
Pero me quedo con las gallinas
Para conservar la raza, porque son de raza fina
Y le daré la vecina mi gallo kikiriki, para que
nunca se olvide, pa’ que se acuerde mi
Para que se acuerde mi el dia de Nochebuena
Y me invite a celebrar tocando y bailando plena
Y me invite a celebrar tocando y bailando plena
La cosa se pone fea, escucha mi amigo Chago
La cosa se pone fea, escucha mi amigo Chago
Y si esto sigue asi tendre que vender mis gallos
Y si esto sigue asi tendre que vender mis
gallos
Y cantaré una manada de gallos que dan buen
canto
Por si acaso en Navidad me traen un aguinaldo
Aguinaldo, mi aguinaldo, cantar de la serranía
Vacías de mis lamentos, de mis penas y
alegrías
Ayer fue un terrible día, ayer vendí mi caballo
Y si esto sigue así tendré que vender mis gallos
Y si esto sigue así tendré que vender mis gallos
Yo me desvelo pensando a quién tengo que
seguir
Este será un viaje duro, tengo que sobrevivir

Things are getting ugly, listen to me, my friend
Chago
Things are getting ugly, listen to me, my friend
Chago
And if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters
And if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters
And if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters
But I'll keep the chickens
To preserve the race, because they are of fine race
And I'll give my neighbor my kikiriki rooster, so she
never forgets, so that she always remembers me

So that she remembers me on Christmas Eve
And invites me to celebrate while playing and
dancing plena
And invites me to celebrate while playing and
dancing plena
Things are getting ugly, listen to me, my friend
Chago
Things are getting ugly, listen to me, my friend
Chago
And if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters
And if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters
And I will sing a herd of roosters that give a good
show

54

Un pacto con mi vecino haré para compartir el
agua que cae del cielo y la luz del sol divino
Y emprenderé mi camino llevando poco
equipaje
Desprendiendome de todo lo que detiene mi
viaje
Te regalo el gallo pinto, es para ti amigo Chago
No me queda otro remedio, tendré que vender
los gallos
Ay ay le le le lo le lo le
Ay ay le le le lo le lo le
Tendré que vender mis gallos
Al mal tiempo buena cara
Tendré que vender mis gallos
No tengo agua ni luz
Tendré que vender mis gallos
No podré ir a la gallera
Tendré que vender mis gallos
A casa de una vela
Tendré que vender mis gallos

Just in case in Christmas they bring me an
aguinaldo
Aguinaldo, my aguinaldo, singing from the
mountains
I will pour my laments, my sorrows and joys

Yesterday was a terrible day, yesterday I sold my
horse
And if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters
And if this keeps up, I'll have to sell my roosters

I wake up thinking who I have to follow
This will be a hard journey, I have to survive
A promise with my neighbor I will make to share the
water that falls from the sky and the divine sunlight
And I will start my way carrying little luggage
Getting rid of everything that stops my journey

I give you the gallo pinto, it's for you, my friend
Chago
I have no choice but to sell the roosters

Oh, le le le lo le lo le
Oh, le le le lo le lo le
I will have to sell my roosters
I put a brave face in bad weather
I will have to sell my roosters
I do not have water or light
I will have to sell my roosters
I will not be able to go to the cockpit
I will have to sell my roosters
A house with a candle
I will have to sell my roosters

SYMBOLIC SONG SAMPLE
ESTAMOS BIEN
ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

Yeah, yeah (yeah)
'Tamos bien (wuh), yeh

Yeah, yeah (yeah)
We’re ok (wuh), yeh

55

Sobran los billetes de cien, yeah
No hay nada mal, estamos bien, 'tá to' bien, hey
To's los míos están bien, 'tamos bien, hey
No te preocupes, estamos bien (wuh-uh), hey
Sobran los billetes de cien, eh eh
No hay nada mal, estamos bien, 'tá to' bien, ey
(wuh)
To's los míos están bien, 'tamos bien, hey

There are plenty of hundred-dollar bills, yeah
There's nothing wrong, we're fine, all is good, hey
My people are ok, we're ok, hey
Do not worry, we're ok (wuh-uh), hey
There are plenty of hundred-dollar bills, huh
There's nothing wrong, we're ok, 'tá to' well, hey
(wuh)
My people are ok, we're ok, hey

El dinero me llueve (hey)
Mera, diablo, qué aguacero
En la cuenta un par de cero'
Y empezamos desde cero, hey (hey hey)
Y eso que soy un grosero, hey (hey)
Que se joda, soy sincero
Y si mañana me muero (brrr brrr)
Ya estoy acostumbra'o a estar siempre en el
cielo, hey (hey)

Money rains on me (hey)
Damn, what a downpour
In the account, I’ve got a few zeros
And we started from zero, hey (hey hey)
And even when I'm a rude, hey (hey)
But fuck it, I'm honest
And if I die tomorrow (brrr brrr)
I'm used to alwas being in heaven, hey (hey)

En privado siempre vuelo
En el cuello tengo hielo
Gasto, gasto y no me pelo
Muchas putas y modelos
Estamos bien (yeh, hey)
Sobran los billetes de cien (wuh uh uh)
No hay nada mal, estamos bien, 'tá to' bien, hey
To's los míos están bien, 'tamos bien, hey
Hoy me levanté contento, hoy me levanté feliz
(heh heh)
Aunque dicen por ahí que están hablando de
mí, hey (hey, hey)
Joda, que se joda, que se joda, hey, hey
Joda, que se joda, que se joda
Hoy me levanté contento, hoy me levanté feliz
Aunque dicen por ahí que están hablando de
mí, hey (hey)
Joda, que se joda, que se joda, hey, hey
Joda, que se joda, que se joda, hey (yeh)
Hoy ando algarete, hey
Como un graduado tirando el birrete (hey)
Como narco contando billetes
La Mercedes en PR cogiendo boquete, eh (¡oh,
yeah!)
Vivo como soñé a los diecisiete, eh, eh
El que no logró na' es porque no le mete (eh)
Dime qué esperas tú, (uh)
Si alguien puede, eres tú (uh)
Aunque pa' casa no ha llega'o la luz
Gracias a Dios porque tengo salud, eh, eh
(amén)
La vida no tiene repetición
Después que mami me eche la bendición, yeh
No te preocupes, estamos bien (hey)

I always fly private
In the neck, I’ve got ice
I spent and spent, and I still don’t go broke
Many whores and models
We’re ok (yeh, hey)
There are plenty of hundred-dollar bills, yeah
There's nothing wrong, we're fine, all is good, hey
My people are ok, we're ok, hey
Today I woke up happy, today I woke up happy (heh
heh)
Although they say that they are talking about me,
hey (hey, hey)
Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, hey, hey
Fuck , fuck it, fuck it
Today I woke up happy, today I woke up happy
Although they say that they are talking about me,
hey (hey)
Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, hey, hey
Fuck , fuck it, fuck it (hey)

Today I'm going crazy, hey
Like a graduate throwing the graduation cap(hey)
Like a narco counting bills
The Mercedes in PR hitting potholes, eh (oh, yeah!)
I live as I dreamed at seventeen, huh, huh
The one who did not achieve anything is because he
don’t work at it
Tell me what are you waiting for, (uh)
If someone can, it's you (uh)
Even if there’s no electricity at home
Thank God because I am healthy, eh, eh (amen)

56

Con o sin billetes de cien (cien, cien)
Pero tener no es malo así que estamos bien,
'tamos bien, hey
To's los míos están bien, 'tamos bien, hey
No te preocupes estamos bien
Bien, bien
(Hoy me levanté contento, hoy me levanté feliz
Aunque dicen por ahí que están hablando de
mí, hey
Joda, que se joda, que se joda, hey, hey
Joda, que se joda, que se joda, hey)

Life has no repetition
After Mommy gives me the blessing, yeh
Do not worry, we're ok (hey)
With or without one hundred dollar bills (one
hundred, one hundred)
But having is not bad so we're ok, we're ok, hey
My people are ok, we're ok, hey
Do not worry, we're fine
Well well
(Today I woke up happy, today I woke up happy
Although they say that they are talking about me,
hey
Fuck, fuck it, fuck it, hey, hey
Fuck,, fuck it, fuck it, hey)

LAS LUCES
ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

Tiran la piedra y esconden la mano
Nos apuñalan, se pintan de hermanos
No han visto el río, pero lo quieren
cruzar
No creen en Dios, pero quieren rezar

They throw stones and hide the hand
They stab us, they paint themselves as brothers
They have not seen the river, but they want to cross it
They do not believe in God, but they want to pray
I know the game, let’s go outside
See ya later cold, let’s light the fire
If they are hills, we are rams
They do not see that the street is closing
And that there is no way out

Conozco el juego, vamos para afuera
Fuera catarro, prendemos el fuego
Si son colinas, somos carneros
Que no ven que se esta cerrando la
calle
Y que no hay salida
Vamo' a ver
Quién quedará después del temporal
Te la zumbamos por el centro
Moscas que aquí estamos despiertos
Tire para adelante o perdemos el
respeto
Vamo' a ver
Ya estamos grandes basta de llorar
Empuje y busque bien adentro
Brille que llegó su momento
Saque las luces que trae en el pecho
No entretenemos discusione', aquí él
que sabe sabe
No es que queramos presumir pero
es que las verdades
La cura el tiempo y con el tiempo nos
dio libertades
Aquí todo el mundo quiere, pero nadie
paga lo que vale

Let's see
Who will remain after the storm
We throw the ball through the middle
Careful, because we are awake here
Move forward or lose our respect
Let's see
We are already old, no more crying
Push forward and look well inside you Shine, because your
moment has arrived
Take out the lights that you have in your chest
We do not entertain discussion, here whoever knows, knows
It's not that we want to show off, but truth is healed by time
and time eventually gave us freedom
Here everyone wants to buy, but nobody pays what is worth
I know they kill each other trying but they’re not able to do it
‘Cause if we’re speaking truthfully, it’s expensive to be original
Do not come talk to me about your opportunities
We are not the same
First, we faced the downpour

57

Se que se matan intentando pero no
les sale
Si hablando claro, sale caro ser
originale'
No me venga hablarme de sus
oportunidade'
No somos iguales
Lo primero, es que le dimos cara al
aguacero
Y en dos segundos quedamos
terceros
Y cuando el cuarto se nos prende en
fuego
Le metemos el cuero
Vamo' a ver
Quien quedará después del temporal
Te la zumbamos por el centro
Moscas que aquí estamo' despierto'
Tire para adelante o perdemos el
respeto
Vamo' a ver
Ya estamos grandes basta de llorar
Empuje y busque bien adentro
Brille que llegó su momento
Saque las luces que lleva en el pecho
Saque la luz
Saque la luz
Saque la luz
Si usted es gansgta, gansgta y malo
de verdad
Enseñe a su hijo a buscar más allá
Que existe un mañana y que lo hay
que cuidar
Por nuestros ancestros y por los que
vendrán
Que mire derecho y camine para
adelante
Que somos pocos, pero somos
gigantes
Que somos una raza perseverante
Que bajo el fango, todos somos
diamantes
Lo primero, es que le dimos cara al
aguacero
Que en dos segundos quedamos
terceros
Y cuando el cuarto se nos prende en
fuego
Le metemos el cuero
Vamo' a ver
Quién quedará después del temporal
Te la zumbamos por el centro
Moscas que aquí estamo' despierto'
Tire para adelante o perdemos el
respeto

And in two seconds we came in third place
And when the room bursts in flames,
We put the leather
Let's see
Who will remain after the storm
We throw the ball through the middle
Careful, because we are awake here
Move forward or lose our respect
Let's see
We are already old, no more crying
Push forward and look well inside you Shine, because your
moment has arrived
Bring out the lights that you have in your chest

Bring out the light
Take out the light
Bring out the light
If you are gansgta, gansgta and really bad
Teach your child to look beyond
That there is a tomorrow and that we have to take care of it
For our ancestors and for those who will come
Let him look straight and walk forward
That we are few, but we are giants
That we are a persevering race
That under the mud, we are all diamonds

First, we faced the downpour
And in two seconds we came in third place
And when the room bursts in flames,
We put the leather
Let's see
Who will remain after the storm
We throw the ball through the middle
Careful, because we are awake here
Move forward or lose our respect

Let's see
We are already old, no more crying
Push forward and look well inside you Shine, because your
moment has arrived
Bring out the lights that you have in your chest
Bring out the light
Plant with faith, plant and you will see
Bring out the light
Plant with faith, plant and you will see

58

Vamo' a ver
Ya estamos grandes basta de llorar
Empuje y busque bien adentro
Brille que llegó su momento
Saque las luces que trae en el pecho
Saque la luz
Con fe siembra, siembra y tu vas a
ver
Saque la luz
Con fe siembra, siembra y tu veras

QUE VIVA LA GENTE
ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

Allá bajo hace falta una mano que traza
Un camino, un atajo, una pala, una sanja
El de abajo no espera a que llegue el de
arriba
Él recoge su llanto a la vez que sus mangas
Él retira la piedra quebrantando su espalda
Y al final de la tarde cree que nada le falta
Porque el que nada tuvo a la vez nada
extraña

Down there we need a hand that traces
A road, a shortcut, a shovel, an opening
The one from below does not wait for the one in the top
to arrive
He cleans up his tears as he does his sleeves
He removes the stone by working hard
And at the end of the afternoon he thinks that nothing is
missing
Because when you have nothing, you miss nothing

A la vez nada extraña
Que vivan los hombres que no esperan
nada
A ellos envidio con todas mis ganas
Que vivan aquellos que hacen camino
Y no aguardan a que sea mañana
Que viva la tierra que no discrimina
Que sin ver la mano que riega su vida
Florece y de nuevo germina
Que viva la gente que hace
Que vuelva a probar el sabor de la vida
Acá arriba se escuchan cien voces
imponentes
Con ideas lejanas de la palabra ‘gente’
Y se te hace difícil alcanzar pal almuerzo
Allá bajo comparto lo poquito que tengo
El calor se te pasa al tirarte al riachuelo
El hambre se te olvida trabajando tu suelo
Son tan pocas las cosas que acá abajo
hacen falta
Para llenarte el alma

Que vivan los hombres que no esperan
nada
A ellos envidio con todas mis ganas

You miss nothing
Long live the people who do not expect anything
I envy them with all my will
Long live those who make their way
And that do not wait for it to be tomorrow
Long live the land that does not discriminate
That without seeing the hand that waters his life
It blooms and springs again
Long live the people who help me
Taste the flavor of life again
Here in the top you can here impressive voices
With distant ideas of the word ‘people’
And you have a hard time getting money for lunch
Down there, I share how little I have
The heat passes when you throw yourself into the creek
You forget about hunger while you work your land
Down here, there are so few things missing
To fill your soul
Long live the people who do not expect anything
I envy them with all my will
Long live those who make their way
And that do not wait for it to be tomorrow
Long live the land that does not discriminate

59

Que vivan aquellos que hacen camino
Y no aguardan a que sea mañana
Que viva la tierra que no discrimina
Que sin ver la mano que riega su vida
Florece y de nuevo germina
Que viva la gente que hace
Que vuelva a probar el sabor de la

That without seeing the hand that waters his life
It blooms and springs again
Long live the people who help me
Taste the flavor of...

Vivan los hombres que no esperan nada
A ellos envidio con todas mis ganas
Que vivan aquellos que hacen camino
Y no aguardan a que sea mañana
Que viva la tierra que no discrimina
Que sin ver la mano que riega su vida
Florece y de nuevo germina
Que viva la gente que hace
Que vuelva a probar el sabor de la vida

Long live the people that don’t expect anything
I envy them with all my will
Long live those who make their way
And that do not wait for it to be tomorrow
Long live the land that does not discriminate
That without seeing the hand that waters his life
It blooms and springs again
Long live the people who help me
Taste the flavor of life again

REINTERPRETED SONG SAMPLE
HIJOS DEL CAÑAVERAL

ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

Desde que nacimos
Nuestra mancha de plátano salió del mismo
racimo
Somos hermanos del mismo horizonte
Todos nos criamos en la falda del monte
Crecimos, pero pa' que otro se aproveche

Since we were born
Our banana stain came out of the same plant
We are brothers of the same horizon
We all grew up on the slopes of mountains
We grew up, but for another to take advantage

Somos un pueblo con dientes de leche
Los hijos del trabajo sin merienda
La limonada para el capataz de la hacienda
Todo lo que sobrevive
Somos la caña fermentada del Caribe
Pero aunque la historia nos azota
Somos como una botella de vidrio que flota

We are a town with baby teeth
The children of work without snacks
The lemonade for the foreman of the hacienda
Everything that survives
We are the fermented cane of the Caribbean
But although history is whipping us
We are like a glass bottle that floats

La central Aguirre la pusimo' a producir
Sin saber leer ni escribir
Y la depresión la curamos sin jarabe
Porque caminamos al compás de la clave
Nuestra raza por naturaleza es brava
Salimos de la tapa de un volcán con lava
No hay identidad dicen algunos
Pero aquí todos llevamos en la espalda el
número 21

We made the Aguirre plant start producing
Without knowing how to read or write
And we cured the depression without medicine
Because we walk to the beat of the key
Our race by nature is brave
We came out of the top of a volcano with lava
There’s no identity, some say
But here we all carry the number 21 on the back

Aprendimos a caminar hace rato
Con un pie descalzo y el otro con zapato

We learned to walk a while ago
With one foot barefoot and the other with a shoe
With the cacique's medal in the pawnshop

60

Con la medalla del cacique en la casa de
empeño
Somos los dueños de un país sin dueño
Hijos del cañaveral
Nunca se nos cae la baba
Esta raza siempre es brava
Aunque sople el temporal
Pa' que sientas el calibre
De un caballo sin jinete
Mira como corre libre
Se refleja en el machete
Somos el roció cuando se desayuna
Somos la marea cuando baila con la luna
Nos secamos el sudor con el viento sin toalla
Y nos perfumamos con la sal de la playa
Cuando el sol cuelga las nubes en el tendedero
De agua de coco son los aguaceros
Soñamos desde la misma orilla
Sin perder el camino porque aquí los
cucubanos brillan
Viene el huracán y le rezamos a la cruz
Y jugamos brisca cuando se va la luz
El calor nos calienta la cerveza
Y nos bañamos en el lago
Hasta que abran la represa
Aquí los viernes santo se come yautia
Aquí los reyes magos vienen de Juana Díaz
Pelamos paragüas a los difuntos
Y en las patronales en la caja e' muerto nos
mariamos juntos
Lo nuestro no hay nadie que nos los quite
Porque por más nieve que tiren aquí la nieve
se derrite
Aunque siembren las raíces como les dé la
gana
Los palos de güanabana no dan manzanas

We are the owners of a country without an owner

Children of the sugarcane field
We never drop the drool
This race is always brave
Although the storm blows
So you can feel the caliber
From a horse without a rider
See how it runs free
It is reflected in the machete
We are the sprinkler when we have breakfast
We are the tide when dancing with the moon
We dry the sweat with wind, without a towel
And we perfume ourselves with the salt of the beach
When the sun hangs the clouds on the clothesline
Of coconut water are the downpours
We dream from the same shore
Without losing the way because here the cucubanos
shine
The hurricane is coming and we pray to the cross
And we play cards when the lights go out
The heat warms our beer
And we bathe in the lake
Until they open the dam
Here on Good Friday you eat yautia
Here the three wise men come from Juana Díaz
We give piragüas to the deceased
And in the town festivals, we get dizzy together
What’s ours, nobody can’t take away
Because no matter how much snow they throw here,
it always melts
Although they plant the roots as they like
Güanabana plants do not give apples

Hijos del cañaveral
Nunca se nos cae la baba
Esta raza siempre es brava
Aunque sople el temporal
Pa' que sientas el calibre
De un caballo sin jinete
Mira como corre libre
Se refleja en el machete
Hijos del cañaveral
Nunca se nos cae la baba
Esta raza siempre es brava
Aunque sople el temporal

Children of the sugarcane field
We never drop the drool
This race is always brave
Although the storm blows
So you can feel the caliber
From a horse without a rider
See how it runs free
It is reflected in the machete
Children of the canefield
We never drop the drool
This race is always brave
Although the storm blows

Pa' aprender a defendernos
Nunca fuimos a la escuela
Aunque el toro tenga cuernos

To learn to defend ourselves

61

Nuestro hogar tiene vuela
A latigazo limpio desde el descubrimiento
No pudieron, seguimos con el mismo acento
Nuestro aguante a sido digno
Somos los versos que no cantan en nuestro
himno
Hay que soltar los barcos del muelle
Esta carreta ya se mueve sin bueye
Al colono los bajaremos del trono
Pa' que nuestra bandera cante en un solo tono
En el cuatro Luisito Sans
En el bongó Antony Carrillo
¡Háblale a los santos, dale!

We never went to school
Although the bull has horns
Our home has fly
We’ve been whiplashed since the discovery
They could not, we continue with the same accent
Our endurance has been worthy
We are the verses that we do not sing in our hymn
You have to let go the boats from the dock
This wagon is already moving without an ox
To the settler we will lower them from the throne
So our flag sings in one tone
In the cuatro Luisito Sans
In the bongo Antony Carrillo
Speak to the saints, go!

PRECIOSA
ORIGINAL LYRICS

TRANSLATION

Yo sé lo que son los encantos
De mi borinquen hermosa
Por eso la quiero yo tanto
Por siempre la llamaré preciosa
Yo se de sus hembras trigueñas
Se del olor de sus rosas
Por eso a mi tierra riqueña
Por siempre la llamare preciosa

I know what's enchanting
about my beautiful Borinquen
That's why I love her so
and I'll always call her Beautiful
I know of her darkly colored women
Know the smell of her roses
For this my rich earth
I will always call her Beautiful

Isla del caribe
Isla del caribe
Borinquen

Island of the Caribbean
Island of the Caribbean
Borinquen

Preciosa te llaman las olas
Del mar que te baña
Preciosa por ser un encanto
Por ser un edén
Y tienes la noble hidalguía
De la madre España
Y el fiero cantio del indio bravío
Lo tienes también

Beautiful, the waves of the sea that bathe you call you
Beautiful for being enchanting
for being an Eden
and you have the nobility
of mother Spain
and the fiery song of the brave indigenous
You also have it

Preciosa te llaman los bardos
Que cantan tu historia
No importa el tirano te trate
Con negra maldad
Preciosa serás sin bandera
Sin lauros, ni gloria
Preciosa, preciosa
Te llaman los hijos de la libertad
Preciosa te llaman los bardos
Que cantan tu historia
No importa el tirano te trate
Con negra maldad

Beautiful, the bards that sing your history
Call you
It doesn't matter that the tyrant treats
you with black hatred
You would be beautiful without a flag
without laurels, or glory
Beautiful, Beautiful
the sons of liberty call you
Beautiful, the bards that sing your history
Call you
It doesn't matter that the tyrant treats
you with black hatred
You would be beautiful without a flag

62

Preciosa seras sin bandera
Sin lauros, ni gloria
Oh te llaman los hijos de la libertad

without laurels, or glory
Beautiful, Beautiful
the sons of liberty call you

Preciosa te llevo dentro
Muy dentro di mi corazón
Y mientras más pasa el tiempo
En ti se vuelca mi amor
Porque ahora es que comprendo
Porque ahora es que comprendo
Que aunque pase lo que pase
Yo seré puertorriqueño
Yo seré puertorriqueño
Por donde quiera que ande, oh
Por que lo llevo en la sangre
Por herencia de mis padres
Y con orgullo repito
Yo te quiero Puerto Rico
Yo te quiero Puerto Rico

Beautiful, I carry you with me
Inside my heart
Because while time passes
My loves for you is always there
Because now I understand
Because now I understand
that regardless of what happens
I will be Puerto Rican
I will be Puerto Rican
Wherever I walk, ooohhh
Because I carry it in my blood
Because of the heritage of my parents
And with pride I repeat
I love you Puerto Rico
I love you Puerto Rico
And that is why today

Y por eso es que me nace hoy
Dedicarle este canto
A ese noble jibarito Rafael
Y a mi isla del encanto
Yo te quiero Puerto Rico
Yo te quiero Puerto Rico

I want to dedicate this song
to that noble countryman Rafael
and to my island of enchantment
I love you Puerto Rico
I love you Puerto Rico

63

Bibliography

BuzzAngle Music. Accessed on March 10, 2019. https://www.buzzanglemusic.com.

Chartmetric. Accessed on March 1, 2019. https://chartmetric.com/index.html.
“Explorer,” Media Cloud, Accessed on March 20, 2019.
https://explorer.mediacloud.org/#/home.

Google Trends. Accessed on March 15, 2019.
https://trends.google.com/trends/?geo=US.
“Text Analysis”, Aylien. Accessed on February 1, 2019.
https://developer.aylien.com/text-api-demo?text=&language=en&tab=classifytaxonomy.

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