There is more to Popular Spanish music than just Ricky Martin, Shakira and Julio Iglesias.Here is a list of some music I just discovered recently.Most of the artist I have selected have reached the top in Spanish music Charts for 2010.

Estopa is a pop/flamenco duo founded in 1999 by brothers José and David Muñoz of Cornellà de Llobregat (Baix Llobregat), Catalonia. Their first album, Estopa, has sold well over 1,000,000 copies to date (the equivalent of an American platinum album) and their latest, Voces de Ultrarumba, sold more than 200,000 copies on its first day of release. Their playful, Rumba-tinged compositions have made them one of the most successful pop groups in Spanish history, in terms of both album sales and critical acclaim. The name of the group, “Estopa” (tow, in english) refers to when both brothers worked together at a SEAT automobile factory and, in their own words, a boss kept on screaming at them, “¡Dale estopa!” which means something like “Work hard!”.

Estopa – Vino Tinto

El Run Run con Rosario has been on the top charts for 21 weeks in 2010.

David Bisbal (born June 5, 1979) is a Spanish singer. Bisbal was the second finalist of the reality show “Operación Triunfo”, a show inspired by American Idol.Bisbal’s first album, Corazón Latino (Latin Heart), was a smash hit in Spain and all over Latin America, so much so that he had to schedule a 2002-2003 tour that covered the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and a good portion of the rest of South America and Central America, as well as the United States. It is estimated Bisbal has already earned over one million US dollars in his career as a singer. Ave María, Lloraré Las Penas and Dígale were huge hits.

David Bisbal- Ave Maria

Bustamante’s breakthrough was in the TV hit Operación Triunfo. This program, similar to American Idol, broke ratings records as well as dominated the top position of the CD sales charts during its 5 month run. When the program ended in February 2002, David Bustamante was one of the three finalists.David Bustamante has had big success in Spain and Latin America. He has sold over 1,400,000 units. His new album Al filo de la irrealidad went platinum at the top of the Spanish charts, and it was released by Universal music, in the USA and Latin America the last 3 March 2008.

David Bustamante- Hoy Tengo Ganas De Ti

Jorge Drexler (b. September 21, 1964) is an Uruguayan singer, the first Uruguayan to win an Academy Award, which he won for composing the song “Al Otro Lado del Río” from The Motorcycle Diaries. Though Drexler himself sang the song on the soundtrack, it was performed together by Antonio Banderas and Santana at the 77th Academy Awards ceremony.

Drexler was born in Montevideo, where he studied medicine and became a doctor. He also studied music and recorded two albums (Radar, La luz que sabe robar), which were only released in Uruguay. In 1995 he was invited to Madrid (Spain) by well-known Spanish songwriter Joaquín Sabina, who introduced him to other important Spanish singers. Drexler went to Spain to record the album Vaivén in 1996 with Spanish musicians. Vaivén included some old songs from his previous releases mixed with new compositions. He moved to Spain and recorded another five albums: Llueve (1998), Frontera (1999), Sea (2001), Eco (2004) and 12 Segundos de Oscuridad (2006).

Although he lives most of the year in Spain, his latest three albums were partially recorded in Uruguay with Uruguayan musicians. Juan Campodónico and Carlos Casacuberta, former members of rock band El Peyote Asesino, have produced Drexler’s albums since Frontera.

His music is a combination of Uruguayan traditional music (candombe, murga, milonga), bossa nova, pop, jazz and electronic music, which results in very personal compositions with original arrangements.

Jorge Drexler- Guittara y Vos

For Estopa’s Anniversary Compilation

X Aniversarivm

Bookmark this on Delicious