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	<p align="left"><font style="color: #000000" color="#000000" size="2"><b>
	<font size="2">&nbsp;E</font></b></font><b><font size="2">nglish-speaking 
	singers perfect their espa�ol</font></b><font style="color: #000000" color="#000000" size="2"><b><font size="2"><br>
	</font></b>Associated Press<br>
	April 4, 2007 </font></div>
<div class="siteinfo">
	Tucson, Arizona | Published: http://www.aznightbuzz.com/stories/176465<div class="storydeck">
&nbsp;</div>
	<div class="storybyline">
		By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ</div>
</div>
MIAMI - Wyclef Jean has sold millions of records as a solo artist and as a 
founding member of the hip-hop group The Fugees. Still, few in the mainly 
Latin-crowd seemed to recognize the Grammy-winner when he leaped onto the stage 
at a recent sold-out concert.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
That is, until Colombian superstar Shakira shimmied onto the floor, and the two 
traded Spanish and English rhymes from her smash hit &quot;Hips Don't Lie.&quot; At that 
point, the crowd roared for both.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
A few years ago, the big Latin crossover involved Spanish-speaking performers 
making it big by singing in English - including sensations like Ricky Martin, 
Shakira and Marc Anthony. Nowadays, stars like Jean, Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez 
are kicking it the other way - singing and rapping in Spanish for the 
hemisphere's Hispanic market.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
It's not hard to see why.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Salsa, boleros, cumbia, alt-rock, reggaeton - Latin music offers a little 
something for everyone. Then there's the state of the declining music industry. 
As more fans illegally download music and selectively purchase singles instead 
of entire albums, record labels are desperate for new listeners. The estimated 
32 million Spanish speakers in the United States, not to mention another roughly 
400 million Spanish-speakers in Spain and Latin America, are markets screaming 
to be tapped.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
&quot;It's hard to ignore when 11 million people watch the Latin Grammys,&quot; said Jose 
Cancela, author of the book, &quot;The Power of Business en espanol,&quot; and a 25-year 
veteran of Spanish-language radio and television.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
&quot;What more and more artists are seeing is that the growth of Spanish-language 
media, especially in the top 25 markets in the country, is having real impact on 
airplay and on viewership,&quot; he added.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
This week, Beyonce is reissuing her multiplatinum, Grammy-winning album &quot;B'Day&quot; 
with seven tracks in Spanish, including a duet with Shakira. The idea for the 
Spanish side of the album was born with a duet her group, Destiny's Child, 
recorded with Spanish pop singer Alejandro Sanz four years ago.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
&quot;A lot of my Latin fans said 'Oh, you should do more songs in Spanish,&quot;' Beyonce 
said during a recent press conference in her hometown of Houston.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Beyonce took them to heart, recording Spanish versions of hits like 
&quot;Irreplaceable&quot; and &quot;Listen&quot; from the film &quot;Dreamgirls&quot;.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Jennifer Lopez, who was born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents, also just 
released her first complete Spanish album, &quot;Como Ama Una Mujer&quot; or &quot;How a Woman 
Loves.&quot; Lopez has said she did her first demo in Spanish, but back then the 
labels weren't interested. Now she'll likely sing one of her Spanish songs when 
she appears in an upcoming episode of TV's &quot;American Idol.&quot;
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Even kiddie crooner Dan Zanes, who happily acknowledges &quot;I am such an Anglo,&quot; is 
working on an entire CD in Spanish due early next year.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Pop musicians have recorded songs in other languages before, but in recent years 
the number of top U.S. artists rolling that Spanish &quot;r&quot; seems to keep growing.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
The benefits go both ways. Jean's duet with Shakira, &quot;Hips Don't Lie,&quot; became a 
global hit and boosted sales of her English album &quot;Oral Fixation Vol. 2.&quot; 
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Meanwhile, Beyonce's recently recorded a duet with Mexico's Alejandro Fernandez 
for a telenovela version of &quot;Zorro,&quot; which is sure to cross-pollinate fans.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Miami-based music producer Rudy Perez, the go-to man for Spanish lyrics, adds 
that even second- and third-generation Hispanic fans like the idea that artists 
are reaching out to them, validating their heritage by singing in their parents' 
or grandparents' language.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
But interest in Spanish is personal for some artists, he says.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Perez started the crossover work with Christian music star Jaci Velasquez, who 
is Mexican-American, then went on to work with Christina Aguilera for her 2000 
album, &quot;Mi Reflejo.&quot; Neither woman spoke much Spanish - Aguilera's father is 
from Ecuador but she was raised mostly by her German-American mother - and both 
wanted to get in touch with their roots, he said.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
&quot;Like a lot of kids in the U.S., they might live Latin but speak English,&quot; he 
said.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Perez often writes out the Spanish lyrics phonetically for the artists. He 
spends hours playing with words to make each line end with a sound similar to 
the English version to keep the music familiar.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Aguilera's Spanish was so convincing that Perez had to go out and explain to 
Spanish-language media before her press conferences that she wasn't fluent in 
the language.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Beyonce also worked with Perez and has received rave reviews for her accent. 
Even though she doesn't speak Spanish, Beyonce said growing up in Texas, she was 
influenced by Hispanic friends and culture and vowed to work hard on her 
pronunciation.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
&quot;I really wanted to respect the language,&quot; she said.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
Zanes also said he's interested in learning more about the culture behind the 
music.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
&quot;It's such a big part of America and New York,&quot; the Brooklyn, N.Y. hipster. &quot;Not 
speaking the language, I felt like I was missing out on a lot fun.&quot;
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
U.S. stars aren't the only ones crossing over. Canadian chanteuse Nelly Furtado, 
who is of Portuguese descent, had a hit song with Colombian rocker Juanes a few 
years back; she has Spanish cuts on her latest album &quot;Loose,&quot; including one with 
Juanes. Czech singer Marta Topferova has received rave reviews for her Latin 
boleros. And the Japanese salsa group, Orchestra de la Luz, has played worldwide 
for more than a decade.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
So far, the Spanish-language forays seem well-received by listeners. Vanessa 
Garcia, who hooked her Venezuelan-born mother on Aguilera after playing the 
singer's Spanish album, said she'd probably pick up Beyonce's album.
<div class="bodyspacer">
	&nbsp;</div>
&quot;Beyonce in Spanish is a little weird,&quot; said the 18-year-old fan. &quot;But her 
accent's good.&quot;<p>

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