TAZÍ

Who’s your greatest idol? I personally don’t get that question a lot, but I am sure some of you do. Well let’s ask me, and please don’t be shy: “Who’s your greatest idol?”.

Well, from preschool to the beginning of high school it must have been Michael Jackson. I loved the way he performed and sang and hiding myself in his self-made box. And his songs were great too (I especially liked his later albums at that time). It was just unfortunate that I only knew about him after he passed away (too glad I didn’t know the allegations he got back then, because that might have shown a different light on him for me as a kid).

After that, while being 14 and increasingly became more interested in girls, I became a big fan of Ariana Grande. Her high falsetto and overall look were enough to make me fall in love with her (it wasn’t mutual). Especially her earlier albums were the ones I enjoyed the most. It wasn’t until I did my cold, structured technical education in the IT sector that I finally found out about Shakira and her warmth and exotic vibe and I just fell in love with her music (among other things about her, of course). 

I began with listening to her more well known songs like ‘Whenever, Wherever’ and ‘Objection (Tango)’. But soon after that I began listening to her Spanish albums as well. Especially her album ‘Pies Descalzos’ and ‘Oral Fixation Vol 1 & 2’ were favorites of mine, with my favorite numbers being ‘Don’t Bother’ and ‘Las de La Intuicion’. Heck, I even listened to ‘Magia’ and loved it! Her whole showmanship, whole vibe, her “goat-sound” attracted me to her on more than a superficial level. I felt at home.

I remember listening to ‘Las de La Intuicion’ while we drove through the Swiss Alps and the whole vibe of the song was beautiful there; it sounded a bit mysterious, otherworldly, melancholic, which the mountains in my opinion also had and still have.

I went to her concert ‘El Dorado’ with a friend of mine, I bought vinyl records, merchandise etcetera.

But I couldn’t understand a word Spanish. A language where every word seems like a song in and of itself, a prose of sorts. But I couldn’t speak it.

I did some Duolingo once, but the simplified gamified system didnt speak to me. So yesterday I made the decision to finally start learning Latin-American Spanish on Babbel, so hopefully I can understand her music a lot better. I’m going in there Pies Descalzos (Bare feet) and am ready for the challenge.

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

¡Buenos días!

Yours,

Rein