It is that time of the year when Spotify creates a playlist with our favorite songs of the year. Given my very varied taste, my list is filled with all sorts of genres and languages. In this post, I will explore a few of my favorite songs in Spanish by Mexican artists.

Photo taken by Anamaria Pino found on Flickr.com with license CC BY 2.0

Natalia Lafourcade

One of my favorite cantantes is Natalia Lafourcade. There is something about her voice or voz that just captivates me, and her songs are always filled with depth without loosing its whimsical feel. Natalia’s solo career began when she was just 17, and her first album was nominated to a Latin Grammy. Her more recent work includes the song “Remember Me” for the Disney movie Coco and a remake of her song Nunca es Suficiente with Los Ángeles Azules (more about them below).

Natalia’s voice is easy to understand even when you are in the beginning stages of learning Spanish so I would highly recommend any song of hers to practice. I previously included one of her songs in a post about La Llorona.

She released the song Tú sí sabes quererme or you know how to love me in 2017. The song starts of with the following letra or lyrics:

Ha pasado tanto tiempo
Finalmente descubrí tus besos
Me enredaste en tu mirada
Me abrazaste con todos mis defectos

Tú sí sabes quererme, tú sí sabes adorarme mi amor
No te vayas, quédate por siempre para siempre
Para siempre amarte

Corazón, tú sí sabes quererme como a mí me gusta
Soy la flor encendida que da color al jardín de tu vida
Corazón, tú sí sabes quererme como a mí me gusta
Por favor no me dejes que soy valiente en corresponderte

Como tú by León Larregui

León Larregui is the vocalist for the Mexican rock band Zoé. He has taken a few breaks from the band to release his solo songs and has done quite well. Como tú  was released in 2012 and is written and composed by him. The song has three very catchy sections. The lyrics are below:

Y a mí me gustan como tú
Rebeldes y obstinadas (stubborn)
Con ese glamour celestial
De nubes en los pies
Misteriosas como el mar

Me gusta el tiempo de tu swing
Me gusta cómo bailas
Elegante ultra sensual
Vampira natural

Te vuelves una con la noche

Y me robaste el corazón
Me secuestraste la razón (reason)
En ese magic music box
Y me haces rodar y rodar

Amor a Primera Vista by Los Ángeles Azules, Belinda and Lalo Ebratt

Los Ángeles Azules is a very popular Mexican group who play some of the most famous cumbias in Mexico and have been around since 1976. No party or wedding in Mexico is complete without a few of their songs, and, if you lived in Mexico for even a few years, you might know a song or two from them. In 2018, they performed at Coachella in the U.S. making them the first cumbia group at the event.

While Los Ángeles Azules have been popular for a very long time, they have recently been making canciones or songs with artists from other genres. In 2018, they collaborated with several artists to release an album of remakes, cumbia style. In 2019, they released the song below together with famous Mexican pop singer Belinda, and Colombian reggaeton singer Lalo Ebratt. Below is the video of this very successful mix of styles.

Which songs would you include in this list?