The Weeknd and Rosalía’s new bachata video, « La Fama, » is highlighting the issue of white washing within Black Latinx music genres.
On Thursday, Nov.11, at 12 p.m. ET, Catalan singer and songwriter Rosalía dropped the music video for her recent single and very first bachata song, « La Fama, » featuring The Weeknd. I’ve been appreciating The Weeknd’s music ever since he dropped his 2015 album, Beauty Behind the Madness. The guy’s got talent and his range is impressive, which is why I wasn’t the least bit surprised when I learned he was now experimenting with Latin sounds and even collaborating on a bachata number where he’s actually singing in Spanish. But I’d be lying if I said the news wasn’t met with disappointment when I discovered that not a single Dominican bachata artist was featured. This wasn’t just a major missed opportunity for the Dominican community but also highlights a much bigger issue that’s been brewing for a while within the Latinx music industry. Before bachata became what it is today, it was seen as campesino music or « la musica de los pobres, » even in the Dominican Republic, where the genre originates from. It was the kind of music I only ever heard embraced by the Dominican community before Dominican American bachata band Aventura hit the scene and completely revolutionized the genre. In a matter of years, bachata would become mainstream. So mainstream, in fact, that bachata artist Prince Royce would eventually go on to perform at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. If that wasn’t considered a sign of bachata’s global recognition and success, I don’t know what would be. Like reggaeton, bachata has been through a lot in terms of earning the respect and recognition it deserves. And like reggaeton, bachata originated with Black Latinx music artists. In this particular case, Black Dominican music artists. And yet in both genres, Black Latinx artists have, over time, gradually been erased. If Rosalía really wanted to experiment with bachata, why didn’t she use her platform to feature a Dominican bachata artist? If she simply wanted to work with The Weeknd, she could have just made this a regular pop song with flamenco influence. The fact that it’s specifically bachata is where my issue lies. The track could have featured any of the bachata OGs like Juan Luis Guerra, Frank Reyes, Elvis Martínez, Raulín Rodríguez, Zacarías Ferreíra, or Luis Vargas.
