Luis Enrique (singer)

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Luis Enrique performing in 2010

Luis Enrique Mejía López (born September 28, 1962 in Nicaragua ) is a Nicaraguan singer and composer .

biography

Luis Enrique comes from an artistic family that is highly valued in Nicaragua. The Mejía Godoy house is a cultural center and is known for its famous singers, musicians and trobadores , above all his uncles Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy and Carlos Mejía Godoy . His father, Don Francisco Luis Mejía Godoy, is a painter. Many of his cousins ​​are still active in the artistic field today and continue the tradition in a family foundation; his brother Rafael Mejía is also a musician.

Luis Enrique was a folklore singer before emigrating to Miami in the USA . First he joined the Latin American folklore group Ayer es Hoy . There he was discovered by Sony Music and brought out his first record Amor de Medianoche in 1987 , in which he was already recommended as a salsa musician.

But since his first work did not get the desired attention, he moved on to Puerto Rico . The breakthrough came suddenly there. Between 1989 and 1991 five salsa albums were created within a very short time. His collaboration with Eddie Santiago , with whom he brought out Luces del Alma and Los Príncipes de la Salsa , proved to be particularly fruitful . He was nicknamed "El Príncipe de la Salsa" because of its special charisma to the female audience.

In addition to his career as a salsero , he also made a name for himself as a percussionist. He worked here in various fields of salsa , merengue and pop with a variety of artists and groups, such as Juan Luis Guerra , Foreigner , Arturo Sandoval , Chayanne and Gloria Estefan (Abriendo Puertas) . Luis Enrique also did the percussion for the song Maria by Ricky Martin .

From the mid-1990s he was increasingly drawn away from salsa towards pop music, but only with moderate success. Genesis (1996) was his first pop album, followed by Timbalaye (1998), which was a flop.

In his last productions, Luis Enrique has returned more to salsa , mixed with ballads and pop elements. He received a Grammy nomination for Evolución in 2001 . On Transparente (2002) the title song Amanecer appeared both as a ballad and in a salsa version.

Luis Enrique is married to his wife Carolina, a singer and composer with Venezuelan-Brazilian ancestry. Both have a son: Luca (* 2002).

Style and meaning

Luis Enrique has shown that salsa is not only at home in the major centers of Latin America, but also in Nicaragua . Accordingly, he mentions Rubén Blades, also from Central America, as his great role model . Singer, guitarist, percussionist and composer - Luis Enrique is musically gifted in many ways, he writes most of his songs himself. This explains his high level of musical creativity: 15 albums, 4 Grammy nominations and multiple awards.

At the beginning of the 90s he was already part of the next generation of salsa musicians. He explicitly distanced himself from the "Salsa vieja" and tried to find his own style. Salsa in the 80s was often determined by a certain sexual permissiveness in the music, which was also consciously used for commercial success. Desire, encouragement to be unfaithful or to have sexual relations was not unusual in the texts. Luis Enrique made a change here, away from "Salsa erótica" to "Salsa romántica". His song No te quites la ropa ( Do not undress ) was a programmatic contrast to Desnúdate mujer ( Undress yourself, woman ) by Frankie Ruiz in 1990 .

No te quites la ropa
por favor todavía.
Aún no siento tu boca.
No se si eres mía.
Queda aún mucho tiempo.
Tengo las manos frías.
No ha llegado el momento,
do aún no estás convencido.

Please
don't take off your clothes yet.
I don't feel your mouth yet.
I don't know if you are mine
There is still a lot of time.
My hands are cold,
the moment has not come
and you are not ready yet.

No te quites la ropa,
que quiero adivinar
y no mires la hora
que todo llegará.

Do not take off your clothes yet,
I would like to imagine
and do not look at the clock,
all in good time.

Among his most famous songs are ¿Quien eres tu? (1994), alongside Tu no le amas, le temes (1990) and Lo que paso entre tu y yo pasó (1990). Date un chance (1990) became the anthem against substance abuse. The salsa cover version Que locura fue enamorarte de ti (1990 - Luis Ángel ) with Eddie Santiago became a classic of the genre.

Discography

  • Amor y alegría (1988)
  • Mi mundo (1989)
  • Luces del Alma (1990)
  • Los Príncipes de la Salsa (1990)
  • Una historia diferente (1991)
  • En vivo (1992)
  • Dilema (1993)
  • Amor de media noche (1993)
  • Luis Enrique (1994)
  • Brilliant (1994)
  • Genesis (1996)
  • Grandes éxitos del Principe de la Salsa (1997)
  • Amiga (1999)
  • Timbalaye (1999)
  • Evolución (2000)
  • 22 Ultimate Hits (2002)
  • Banners (2002)
  • Lo Esencial (2004)
  • Dentro y fuera (2007)
  • Ciclos (2009)