DA PUMP -- Corazon

 

Hello everyone. Today's articles will be started off by KKP contributor Fireminer with one of his favourite choices.

The popularity of Latino music in American pop ebbs and flows, but it never ceases to exist, only biding its time to wait for another boom. With that said, the Latin explosion of the late 90s was a particularly ebullient occasion. The last years of the first millennium were all about crossovers i.e. Daft Punks, The Wallflowers and Shania Twain. Latin music too found success on the main chart with Ricky Martin’s La Copa De La Vida and Jennifer Lopez’s If You Had My Love being two standouts. Moreover the impact of the Latin explosion continued to be felt long after those songs fell off the chart. They were one of the reasons why so many early 00s hip-hop and dance hits had some kind of world music beat.

Now, I’m not sure if the same thing happened in Japan, but listening to DA PUMP’s “CORAZON” sure gives me the impression. CORAZON was DA PUMP’s 14th single released on April 25th 2001. Front man ISSA (Hentona Issa, 辺土名 一茶) wrote the song based on one of his poems, while his bandmate KEN (Okumoto Ken, 奥本 健) did the rap part. CORAZON was a hit, and DA PUMP even got to perform it at the 52nd Kohaku Utagassen (第52回NHK紅白歌合戦). The song would later be packaged in DA PUMP’s 4th album “the NEXT EXIT” (ザ・ネクスト・イグジット) alongside their other hit “if...”.

This period was when DA PUMP really got into their stride, and CORAZON was no exception. It may not have the electricity of some of the most memorable Latino hits of the time, but it gets the sensuality down. It’s hard to put it into words, but if I have to, it’s something a bit both seedy and pitiable (in an endearing way). “Corazon” means “Heart” in Spanish. It’s an apt name considering how much heartbreak and heartbreak there is in the lyrics.